Family freezer meals

[verybusyspider]

Following on from 'back to work' thread I'm trying to get organised (and reduce stress) can I have your suggestions for best meals to batch cook and freezer for week day meals - so far I have
spag bol
chilli
cottage pie
fish pie
lasagne
chicken curry

quite mince based! any other ideas?
Does cooked pasta freeze ok ie pasta bakes?

Any stews are good to freeze, so chicken, pork, beef, veg stew etc

I've found that once pasta has been frozen it heats up soggy.

But, you could throw a pasta bake in the slow cooker the night before then turn on as you leave for work.

yeah I though pasta did that, what do you add for a slow cooker pasta bake?

stews! of course!

I would make your own pasta sauce and freeze that. Then it's easy to just cook some pasta, throw on the sauce and put it in the oven. Or just cheat and buy the pasta sauce jars but add in some extra veggies.

I also sometimes make a big cheese sauce and freeze that, then all you have to do is add some macaroni and frozen peas and stick it in the oven to make a macaroni cheese.

You could cheat and use a jar of pasta sauce, add some chopped veggies, pasta stir it up and sprinkle grated cheese on top, then just turn it on low.

forgot to add dh can't have wheat (so corn pasta) and ds1 has restricted dairy so making is better although more work! jars and fresh, shop bought, pasta would be a great time saver

ok, so corn pasta mixed with some chopped veg and a tin of chopped toms?

I am in the middle of doing this too.

BBC food's website has some freezer friendly recipes.

I have your list plus...

Lamb Tagine
Shepherds pie

I make huge quantities of thing like white sauce (now need to do dairy-free version as I've discovered I'm intolerant), pasta sauce etc and freeze in handy portion sizes. I always have (lactose free) grated cheese & breadcrumbs in freezer to add to things.

Our freezer meals are mostly casserole based, but burgers (meat or veg) and fishcakes work well too. Soups are also good.

I tend to freeze some of what I batch bake, but we mainly eat leftovers the day after I've made them - it saves the effort of packing things up for the freezer.

A keema curry would freeze well (mince, peas, potatoes if you like and whatever curry spices/mix you would normally use).

Meatballs will freeze well too, as a change from spag bol (or in gravy with mash, although DP thinks I'm a bit weird for that one!).

If you do a roast at the weekend, do a larger one than you need and freeze the leftover meat in gravy (that stops the meat drying out in the freezer) to go with potatoes during the week.

I make meatballs in a tomato sauce with paprika and red peppers (bit like goulash) which freeze well - cook from frozen for about 45 mins as I make in foil trays from supermarket. Lots of stews. Chicken cacciatore works well. I am happy to eat pasta which has been frozen in the interest of it being easy when I get in from work.

I used to buy lots from www.cookfood.net now I often read their list of foods and then make my own version

Another option for mince is to make up a shepherds/cottage pie mince but use cooked cubed potatoes instead of mash.

Defrost then add cheese to the top and bake for about 20 mins until cheese is golden. Known as Mince Bake in our house

Quiche freezes really well and can then be cooked from frozen.

potato bake freezes well and is another oe that can be put straight into the oven from frozen.

Some of my freezer standbys:

Lentil and saussage hotpot

Lamb and borlotti bean casserole

Mashed potato

Burrito / Fajita filling mix

Also homemade pasta sauces frozen in big icecube trays then popped out into plastic bags for easy portioning. In my freezer are cheese sauce, roasted red pepper and cherry tomato sauce, bolognaise sauce. Then you just need to make some pasta and maybe throw in some vegetables with the pasta water.