Worried about food going to waste now I’m on a diet

[Amymegandbethandjo]

I’m on a meal replacement diet as of yesterday, which I’ve done before. The only difference is I now have a toddler aged son to cook for, but obviously his portions aren’t big. For things like cereal it’s not a problem, but for lunch I’d planned fish, mashed potato and peas. The fish and peas aren’t an issue but it will mean I’ll have to buy a whole potato and throw some away.

Anyone got any advice? Also for things liked cooked meats and so on.

Erm, am I missing something here? Buy a small potato? It really isn’t difficult. How can there ne a whole thread about this.

And pp was correct in that frozen vegetables are generally nutritionally superior to fresh veg purchased in a supermarket which is days old by the time it gets to you.

DS probably wouldn’t eat a whole potato, even a small one. Not in one sitting.

how can there be a whole thread about this

Why reply, then? Just to be an arse?

And in any event it isn’t just about potatoes. If I make anything - spaghetti or pizza or chilli or cottage pie - either a toddler has to eat it endlessly or it gets frozen and possibly there for the best part of six months which doesn’t feel too nice, really. That’s what I’m wondering. The advice is to have family meals but not if only one is eating!

DS probably wouldn’t eat a whole potato, even a small one. Not in one sitting

But potatoes come in all sizes! I have potatoes in my cupboard the size of eggs. Genuinely failing to understand the potato dilemma.

Batch cooking would be make a pan of mash, and use one portion, and split the rest into the size portions you want and freeze.

I often freeze stuff in ice cube trays, and tip all those into larger freezer bags so that when it comes to thawing out ready for reheating, I can just take out what I need. Works for onions, peppers, tomatoes, tomato passata [when I have grown some in the summer], mash, chopped chillis - anything that isn't a meal in itself.

Mashed potato will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge in a sealed box. There is also fresh cooked potato in supermarket fridges as well as the freezer.

Deliberately make a small version and freeze. Recipes for stuff like cottage pie or spaghetti sauce can be halved. Then you're looking at 4-5 toddler portions. That's one a week for 4-5 weeks, not six months.

Make very small portions and save half for the next day (or freeze) or make bigger batches and freeze in small containers.

🥔

For spaghetti - you make a larger batch of the sauce, and freeze in portions. Then make say 25/50g of the spaghetti itself, and serve with a small amount of the defrosted and rehested sauce. You don't freeze the spaghetti portion, you freeze the sauce portion.

@Amymegandbethandjo

And in any event it isn’t just about potatoes. If I make anything - spaghetti or pizza or chilli or cottage pie - either a toddler has to eat it endlessly or it gets frozen and possibly there for the best part of six months which doesn’t feel too nice, really. That’s what I’m wondering. The advice is to have family meals but not if only one is eating!

Why would it need to be there for months?

Most food will keep in the fridge just fine for a few days and a toddler really won't combust because they've had to eat mash three days in a row

Buy Idaho Mash in a packet, make up with boiling water. It's lovely, you wouldn't know it's not actually made from scratch. Make up whatever portion you like.

OP the trick to freezing food is to put it in size appropriate containers ( to lessen freezer burn) and be sure it's well sealed. Make sure there's only a small space at the top to allow for expansion.
I used to freeze food in big ice cubes for DS and pop them out in to a sealable bag. I also think things taste much better if they're defrosted thoroughly overnight in the fridge. Now he is 4 I freeze extra portions of spag bol, curry, stew, pasta sauce in bigger pots. They taste perfect and keep for up to 3 months in freezer without any effect on taste.
So if you have a stash of these kind of foods In the freezer plus some frozen veg/ mash/rice you'll always have "ready meals" to hand

Oh also make sure the food is completely cool before transferring to the freezer. Really minimises freezer burn too. I usually put leftovers in the fridge first before transferring to freezer the next morning

You also can be tricky like:

When we do jacket potatoes we always do twice as much as we need. Day 2, I cut them into wedges and put cheese on them and put them in the oven for 30 mins. Cheesy wedges with only 5 mins prep.

Chillis/curries etc; cook enough for two nights, first night with rice and second with air fried or roasted potatoes or chips.

When I make things like meals that I freeze, so I make veggie pasties with bought in dough. I make 4, and have 2 for the first say, Sunday dinner and have the other two the next sunday dinner.

I grow alot of my own veg so always have bags of veg in the freezer to put together soups and stews and to add whatever I've got to chillis etc.

You could easily make a week of meals at a time. It will keep between fridge and freezer for a week fine without freezer burn. I am going to assume half a potato is a portion for your son?
I will point out this will all be irrelevant when he talks his next growth spurt!

Potato = 2 meals
Mince = 3 meals etc

Fish fingers, mash and peas
Cottage pie (top with leftover mash)
Spag Bol (just boil small amount of pasta)
Chilli (boil small amount of rice)
Homemade burger and oven chips
Macaroni cheese
Scrambled egg on toast
Beans on toast
Sausage, mash and veg
Fish cake made with leftover mash
Lentil & veg soup
1/3 Chicken breast sliced with frozen Yorkshire pud, veg and gravy
1/3 chicken breast into mild curry boils rice as needed
1/3 chicken breast oven cooked in breadcrumbs with oven chips and veg

Use the butcher and deli counter to just buy the quantities you need. Ie. 2 slices of ham, 1 chicken breast, 200g mince, 2 sausages etc.

These are brilliant - silicone freezer trays. I use them to freeze hummus, cashew cream etc but they really are for baby food but find them so useful.
lcpshop.net/product/silicone-baby-food-tray-with-lid/

Just noticed these are from a US site but I bought mine in UK.

Thanks for this, it’s really helpful

Of course you can freeze mash and meat, or just use the other half of the mash the next day?

And bread freezes fine, did your parents not wrap things properly for freezing, or have a dodgy freezer? I freeze almost everything except Strawberries, everything turns out fine.

I did batch cooking for a toddler using little ramekins of cottage pie or fish pie or macaroni cheese. Make an adult portion or two. Put into ramekins. Freeze. Take out one when you need one, defrost in fridge then microwave or oven. You can do the same for toddler portions of tomato sauce for pasta (bolognese, tuna, whatever).

@Garman

Of course you can freeze mash and meat, or just use the other half of the mash the next day?

And bread freezes fine, did your parents not wrap things properly for freezing, or have a dodgy freezer? I freeze almost everything except Strawberries, everything turns out fine.

I freeze strawberries! I then use them in overnight oats.

OP - just an example

Yesterday I made pizzas and make double the amount and then we can have a flatbread over the weekend. Today I've rolled it out for flatbreads that I'm making to go with the veggie curry.

Veggie curry, I've made double portions, to have with basmati rice and a flatbread [like a nan but I don't have yogurt so it's just a flatbread]. So on Monday, I'll already have enough curry for two, which I'll make with chips.

I regularly make double so that cuts out a future cooking session and makes life easier.

Yes I freeze strawberries also. Use them in baking ie muffins or in smoothies.

I just don't like Strawberries baked in things or in smoothies so wouldn't think of/need it, but yes if you don't want them to retain their structure you can definitely freeze them.

We go strawberry picking in the summer and get a large pail full. Eat some fresh over the days after. The rest is frozen and I use them to make beautiful strawberry compote where it doesn’t matter that they’ve broken down a bit and you still get that lovely fresh strawberry flavour. That gets us nicely through summer/autumn/winter. Much better value for money - good quality fresh berries, and much, much better in terms of flavour and sweetness than your bog standard supermarket frozen strawberries.

For anything else I use frozen berry mix out of season as I mainly eat it for nutritional purposes and don’t mind if the flavour isn’t excellent.