Best recipes for freezing??

[Spod]

I want to cook up some meals and store them in the freezer for easy cooking after the birth... All I've done before is chilli and beef stew... what else freezes well?

[thirtysomething]

quiches freeze very well, as does anything potato based like shepherd's pie, fish pie, also dishes with lots of onions and tomatoes in freeze well eg veg lasagne, ratatouille (but watch out as they always stain tupperware red!) I also find that a lot of cakes and fruit crumbles/tarts freeze well too but rice dishes don't as they always either dry out or become over soggy for some reason. Cauliflower cheese freezes well and you could make a huge batch of bolognese sauce (with mince or quorn depending on if you're veggie or not...) and then you'll be able to add it to pasta or use as a base for lasagne and other things. I make up huge batches of veg chilli and also things like very thick soups (lentils and pulses freeze well) and freeze loads of portions of those every so often. Good luck!

[Spod]

thanks.... but forgot to say dh is allergic to cheese... so no lasagnes, cauli, pasta etc.....soups= good idea

[runragged]

You can freeze just about anything in my opinion! But aside from all manner of pies and mince derivatives there are lots of easy, healthy (!) throw together meals.
eg, chicken/steak/kiev etc with mixed veg
frozen meatballs/pour on gravy/few onions, anything else in fridge, put thick slices of french stick on top and cook - REALLY nice, surprisingly!
fry onions mushrooms etc, add rice, right amount of water, tin toms, herbs, cover with lots of breadcrumbs and cook for 20 mins. (I would mix breadcrumbs and cheese but obviously you can't)
Send dh to chippy once a week! That's what we did for the first year.

[runragged]

Oh and since dd arrived I cook all veg in the same saucepan - saved loads of time washing up, especially after the obligotory roasts.

[XAusted]

You can freeze cooked chicken as long as it hasn't been frozen before. ie, buy fresh chicken, cook it then freeze it. You could cook a batch of chicken portions to freeze then eat them with salad, jacket potato, etc. Casseroles and stews are great for bulk cooking. Cook as much as you can fit in your oven and then freeze in portions.

[XAusted]

Look out for special offers on ready meals in supermarkets and stock up. When ds was born Somerfield were doing a BOGOF promotion on cottage pie, we ate dozens of them!!

[IDismyname]

I remember cooking vats of Delias Mediterranean Pork from her original cookbooks, and freezing that. It was yummy with some rice!

[Janstar]

Curry.

[Jenie]

I always have mashed potatos and carrot and corriander soup plus a small portion of cream in the freezer and I use them all regularly.

Carrot and orange soup (imo) doesn't freeze so well and cakes are great just so long as you don't fill them or ice them.

Oh yes the cream can be added to either the mash or the soup to make it extra yumm.

[boyandgirl]

Don't freeze whole boiled potatoes - they go all soggy and spongy. Also cooked greens (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower etc) don't survive freezing very well unless they've been cooked as part of the dish, eg stew or quiche.

One of my favourite 'freezies' is chopped-liver: slice onions, fry slowly with masses of basil until transparent, tip out of the pan and fry chicken or turkey livers (rinsed well and patted dry first) in the same pan with loads more basil and black pepper. When cool send it all through the mincer with approx one hard-boiled egg per packet of liver, followed by a crust of bread to clean out the mincer. Mix well, season if you wish or maybe add a little olive oil, and freeze in an ice-cube or cup cake tray. This makes lots of individual portions, one is just right for a snack on toast, or for a toddler's meal. It doesn't need to be reheated, just defrosted, and is a good iron-rich food for immediately after giving birth. Only if you actually like liver though!

[Spod]

thanks for the tips .... looks like stew is a good bet! even i cant balls that up.