To ask for your help with recipes

[hungryasahippo]

It's been a crap few months, I am pregnant (OK, that's great news), but we are grappling with job worries and health issues (oh HG how I despise you), alongside a series of small disasters, every week brings some new issue. 2017 is one of 'those' years for us.

A positive amidst all this has been the arrival of a lovely, brand new freezer, ready for me to fill with delicious food, to be cooked in between vomiting of course. Can I ask, does anyone have any good batch cooking recipes (I have already done the usual spaghetti bolognaise, chilli, lasagne) - but really want something a bit more interesting. Sorry for posting in AIBU - I know IABU for that but the recipe forum appears to attract very little traffic and I am not feeling well enough to trawl through food websites.

www.recipetineats.com/?s=Freezer

Thank you - will take a look!

A selection of homemade soup, frozen in individual portions would be a godsend for easy lunches when baby arrives especially if you make more substantial eg Tomato & Lentil.

One thing that I often do is cut up a large joint of pork, brown it on the hob with onions add stock and then slow cook it in the oven. I cool and freeze it in meal size portions - I can then take one out of the freezer and use it as the base for a quick meal.

A soup maker is a really good thing to have if you want quick meals. We have the morphy Richards one and it makes really good soup in 20 minutes, you just chuck in the ingredients and press go. DH was dubious at first, until we got it and now he loves it. I can't recommend it enough.

I second soups... Basically anything that just require pasta/rice/bread as an add on... I love beef and carrots stew but any are or curry will freeze beautifully :) if you don't have one already I would say the slow cooker is a really good thing to have as you can prep either in the evening and run it overnight or prep in the morning for a dinner that makes itself :)

I swear by this recipe. It's so easy and it freezes beautifully.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/jools-s-favourite-beef-stew/

I don't bother with the jerusalem artichokes or the lemon zest. It's still delicious. I also don't fry the onions at the start. I literally dump all the ingredients in a pot, cook in the oven for 3 hours, then turn the oven off and let it sit there all night.

The only pain in the arse is chopping the butternut squash, but you could always buy that pre-chopped.

Buy a big ham joint from the butcher's and cook it however you like it (there are loads of recipes on line - nigellas ham in coke is a good one). When it's cold slice it up it or cut it into cubes and freeze in small portions. Great for sandwiches, pies, pasta dishes, it works out a lot cheaper than buying the equivalent amount of ham in plastic trays from the supermarket and its a lot tastier.

Creamy butternut squash pasta sauce - roast off some squash then puree it. Then make a basic alfredo and mix it together, add frozen peas. freeze in portions.

Fish pie mix and mashed potato - freeze separately then assemble and cook once thawed.

Easy lamb stew - throw diced lamb, chopped onions, diced carrots and sweet potatoe into the slow cooker, add 2 cups of stock and some gravy granules plus a big spoon of red currant jelly. Cook for 4 hours.

Cook strips of chicken, onions, tomatoes, peppers and sweet corn with some cumin and paprika until soft. Reheat and serve in wraps with avocado and sour cream.

Meatballs - serve with instant gravy, frozen peas and frozen mash portions. Add some extra grated veg like carrot and courgette if you're making them from scratch.

Fishcakes

Bean burgers

Thank you, thank you, thank you - will give these ideas a try!

My favorite freezer meal is bacon and bean casserole. Basically onion, bacon (cooking bacon usually has nice chunky bits in), can butter beans, can cannelli beans, one or two cans chopped tomatoes, garlic, Worcester sauce. simmer on hob.

or variations thereof.

I had severe HG all though so please take it easy. If really bad I actually wouldn't try batch cooking as if you are like me the smell of whatever you are cooking will make you ill and you wont be able to face it for months. DD is 3 and I have only been able to eat sausages in the last year. Perhaps you can persuade a relative or friend to do the hard work while you rest?

Sausage casserole, shepherds pie.

Another thing you could do, is chop veggies (say, peppers, onions, tomatoes) put in a freezer bag, add herbs,spices, s+p, and some diced meat or chicken thighs and give it all a good mix. Freeze. Then all you have to do is get it out to defrost the night before, and bung in a slow cooker the next morning with some stock.

Vary the veg, meat and herbs/spices.

I recently bought a load of mini pie dishes in poundland and made pies. Cook them I. The oven and then freeze in the dishes.

Pop em in the oven frozen for 45 mins. Frozen veg and mash. Job done.

I also use the same dishes for cottage pie and lasagne so again they can go straight in the oven. An alternative to this would be the foil ones you can get (again poundland)

Pasties are an easy one and can then be taken out in the morning for a quick hot lunch.

Curry freezes well as does any chicken dish (lemon chicken, butter chicken etc.)

If you like puddings like crumbles blitz up a load of the topping, enough for several meals and put enough for whatever size you make into bags in the freezer then when you make the crumble just pour it out on top of the fruit from the freezer.

Also make breadcrumbs with left over bread each week and freeze for coating fish, pork escalopes etc without having to bother making them fresh. (much better than the stuff out the packets)

You can do the same with ends of cheese, grate and put in a plastic box in freezer and add to it as you can, then you have it ready for mac cheese, toppings for baked potatoes, pizzas etc without the fuss of grating it all once baby is here.

If you are doing something that only requires say 1/2 an onion chop up the rest and freeze, you can use it straight out freezer next time.

If you are having roast chicken boil up the bones for stock to freeze. You can do it in pots or in ice cube trays to add flavour to soups, gravies and sauces

Buy a joint of ham or gammon and cook as normal but slice up some for sandwiches/salads and freeze in small bags so you only defrost a little at a time and dont have to eat it all quickly.

I second pies! Jamie Oliver's steak, Guinness and cheese pie is just amazing

Quiche, chicken cacciatore, soup, pies, curry.

Pulled pork done in the slow cooker.
www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/a4934/slow-cooked-pulled-pork-1100/

This usually makes 2-3 meals for us.

It will smell while cooking though (sorry... and sympathies)

Thanks liquidrevolution yes, fortunately I have some family coming over to help with the cooking so I won't be doing it all, am getting to the end of the pregnancy now, counting down the days!

Thanks for all the brilliant suggestions - willow I never knew you could freeze a crumble topping. I am looking forward to eating all these lovely things once the baby is here and I am finally able to eat properly again.