what freezer food can I make for pescatarian new mum?

[LowLevelWhinging]

I would usually take the obvious lasagne or shepherd's pie or something.

So what can I take for my pescatarian friend who is BFin every two hours bless her?!

I can do a nice lentil soup or lentil chilli, but it doesn't seem that substantial. Or is that just the carnivorous side of me speaking?

Could take frozen fish fillets and pre-made breadcrumb mixture (breadcrumbs, herbs, oil, pepper, salt, garlic, parmesan, lemon juice) to put on top and bake for 25 mins (plus spuds and salad).

Any veggie dish would presumably be gratefully received - veg lasagne, shepherdess pie (cottage pie made with lentils instead of meat), paella? (have no experience of cooking this or any idea if it is good when frozen).

Or get them a voucher for somewhere that does gourmet frozen meals so they can choose their own?

Low I'm a meat eater and today I made a chick pea and spinach curry...believe me I was stuffed afterwards!

This fish stew is gorgeous. Make the base, maybe go easy on the white wine if she's breast feeding, then chill before you add the tomatoes, chunks of raw cod, and frozen raw prawns, then freeze. She'll need to defrost it fully then simmer for 8-10 minutes to cook the fish and prawns.

Ooh, yes and fish pie! Yum!

on the voucher idea or you could go there yourself the shop Cook is really good if you have one near you. It's an upmarket Iceland!

ooh, I'm so not confident in cooking fish. I've made fish pie before but it ended up with dry, rubbery fish! Anyone have a good recipe or tips please?

and how does cooking and freezing prawns work, do they end up like bullets?

I've never heard of Cook, we're Ooop North...

have bookmarked that stew Stase, it looks hellish to me, but I hate fish! I reckon she would love it though.

Veggie curry
Fish pie
Pasta bake
Macroni cheese
Salmon steaks with pesto, Parmesan and bread crumb crust, new potatoes and ratatouille parcelled up in foil
Prawn curry
Toad in the hole (veggie sausages)
Soup
Veggie moussaka (replace mince with lentils)
Quiche
Frittata
Spinach and cheese curry (paneer)
Butternut squash and goats cheese risotto

Thai curry (veggie or prawn)
Spicy tofu noodles

Prawns freeze fine. You can buy them frozen! Just don't refreeze previously frozen ones.

Dhal
Chana masala
Apple crumble

We eat a lot of veggie food in this house!

She'll eat veggie, too, so a roasted vegetable lasagne would work well. Maybe take a few extra bags of frozen roasted veg (peppers, red onions, courgettes, aubergines) so she can throw them into a simple pasta and sauce dish of her own. Green lentil moussaka is delicious and takes all the same seasonings as lamb.

I'd be careful cooking and refreezing prawns, actually - even the ones you buy on the fish counter are usually prefrozen. Probably safer to make the curry base and supply frozen prawns to add when re-heating.

And don't cook-chill rice dishes. Toxins. Nasty.

And, if you're not entirely confident with the cooking, M&S vouchers might go down well. M&S ready meals plus lots of extra veg got me through my first few weeks with baby DS2 and uber-bouncy toddler DS1.

this is great thank you!

I know she loves salmon, K8 do you have a recipe for the salmon and pesto?

although, maybe a veg lasagne and a dahl or something would be nice and safe.

I would go with a Veggie lasagne I think. It takes a while to make so she's less likely to make herself and you can pack with nutritious veg.

Fish is good but also v quick to cook ( prawns few mins, seabass few mins fried, salmon pop on oven and ready quick), so easier for them to do themselves.

Maybe make the lasagne into those individual foil containers then they can eat some and freeze some as they choose, and can cook from frozen. Take some easy to eat snacks maybe like some homemade muffins or fresh fruit

I just take a salmon steak or fillet, spread a teaspoon or so of red pesto on top, add a thin layer of breadcrumbs over the top of the pesto and grate on Parmesan. Wrap it in foil and bake in the oven. You can even stick cooked new potatoes and veg/ratatouille in around the salmon inside the foil.

Dead easy!

Fishcakes are good too. I buy mine off the deli counter.

When I make fish pie, I cut all the fish up/add prawns (if using) then place raw in a dish, make a white sauce, season as wanted, tip on the fish, top with mash and then bake. Fish doesn't take long to cook, so pop in the oven for about 20 minutes and it's done.
I'd agree that if she likes veggie food, that can take longer so something nice like roasted veg lasagne or a curry would be thoughtful.

thank you so much everyone.

loads of ideas for me. I am nervous about cooking fish, but I might be brave!

I lived off aubergine parmigiana when I first had DS. Not homemade, from waitrose but would definitely have appreciated that in my freezer!

Otherwise I agree veggie stuff probably better. Veggie lasagne would be v welcome round my way as it's fiddly to make but easy to heat.

Sorry if I wasn't clear on the prawn instructions! Chill the base, then add the still frozen, still raw prawns to the base, with cod and tomatoes, then freeze the whole lot. So the fish as prawns are cooking from raw. Does that make sense? Agree its a bad idea to defrost, cook, freeze, thaw and reheat! I'm a chef for people who have cancer, so very aware of food safety!

This Jamie Oliver Fish Pie is really easy to make as it has no white sauce and it freezes well.

I wouldn't bother cooking then freezing fish for defrosting and heating, it's likely to be overcooked at some stage in the process. Fish is quite delicate.

Veggy lasagne is really comforting and is the sort of thing you don't make yourself when busy, so I second that, and freeze it into individual portions. If she likes quorn, make a big batch of bolognase sauce, that can then be served with pasta, spiced up with chilli, served over baked potatoes (if she doesn't like quorn a tomato sauce with chunky veg can serve the same purpose). I did this for myself before I had DS and it was a lifesaver!