Batch cooking/freezing small portions of things

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One of my DC is going to be getting home a lot later now and I need to have handy freezer dinners in single portions for them.

If I made a curry and divided it into multiple containers, would I do the rice separately or could I put some rice in first then the curry on top?

Might be overthinking it but just want it all to be really handy for them to microwave on the go. 🙏

You can buy individual microwave rice portions. I live alone and use them all the time with my batch cooked meals. I'm thinking vileda but that's a cleaning thing, but have a look when you're next shopping, online or in store. They come in a snap pack of two portions. About a minute in the microwave.

Veetee rice ^^

I put them in the same container but side by side if that makes sense, then it's easy to scoop them out separately once cooked and put them on the plate in a slightly nicer fashion than already looking like mixed up leftovers!

Thanks for the Veetee tip. I’ve bought them in the past.

the separate portions. You just treat them like microwave meals and cook from frozen?

Yes side by side for me too! Cook from frozen.

I have a rice cooker and it so easy. I don’t like the precooked pouches as they have salt and oil in them and don’t taste as good .

I would eat them on the go for a quick lunch.

I dont cook from frozen - I'm never 100% sure of what is ok to cook from frozen so I get it out the night before and put it in the fridge for 24 hours. Added bonus is that that's good for your fridge's efficiency because the frozen food lowers the temperature inside.

Or you could do a meal in slow cooker ?

Be careful if freezing rice. High risk of food poisoning from rice that has been cooled and reheated.
I believe cooling it quickly is recommended, cook as normal and drain, then rinse with cold water until cool. Not sure the safest way to reheat. But cooling in this way stops rice going soggy.

I wouldn't risk storing my own cooked rice. Just get the packets of rice.

Just use those Tilda rice pouches

reheating rice is not recommended due to risk of foot poisoning from bacillus cereus.

Basmati rice freezes beautifully. If you’re good at cooking it in the first place, and it is very easy, just let it cool down and bag in little pouches or even one big bag and then you can crunch off whatever you need. Stick in the microwave until it’s hot. Usually c1min fir one person

Of all the things I freeze and there are many curry is my favourite for a quick individual meal. I have small little clip containers and I do one of curry sauce, one of rice and one of cut up cooked chicken so i have all the elements for a quick curry. I don't like them all mixed together beforehand as they just need different timing heating in microwave I find. I pop the block of curry into large glass jug, give it couple of minutes, stir, add in chicken and back into microwave for another couple of minutes, might need an extra minute or so depending on power of your microwave. I pop the block of rice (which was cooked and cooled as mentioned by cold water as soon as cooked) onto a plate and into microwave for couple of minutes until piping hot. At that stage then the curry is perfect as the standing for a couple of mins has evened out the heat and let it all get to correct temp.

Rice is perfectly fine to freeze and reheat if you do it right.

I do similar with mashed potato but I freeze it in scoops, again it needs heating separately and mixing to get back to right consistency. Little tubs of stew then are handy enough to thaw/heat to go with the mash. Any roast meat can be sliced and frozen in gravy for another alternative, I particularly like lamb or pork for that. Couple of ice cubes of frozen apple sauce then with the pork is lovely.

I freeze with portions of cooked rice as well

Reheated rice is fine. Restaurants don't cook rice portions to orders...

As pps I put it side by side. Cook batch of tice, cool very quickly. Cool the currh, then put in container and freeze.
I know this will give many heebie jeebies but in hot weather, I run the cooked rice under cold water to cool it nice and fast. Then let it dry off a bit and then pack for freezer.

Just an fyi these packet rice are also precooked...

I've never used them, but I've seen videos using something like this: https://www.lakeland.co.uk/26995/souper-cubes-silicone-freezer-tray which seems really practical for just popping out individual portions of a big batch cooked meal. You can do a few trays with different meal components, then mix and match a complete meal from them.

Yes I have some of these and they're great, just the right size for a single
portion of bolognese/soup etc

You know those microwave plastic containers you get from the Chinese takeaway?

I freeze my own dinners in those.
Sausage mash and onion gravy
Stuffed peppers
Curry and rice
Leftover roast dinners
All sorts of stuff.
Stuff with gravy or a sauce works best though.

They stack really well in the freezer.

Cook in the microwave from frozen on defrost for a bit first, cracking the lid open to let steam escape. Then microwave as usual.
Or, I don't have a microwave so I flip them out and put them in my Poundland ceramic dishes, cover in tin foil, in the oven on low for 30 minutes, then turn up to 190 for 30 minutes.

Pasta is just as dangerous as rice for reheating btw. You can leave it out to cool for an hour or 2 at room temperature before freezing safely.

Rice is fine to freeze it just need to be cooled quickly and not left on the side for 2-3 hours. It’s safe to go in the fridge at 20*c and within one hour of cooking. Remove from cooking container and stir occasionally until cool. Put in fridge within one hour.