Beginner proof Freezable or Re-heatable Recipes

[Niceproblemtohave090]

So I am aware this is a very nice problem to have hence the name change, I am not in the UK and have a wonderful full-time employee who does the house work. She is keen to expand her skills and learn to cook and I keep promising to teach her and then never have time so I recently arranged some classes at a local college, she loved it and is now much more confident in her ability to follow a recipe but the recipes they taught weren't hugely practical for the routine we have.

I am looking for recipes that she could make during the day that can either be frozen for the weekend or put in the fridge to be reheated later. She finishes work at 3 pm to collect her children from school and we don't eat until 7-8 pm most evenings.

I have already taught her basics like tomato sauce, bolognese, braised meat etc. so looking for some more adventurous perhaps veggie or chicken-based options. Could even be half a meal which I prepare fresh veg or pasta etc. to go with.

Disclaimer : could we please keep it to recipes and not an attack on expats with staff that often happens on such threads. I promise she is paid a fair wage and treated in the same way I would expect to be treated by an employer.

Lasagna in little foil trays is always a winner!

Chicken dishes

• chicken soup, always lovely to have to hand
• peanut butter chicken / chicken curry
• chicken casserole
• chicken and leek bake
• chicken pot pies (or any chicken pie!)

Veggie dishes

As all above but with veggies! Veggie shepherds pie would be good, all veggie curries - even veggie burgers pre made and frozen? Does she have any local dishes that might work, given you're an expat I'm assuming you're not based in the UK - might be some lovely specialities to the region you're in.

If she's keen to expand, frozen baked goods are always a winner. I make cookie dough and freeze in balls so whenever I fancy a fresh cookie I can just pop a ball out and bake one at a time! Incredibly satisfying mid afternoon on a terrible day 😊

Lots of things can be made in advance and reheated (especially if you have an airfryer).

What about looking up recipes for:

Roast chicken - serve it cold/room temperature with bread or salad? She could make the salad in advance as well.

Chicken tray bakes - without the veg as they might go soggy, so just the chicken. They can be put back in the oven for 10 minutes to heat up.

Stuffed vegetables - the prep work can all be done in advance then they just need the final cooking in the oven. There are about 100 different versions of stuffed peppers alone (I recommend Greek style ones).

Soups

fajitas are good - half the effort is all the fiddly toppings that she could do and leave in the fridge, make the core "sauce" and then you just have to heat up the tortillas and possibly fry some chicken/steak/halloumi.

Similarly - I sometimes make mince for tacos and leave on the stove, prep all the toppings and then as people come in they throw a taco in the air fryer and away they go.

I like the RecipeTinEats website for family meals, a lot of them are freezable

Quesadilla filling there is a beef and a vege version

lamb massaman - could also use shoulder

Pulled pork needs to be frozen with pork & juice separately, then defrost both and fry the pork with the juices but this bit is quick

short ribs I use Guinness/stout instead of red wine but either works

butter chicken curry

I often make a big batch of chicken katsu and then freeze it. Really quick in the air fryer when we want to eat it.

Where are you? - what's the climate?
If you were in the UK or if you're somewhere in Northern Europe I'd suggest getting a slowcooker. Good for batch cooking to chill/freeze for later, but also perfect to be left on Low when she leaves ready for you when you get in.

I follow TheBatchLady on Instagram and her recipes are fairly simple and easy to do. Also do you have a slow cooker - maybe your housekeeper could use that so you have a meal ready for when you get home.

Thankyou for all the suggestions, perhaps an air fryer is in order! I did consider a slow cooker but decided against it as our power is unreliable we loose mains several times a month for hours at a time and I didn't want to risk food being put on and either the power going off meaning it has to go to waste (although i'm sure the dogs would love it)

I freeze left over bolognaise and curry and anything else that's not going to get eaten in the next few days

Things that can be prepped in advance and then you do the final stage later:

Pasta bakes

Tray bakes

Pies

Roast veg (you warm up and eat with feta/halloumi etc and pasta/couscous)

Marinated meat eg honey & soy chicken

Stir fry - she can chop the various elements and cook some rice leave in fridge, you then fry it all up