Freezing meals - do's and don'ts

[curlingandtwirling]

This month we are skint. So in order to save money and for convenience and I going to try and cook up loads of meals this weekend and freeze them.

I have bought some plastic tubs in preparation and will be making the usual chilli, curry and soups, but looking for suggestions for cheaper meals that I can batch cook and that freeze well.

Things I'm not sure about - cheesey sauces and rice.

I need meal ideas too. Quite like the egg fried rice suggestions in other threads, but does this freeze?

I'm not a very good cook, as you can probably tell!

Can any provide me with some inspiration please?

Because I had called him at work, and got him to come home for 'a bit of a stomach bug'. He thought I was being melodramatic until he saw me. Food poisoning could never be that bad, he reasoned. He is godfather to my three children and we are very close! And I have never been melodramatic either.

He sounds like a good friend, fox! I have heard that food poisoning from rice is one of the worst kinds you can get - glad you were ok in the end!

He is. Very gay, which is why we aren't married! Live your name by the way.

As well as labelling your dishes, make a freezer list to stick of what's in there to the side of your fridge/freezer. Makes it a lot easier when you meal plan to see what you have and what you might need to add to your shopping list to go with it.

I have frozen portions of rice (ready bought) which can be a time saver. You can also freeze bread, crumpets, muffins etc.

Chillies can be frozen and used straight from the freezer.

thanks fox!

I have that problem with DH.

I'll make a big batch so some can be saved and he just keeps eating til there's barely enough for an amuse bouche!

Vegetable (but not vegetarian) lasagna

Tomato sauce (can use for pasta too)

4 tins tomatoes
3 red peppers from a jar
two tablespoons of capers
8 anchovy fillets
one large teaspoon sugar
big handful of basil
lots of black pepper
olive oil (quite a bit)
crushed garlic - 3 cloves

Bung all in slow cooker on low for 3 or 4 hours. Blend.

Vegetables

3 courgettes
2 aubergines
2 red/yellow
2 onions

Cube (1cm), toss in olive oil, season and roast until slightly blackened at the edges.

Cheese sauce

Teaspoon french mustard
Half tub of cottage cheese
Tub of fresh sour cream
Two tablespoons of parmesan
Handful of grated cheddar.

Combine, microwave, stirring frequently until melted. Add water to loosen if too thick.

Assemble lasagna. Cook. Portion out. Freeze.

Cheap(ish) and delicious and not hideously unhealthy. The tomato sauce is bloody gorgeous on pasta on its own, especially with chillies added.

Argg - should read 'cream cheese' not 'cottage cheese' and 'red and yellow peppers'.

Pandora452 that gammon 'pie' sounds great!

How do you cook the veg and you clearly freeze mash?
And what container do you freeze it in? Is it in the container you will cook it in?

May I just lay [flowerw] of awe and respect to all of you.
My freezer is full of stuff that I can no longer Identify.....
(Hangs head in shame)

sorry

Also, the best moneysaving thing I ever did was to buy all my bread already sliced and to freeze it straight away, I never throw it out any more.

I'm going to busy this weekend .

Does anyone freeze fruit? Obviously chopped into a fruit salad or something? We seem to waste a lot of fruit, start off with good intentions but it still gets wasted.

How about cooked bacon?

I use lots of frozen veg. For anything that isn't locally in season it works out cheaper and the frozen stuff is as nutritious as fresh. I have frozen brocoli, peas, carrots, various types of beans, peppers, courgettes, onions and garlic (the last two more for conenience as sometimes I cba to peel and chop). I also use tinned tomatoes when not in season.

I also use frozen fruit but only to use in something cooked or maybe a sauce.

I make compote-there's lots of bramley apple trees in fruit at the moment so I stew lots of them chopped up with a few berries or raisins plus sugar which makes freezable compote that we have with yoghurt/ice cream/porridge/ stir through muffin/cake mix etc

Useful thread! Will be trying the chickpea curry and gammon "pie". DH is King of Mash.

For fish pie to freeze, doesn't the fish get overlooked when reheated? Can you do the same thing with fish as you can with meet (defrost frozen fish, make the pie, freeze and reheat the pie) or is that dodgy?

Fish pie is popular but an arse to make!

Crumbles easy to batch cook.

Does anyone freeze fruit?

I freeze top and tailed gooseberries and chopped up rhubarb in freezer bags in crumble sized amounts. I don't bother to stew them first. Simply tip the fruit in the dish (don't bother to defrost), sprinkle with sugar, and whizz the topping up in the magimix, very quick prep.

I also freeze our massive glut of strawberries every year. They defrost pretty quickly in a pan with a bit of sugar, taste like the old fashioned tinned ones, quite nice on cheesecake and also fine for jam.

Thanks for the freezer bags tip. I've been and bought some today and am going to transfer from containers into bags to create more space. My freezer is choc a bloc - or so I thought..

The pie started off for using left overs from a Sunday but as its so nice we have made it "just because" too :D
For the pie we use left over gammon, shred it and put it in the bottom of the dish, but have also just boiled one specifically for this/cold for sandwiches. I fry off the leek in a bit of butter and then add it in. For veg, sometimes we just use left over veg/frozen peas, or we lightly steam it so its still crunchy as when you heat the pie up it continues to cook, stir/toss to mix then pour on a cheese sauce (generally use homemade although I have used packet in the past - make it thicker then you would to pour it as it waters down a bit) then top with mash. Freeze at this point or chuck in the oven (with or without cheese on top!)

I haven't posted a proper recipe because there isn't really one - its as much gammon/veg as you have or want! It might be quite nice with sweet potato mash too thinking about it :)

You can get round the rice food poisoning issue by buying rice pre cooked in packets. The type you get with uncle ben because they are already treated to stop the food poisoning/ toxin issue with cooked rice.

Please note it's not adequate to reheat the rice thoroughly. It is a toxin produced by bacteria. The bacteria are killed off but not the toxin (which causes a vicious stomach bug) isn't

I have been cooking and freezing rice for over 30 yeards. I cool leftovers quickly and freeze within hours.

No problem. How would you make fried rice dishes otherwise- you need to use cold cooked rice for that.

You need to cool the rice really quickly by running cold water through it and popping it in the fridge.

I don't cool using water- would make the rice too soggy.

Has anyone got a great macaroni cheese recipe for freezing and reheating? I have loads of cheese to use up and Mac and cheese is my favourite!