*Not AIBU but wanted the traffic* Healthy, homemade freezer meals you can bung in the oven

[sirlee66]

Hi everyone! Apologies for posting on AIBU! Really need the traffic because preggers hormones are making me anxious and if I don't sort out these freezer meals soon I feel like I'm going to crumble into a giant mess!!!

DS1 isn't due until April but I keep reading that you should want to fill your freezer with a load of portioned freezer meals because you won't want to cook.

I know what I'm like and if I don't sort something out.. it will be take aways and ready meals pretty much every night leaving me feeling shit and, as we are on a budget, it's not something we can afford unless it's a real special treat.

Trying to think of dinners and lunches that I can make, freeze in those individual aluminium trays (like from the takeaway) then, when needed, bung straight into the oven.

Also fairly healthy... like SW friendly stuff as I'm planning on breast feeding. (Don't actually follow SW but I know they're food is lower % mince and hidden veggies etc)

I can think of:

Shepard's pie
Bolognese (boil pasta on the day)

And now my mind's gone blank!!!!
Any help/suggestions would be hugely appreciated! TY!

Agree with using plastic boxes - it's easier to tip something into an ovenproof dish than it is to defrost in the microwave something that's in a foil container! Don't rely on your ability to think ahead when sleep deprived

YY definitely. Sleep deprived baby brain will have you wailing hysterically when confronted by an undefrosted dinner

I bought 50 Chinese takeaway boxes for £3.99 on eBay and am fully prepared to chuck them away after one use. Sorry environment - I'm super pregnant and have no family around - needs must.

Or, for you have oven and freezer proof dishes, lay 2 layers of cling film in dish, make meal, freeze. TAke out of freezer, pull on tails of cling left hanging around the edges, remove meal from dish, take cling wrap from meal, pop into freezer bag and back I. Freezer. When needed, take fro. Freezer, remove from bag and place back in ovenproof dish. Defrost and pop into oven to cook.

Great way to get lots of freezer meals with only 1/2 dishes

Potato Dauphiniose
Mash (herb/garlic)
There’s lots of potato recipes that can be frozen, there’s a website that lists them but I can’t find it

@Biddypop great tip 👌

I suggest getting a slow cooker too - then in the morning when you're sorting bottles/steriliser and general kitchen stuff you put your dinner in then later when you're tired and the baby might be fractious you simply dish it up. You really won't want to reheat food all the time, can't beat a nice casserole or curry fresh from the slow cooker. I use mine all the time - put in on 7am on low, home at 6 - dinner is served.

Spaghetti Bolognese
Curry
Stew/casserole
a whole piece of ham (ham egg and chips)

have a look online for slow cooker recipes

Any hot meal that can be eaten cold is a must when breastfeeding . . . as that's the way things tend to go, so a variety of quiches (with or without a pastry case) are good.

Also, when breastfeeding, strategically placed bowls of fun size Mars bars around the house are a must!

If you make tomato sauce, a pinch of ground cloves and some sugar can make all the difference!

Save jam jars to freeze batches of pasta and curry sauces.

If you get a chance I would raid the supermarket when the bakery is reducing bread stuff- you can freeze crumpets, pre-sliced bagels etc and just pop them in the toaster ready to eat. For the nights when your awake and starving at 4am, or have a baby who wants food now during the day but you can't wait an hour to have time to sort something yourself. Otherwise your day becomes eating biscuits over and over until dinner. If you time it right, it's a whole 12p for 5 bagels at our supermarket, and it's easy to eat one handed.

Moussaka,
Hunters chicken freezes and reheats quite well,

have had lunch twice today because all your ideas are making me hungry!!!

Thanks so much everyone!! I'm going to make a list of your ideas and start batch cooking!!! Slow cooker is a great idea too!!!

Thank you!!

Any hot meal that can be eaten cold is a must when breastfeeding . . . Oh, I'd forgotten! That's so right! Not just breastfeeding either, just having a baby in the house. The biggest rule is ... never, ever start any activity that can't be dropped in the middle.

We buy trays of chicken breasts and then freeze them individually.

If they are particularly large we cut the extra bits from underneath the breast and cut them into cubes for stirfry's.

If you have a slowcooker - we sometimes put frozen spag bol or stew straight in and let it defrost and heat up throughout the day.

This is what I did (and most I froze in those foil containers so they could go straight in the oven):
Cottage Pie
Chicken curry
Spinach and Ricotta Canelloni
Lasagne
Butternut and ginger soup (add lentils for protein)
Chicken and vegetable pie
Chicken and vegetable pasta bake
Chicken casserole
Tomato and veg pasta sauce
Fish cakes (great for lunch with some salad leaves)
Burgers (and bought some burger buns for the freezer)

I also prepared a lot of potato wedges and roast potatoes (peel; cut; parboil; open freeze on baking trays; then put in bags/containers). Cook from frozen.

If breastfeeding, you will be starving and may need extra calories. I made a few fruit cakes and banana breads for the freezer which were great to snack on, and also handy for when people came to meet the baby.

I also craved fruit early on, and so DH cut up a big bowl of fruit salad every few days.

If you eat bread, buy lots and freeze it. Sliced bread for toast and baguettes for when you don't have time to cook potatoes/rice to accompany stews/curries.

I batch cooked enough for the first 2 weeks. I wish I'd done enough for the first 4 weeks.

Meals we batch cook and freeze are:

Spaghetti Bolognese
Chilli
Curry
Meatballs (homemade in a tomato based sauce)
Pasta bake (leave the cheese off)
Sweet and Sour
Ratatouille
Moroccan Lamb
Slimming World chips - I make these and freeze one portion of bag.

Not RTFT so presume others have already said most of these, and I'm vegetarian so may not be completely relevant, but the basic principles are all the same I try to always have the following in the freezer:

A basic tomato sauce
Chilli (I like the Anna Jones student recipe in the Guardian a few months back, which is mild and can be spiced up toned down served with rice, tortillas, tacos, jacket potatoes or pasta or topped with mash for red dragon pie. DH also likes it spread on toast....)
Bolognese - again can be used as lasagne layers or jacket potato filling or with mash for shepherds pie
individual portions of tomato and red pepper soup, tortellini soup, leek and potato soup and veg / barley broth
Delia Smith's vegetarian shepherd's pie filling

Frozen crepes (whenever we have pancakes I make a few extra and freeze them layered with greaseproof paper)
Pitta bread - great for impromptu pizza bases
Homemade scones - again whenever I make some I freeze some of the batch

bags of fruit - I buy damsons and greengages in the season and freeze for crumbles. I also usually have peeled, cored and chopped cooking apples and frozen raspberries (the only one I buy ready frozen).
my favourite crumble topping - DH and I like one with oats, dsis prefers plain, dnieces like a streusel one. If you want a pudding just stick chosen fruit in a dish with a bit of sugar (depending on the fruit) and sprinkle topping on top. No need to defrost - I just bung in the oven from frozen. This also allows you to meet individual preferences. DSis liikes apple; DH and nieces like damson; I like apple and mincemeat.
Ready made pastry

Sausages (for meat-eating Nieces) - can have as sausages, or cook and cut up to add to soup or use with tomato sauce as meatballs
Fishcakes

Oh and breadcrumbs - use as an ingredient, mix with grated cheese and sprinkle on top of bakes etc

hi,been trying to make a cheese pie,got my shortcrust pastry,rolled out put into a tin,grated my cheese...added 2 whisked eggs...added 100ml of milk,put into oven on gas mark 6 for 45 mins....was so soggy...milk floating on the top....can you tell me where i went wrong.

Stew and dumplings (basically a entire meal including stodge and veg and meat)

My favourite is chicken stew (white wine, chicken stock, chicken, carrots, celery, onions,bit of cranberry sauce and rosemary and thyme - put some chicken wings in while it's coming for added flavour)

Beef and ale (I craved red meat after both DC guess due to low iron)

Sausage casserole.

Stir fry

Gravy (if I have portions of gravy I can just chuck a chicken breast and some chopped veg into the oven to roast and agave a sort of roast dinner). Yorkshire puddings freeze well too.

Pasta sauce works well too! I make a tomatoes tuna one and can either just chuck it over pasta or turn it into pasta bake.

I will be stealing some of these myself. BBC Good food have a freezer meals book which I'm getting for Xmas.
They also do a chicken mango and bean bake which is gorgeous

We batch cook a lot

Here's how we do it cheaptastyandeasy.wordpress.com/cook-off/

Spaghetti Bolognese
Chilli con carne
Mash topped pie, this can be swapped with Bacon, Leek and Mince pie for a change
Chicken curry
Gumbo
Chicken and mushroom pie

We've recently also been doing a veggie version of cook off and that's been good.
We make a lot of soups too.

Good luck.

@itsmeagain2018, I don't think anybody's answered. Your best bet is to start a new thread and ask again on that. You've tacked your query onto somebody else's thread here, from ten months ago.

Hi,i tried making a cheese pie, got my shortcuts rolled out, put into my dish, whisked 2 eggs, grated 100g cheese,100m of milk... cooked on gas mark 6 for 45mins,and it was still soggy on top... can anyone help sort this problem help?

@itsmeagain2018, I don't think anybody's answered. Your best bet is to start a new thread and ask again on that. You've tacked your query onto somebody else's thread here, from ten months ago.

^This.

Fish pies freeze really well and you can cook them in the foil trays

Bean and sausage casserole

Soups are great for a frozen lunch

Any stew tagine or curry you fancy