Stocking up the freezer - Does anyone do this? And with what?

[SpookyAlice]

I really want to get our freezer stocked up for the winter. DH has some busy months at work coming up, and with a toddler and 2 horses i am kept very busy. I enjoy cooking but some nights it is just another very time consuming job that needs doing when i have other stuff that i want to do, or i am struggling to get dinner ready and occupy my DD.

I have ordered some books from the library with soup recipes in, but what else do i make?

Your recipes/ideas would be greatly appreciated

[eyetunes]

I mostly stock up with crap that stays there for ever as nobody ever fancies it.

[BonsoirAnna]

I do stock up my freezer, but I eat it up within a month. I tend to have pasta (that DP buys on business trips to Italy), bolognese sauce, tomato sauce, cakes, parmesan, butter, sausages, broad beans...

[Elk]

Things I like in the freeer are:
chilli
bolognaise
Beef/chicken casserole
chicken curry
lasagne

I don't like macaroni cheese when it has been frozen but other pasta dishes seem to be ok.

[shinyshoes]

batch cooking.

Get some takeaway tubs/tupperware/foil trays with lids.

Batch cook.

Spag bol
Chilli con carne
stews
casseroles
left over mashed potatoes.
tinned tomatoes and basil sauce (this can be poured over pasta)

do it in individual portions for a quick meal that can be shoved in the microwave to be reheated.

[Cies]

Batch cook what you would normally cook. Then bung the leftovers in the freezer.

In mine at the moment we have (looking at the list sellotaped to the freezer door):
Lentil and chorizo casserole
Sausage and apple casserole
chilli con carne
lasagne
meatballs
stuffed squid
fish cakes
lentil and vegetable curry
pumpkin soup
stewed apple
sausage rolls
beef stew
mushroom risotto

[SpookyAlice]

Does mash taste ok after it has been frozen?

If i freeze shepherds pie i leave the mash off, would it be ok left on?

[Poledra]

Mash is fine after being frozen. | regularly freeze fish pie and shepherd's mash with mash on top.

[womblemeister]

Number 3,574 on my list of Useful Things to Do When I Can be Arsed Have Time:

Make pints of your own chicken/meat stock and freeze in ice-cube trays. Use portions as necessary to cook chicken breasts with knob (of butter), white wine, salt and pepper, and chopped parsley (omit last ingredient if your DCs like mine will run out of room screaming about green bits).

[SpookyAlice]

everytime we have a roast chicken i think i should make stock but then can't be arsed forget

[womblemeister]

why did I get two hyphens instead of the strikeout thingy?

[PestoPumpkinMonster]

Well I always make double portions of everything I cook in the slow cooker, then batch up the surplus into portions and freeze.

Things like

chilli
bolognaise
chicken chasseur
beef casserole

Also batch make salmon fishcakes

[SpookyAlice]

Because you have to do each individual word

[Poledra]

Womble, you have to put the double hyphens round each word, not just the phrase.

[ninedragons]

I've got bread, fruit juice, sausages, chicken fillets, steaks, vegetables (peas, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli) plus made-up meals in foil trays (lasagne, pasta, fish pie, carrot soup, vegetable soup, spinach & chicken pies, Thai green curry, fish curry etc). We don't cook at all during the week - we batch cook on weekends and freeze it all.

[womblemeister]

thanks poledra. .

[star6]

Doesn't it take just as long to defrost and heat up spaghetti bolognaise as it does to just cook it on the stove?
I'm not being cheeky here, I just really wonder. I have very little talent in the kitchen and DH does most of our cooking.

[TitsalinaBumsquash]

I bought on Ebay a bulk lot of takeaway containers, i got tinfoil but you can get plastic, i got 200 for about £4

Everytime i make a meal wether it be Curry, Chilli, Stwe, PastaBake i put a couple of portions in the containers and stick them in the freezer with re heating instructions, date and contents written on the top, then if im just to bust to cook i can oull them out and stick them in the oven, and ever more importantly, DP now has no excuse to live off of crappy food when im not here!

[shinybaubles]

Yes I put everything in the freezer in ziploc bags, now we have pork adobo, chilli, bolognese, chicken chasseur, spicy carrot soup, cauliflower soup, bacon and bread. I am creating a huge freeze full for when I have dc2 in december but to be honest I would do this anyway.

[stressedHEmum]

I do this as well. Things I have in the freezer now:

Cooked chicken- divided into meal sized portions
cooked roast pork - as above
cooked bacon joint, - as above
cooked beans (various)-as above
chilli dog bake
chilli tortilla pie
venison casserolex2
cumin scented beef with red peppers and beans
chicken pie
creammy apple juice chicken
meatballs
meatloaf
tomato and basil sauce
prawn curry
game pie

also veg from the garden, some herbs, a couple of bags of veg trimmings for making stock. This weekend I will make keema curry, goat tangine, spicy shepherds pie, root veg and lentil casserole, butterbean and chorizo bake and spicy chicken tortilla bake. I might make a batch of pizza rolls as well, If I have time, because the kids love them for warm snacks. I have a pile of different sized foil trays with lids that I put things in which stack in the freezer.

[norksonmywitchesbroomstick]

I always have single person portions of any meal I make, so there is always bolognaise, curry, stew and loads of soup and stock in the freezer. Always have a homemade fruit cake in there as well

But I mainly stock up the freezer with meat,fish whenever it is cheap.
Atm I have a chicken, some diced pork, chicken portions, beef joint lamb chops, salmon, king prwns,mince

[CaptainNancy]

I am that Anna eats cake!

I would have expected a tiny macaron at most

What is creamy apple juice chicken please? And how does it not curdle?

[stressedHEmum]

creamy apple juice chicken is basically cooked chicken done with softened onion, tarragon, a tin of condensed chicken soup and apple juice instead of the milk or water. You can add left over cooked brocolli or green beans of you have it. You just mix it all together and heat it in the oven until bubbly. My kids very love it with mash .

I was thinking that, although I don't have any at the mo (I've been a bit lazy lately) I usually have mixed muffins/pancakes in the freezer, and quite often, mini omelettes and things like banana cake and yoghurt loaf.

[CaptainNancy]

You can freeze omelette? wow!
And the pancakes... already cooked? How do you defrost/reheat please?

[inveteratenamechanger]

of people's freezers. Fishcakes are very good frozen. And I actually think macaroni cheese freezes ok, but I love it in even its lesser forms.

I once made cookie dough that you keep in the freezer in a long sausage shape and cut slices off if you want to make some - that was delish.

[stressedHEmum]

Pancakes (dropscones) you freeze with little bits of baking parchment between them so they don't stick together, then just take them out and let them defrost. You can pop them under a grill/in the toaster/in a dry frying pan to reheat if you want them warm. Muffins you can freeze either as batter in the baking tray (make sure it is kept flat until it freezes, though!) or after they're baked in freezer bags, again just take out and defrost. Crepes work the same as dropscones, separate with baking paper, thaw and use as fresh, you can heat them gently in the oven, wrapped in foil, if you like.

Yes, you can freeze omelettes. I make little individual ones baked in the oven in cupcake cups. Then just freeze. Let defrost at room temp, you can heat them gently in the oven, wrapped in tinfoil to reheat, but they are also good cold as a snack or a picnic lunch.