Help me fill my new chest freezer with family meals

[TheReluctantBride]

Both DP and I work full time and have DS who is 1. We eat the same food together whenever possible. I teach and so spend the holidays filling the freezer with enough meals for the term! I need things that can either defrost during the day and take 20minsish to cook or things that go in the slow cooker. So far I have:
Cottage pie
Lasagne
Fish pie
Roast chicken (SC)
Roast pork (SC)
Chicken and leek pie
I need more ideas! Help!

Chilli both con carne and vegie
Curry of many sorts
Mince pie
Shepherds pie
Beef and red pepper stew

If you freeze just the filling for shepherds or cottage pie, then by swapping the topping about you get
Pastry - mince pie
Potato - shepherds pie
Suet crust - teviotdale pie

Great thanks - never thought of suet.

When making your lasagne, you could make extra bolognaise sauce and freeze separately to have with pasta.
Stroganoff, if you freeze it before adding sour cream, once it is defrosted you can just hear it up in a pan with the sour cream added at that point.
You could make and freeze filling for fajitas, then you just need to warm that and some tortillas up.

Do roasted meditteranean veggies - they can be served as a side dish with meat/potatoes, in a tomato sauce with pasta, made into a veggie lasagna or used as the filling for a quiche.

Basically, I dice up (about 1cm dice to make it all cook evenly and reheat quickly) whatever veg I have but a reasonably "normal" batch and quantities would be:
2 large red onions
5/6 cloves garlic
2 courgettes
2-3 red/yellow peppers (mixed is nice)
large handful of cherry tomatoes, halved (maybe 20 toms?)
(an aubergine if DH/DD not eating, a large handful of mushrooms if I have them)
Season with salt, pepper, dried oregano (good 1-2 teaspoons), good glug of balsamic vinegar (1-2 tablespoons?) and good glug olive oil (doesn't need to be extra virgin, maybe 3-4 tablespoons?)
Mix them all together - if I have time to do it ahead, I will mix and put into a freezer bag in the fridge overnight and cook the next day as that allows flavours come together. Takes about 25 mins to cook at 180ish - adjust cooking times based on veggie size and oven temp (no problem cooking a bit higher for shorter, and absolutely no problem lower for longer) - it's a great dish to use up oven space when it's on for something else already.

Do you eat any spicy food at all? Your initial list is reasonably plain but curries and chillis freeze very well, and can be all sorts of different meats and veggies in them, or purely vegetarian dishes too.

I make HM potato wedges, and tend to start them off by chopping, seasoning (basic is garlic salt, pepper and then whatever suits the dinner I'm making so spices, herbs, or lemon zest etc as desired), adding a good glug of sunflower oil and microwaving (under cling film with holes poked into it) on high for 5 mins. They then get cooked in oven for 20-25 mins. But they can be frozen at the point of coming out of microwave.

How about fish cakes and other potato cakes? Flake your fish, tuna fish, crab meat etc into mashed potatoes with some spring onion, and depending on the fish, some peas, sweetcorn, maybe grated cheese. Season well. Roll mix into tablespoon sized balls, flatten, give the "flour, egg, breadcrumb" treatment and fry/oven bake. Or freeze once crumbed.

Something I also find useful is ALWAYS having a bag of breadcrumbs that I can grab a fistful as needed (I make it with stale bread that is going to be wasted otherwise). If I already have a decent bag, I will then go a step further and make up another bag with HM stuffing. A basic one - fried onion, garlic, seasoning, breadcrumbs and plenty of butter. I won't make it specifically Italian or suited to particular meats etc - but it can be used to stuff a few Portobello mushrooms and beef tomatoes as a fast dinner, or a butternut squash, or fast joints like pork steak or to put a crumb on a rack of lamb. You can adjust the seasoning to suit the final dish as you are putting it together (say adding some lemon zest and juice for fish, chopped dried apricots for lamb or lots of oregano and basil for tomatoes).

2 other things that are useful, especially if you would be using the oven, are a bag of HM crumble mix so that you can put together a desert in minutes (it cooks fine straight from frozen, just allow an extra 3-5 minutes cooking) and a roll of cookie dough that you can slice and bake from frozen (great for last minute bake sales or visitors).

Going back to savoury, I also find that having chops (pork, lamb), sausages, steaks, darnes/fillets of fish and chicken breasts and chicken joints (like part boned breasts or thighs) are handy to cook as pieces to be served as they are. But I also try to have a few bags, portioned out into family sized and 1 person sized batches, of different meats already chopped to make up stirfries or "saucy" meals in a hurry. So some chicken breasts I will chop up before I freeze, and pork chops, and also have things like prawns and squid rings, to cook quickly and leave out the chopping part as I get started.

I did have bags of plain tomato sauce made up which were really handy (and very fast to defrost as I had made them freeze flat). But I keep forgetting to make up a new batch. But great to just add meat/fish/veggies to in a hurry and serve over pasta.

Biddypop that is amazing! Thank you so much, you are right I have got very plain with my flavours! Am so keen to get into the kitchen now!

We make mince/bolognese with plenty of veg: peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn, carrots. Easy to make and get loads of portions out of it. You can have with pasta, add chilli and have with rice or jacket potato, make into cottage pie, actual pie, etc. We have small portions frozen as well for emergency DS food.

Also flattened chicken breasts and season/spice - these can be defrosted on the day and grilled, have with salad/couscous etc.

I'm really into this at the moment www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/southern-style_pork_and_91730 but I add a couple of chopped peppers and carrots, have it with mash. It is a bit more of a winter comforter but it's tasty tasty.

I find having meat chopped up before freezing means I can defrost on worktop overnight, chuck in seasoning in the morning (eg. tikka paste or (olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and herbs mixed up together) or chinese 5 spice) and give the bag a good "smush" together before popping it into the fridge for the day - then it only takes about 15-20 minutes to cook in the evening but has lovely flavor!!

OK, try this, it's very easy and delicious.

Chicken, Chorizo and Chickpea stew.

Four four people brown four chicken breasts in olive oil, chuck in a chopped onion and about four large ripe tomatoes, remove the any tough bits of core and squeeze the seeds out, chop them and sling them in, (you could use tinned tinned but do drain off the thick juice but I prefer fresh and this is a great way to use up tomatoes that have gone a bit over-ripe.)

Add some chorizo, chopped up small. Saute until the chorizo starts to soften and the oil runs from it. then stir in a squirt/dollop of harissa paste (can't say how much, some are hotter than others so be careful)

Add about half a pint of chicken stock, a drained tin of chickpeas and simmer low for about 45 mins, turn up the heat towards the end to reduce/thicken the sauce if necessary.

You can also add a couple of carrots or a green pepper if you fancy upping the veg content. Serve with couscous, mash or rice.

My quick freezer favourites are:

Macaroni Cheese
www.lakedistrictquark.co.uk/recipes/savory-recipes/quark-macaroni-cheese.html

Chicken Korma
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1897680/light-chicken-korma

IKEA Pizza
www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60196495/

Can't add much to the very good ideas already given, but I have taken to cooking a whole packet of pasta and then freezing it in portions. It's actually for packed lunches, also handy to have ready for things like a pasta salad.

Beef goulash
sausage casserole
tomato & veg sauce for pasta
fish pie

If you make a big squidgy cake (lemon madeira is my favourite) and freeze it in two-slice portions, it's great to pull out when someone calls round for a chat. They defrost in the microwave while the kettle is boiling. Always freeze from cold, though, to avoid ice (wet cake is not nice).

Freezer burritos are good - big batch of beans, protein of your choice. Wrap iop the tortilla, and then tightly wrap it in either foil or grease proof paper. Foil is easier, but obviously not microwaveable. Whack in the oven(in the foil) for about 20/30 minutes or until warmed through. I wouldn't add dairy or salad to the freezer batch, but it can go straight on the plate.

A couple of home made quiches are good in the freezer. If cooked- just leave out on the side before you go to work. If not, stick in oven for 30 mins to warm up. You need a bag of salad and some coleslaw to go with it.

I keep meaning to try something like this:Slow cooker meals

My favourite at the moment is Jack Monroe's Peach and Chickpea Curry
here

agirlcalledjack.com/2014/09/02/jardaloo-ma-murghi-curry-with-apricots-22p/

When I cook it I make double quantities so that I can freeze half to eat another time. It feezes well. Serve with rice.

I work so I like to have meals that take no time to prepare as well as having some in the freezer. I keep lots of chicken fillets in the freezer and then make up various recipes dishes (either night before or in morning but they have to be quick ones) that need baking in the oven. I leave the dish in the oven and set the time to come on 30 minutes before I am due home. I then just have to cook up potatoes and veg.

Two of my favourites.

1. Night before take out as many chicken breasts as you need (I use three for the five of us) to defrost over night. In an oven proof dish mix together Apricot Jam and Mayonnaise (you'll have to guess quantities, but enough to coat the chicken). In the morning cut the chicken up into chunks (I use scissors) and add to the mayo mix to ensure chicken is coated. It needs 35-45 mins of cooking at 180, so put it in the oven and set your timer.

2. Night before get your chicken breasts out of the freezer, one per person this time. Slice up mozarella ball (or balls) and put back into fridge, covered. In morning put chicken in ovenproof dish, spread pesto over the breasts. Lay a slice of mozarella on top of each breast. Chuck in a load of cherry tomatoes. Put in oven and set timer. It will need around 35-45 mins of cooking (although remember that the first 5-10 minutes your oven will be getting up to the correct heat). You can do the same with salmon fillets.

Ishouldcocoa thank you for that link - those recipes look fab and what a great idea!

My DD and I love Baked Ziti. It's hard to find ziti here so you can use any tube shaped pasta, we use rigatoni. Cook the pasta according to package directions -5, so if it says cook for 10 minutes, cook for 5 instead. Then mix cooked pasta with tomato sauce. I use pasatta then add lots of carrots, peppers, onions, etc. cook until veg is tender, then puree for my tomato sauce. If you'd rather you can just double up on a Bolognese sauce instead, I like to keep it veggie to keep the cost down. Add half of your pasta to oven proof dish you need quite a big one if you use a whole package of pasta, then put two tubs of ricotta cheese spread evenly over the top. It won't have the same consistency, but for cost you could use cottage cheese instead, which would still taste nice. Add the other half of pasta on top of the cheese and then top with shredded cheese, we use cheddar and mozzarella. Sometimes if I have leftover spinach I add it into the pasta. My DD is an extremely picky toddler and absolutely loves this dish. When I use one package of pasta it normally makes about 8 adult potions and 6 toddler portions.

Only my DD and I eat the normal meals I make, so I tend to make big batches and then freeze them, which is nice so we can have separate things which makes it's less of a hassle. Any kind of shredded meat and sauce I find easy to take out, in individual portions and then can be added to any kind of carb, pasta, potato, rice, bread, etc. Then frozen veg on the side.

www.theyummylife.com/shredded_beef

this is delicious, and works with rice, as a filling in wraps, with coleslaw and jackets, anything really! Tone down the spice for tiddler though, unless they have a taste for it already

I make vats of white sauce, cheese sauce, tomato sauce and bolognaise sauce. Also, apple sauce and cranberry sauce. Vats of the stuff, then freeze in bags.

And, soups - always make a huge pot and freeze half.

Oh, and stock. Gallons of the stuff.

Meatballs work well, specially with turkey mince.

and, yes, yes, yes, to freezing breadcrumbs.

So, not so much recipes, as the stuff to construct meals from. Sanity saver.

Cheese sauce freezes well and I have grated cheese in bags in the right amount for the sauce recipe that I like to do. This means that I use up the ends of cheese just grating in the magimix, no waste.

Also, make breadcrumbs, toast, freeze - they can be used straight from frozen.

Ratatouille - I love making this in batches when aubergines and peppers are cheap.

Chorizo and bean stew, delirious and super easy to bung in the slow cooker or do on the hob. Fry onion and garlic, bung in chopped chunks of chorizo, I add chunks of
Red and yellow pepper too, add a couple of tins of beans (whatever you like, I like haricot and belotti the most but anything works, even chick peas) chuck I'm a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes, cayenne pepper and smoked paprika, black pepper (I don't use salt as LO eats what we eat). Simmer or cook in slow cooker until everything is tender. Voila! Serve with rice or whatever you fancy and a dollop of yogurt. Delish!

This is the best and most delicious curry and it freezes like a dream:

Lamb & Plum Curry by Camellia Panjabi

All her curries are fantastic, but this is so unusual and perky. Divine.

I make loads of bolgnese sauce and freeze. Can easily be turned into chill con carnes with the addition of cumin, chilli and kidney beans.
I make gallons of soup.
I also freeze leftover cooked rice and pasta. So on a busy night I will pull some cooked spaghetti from the freezer, throw it into a large bowl with a kettle full of boiling water, microwave the meat sauce, make a salad while everything defrosts/ heats up. Home made dinner on the table in 10 minutes.