Stocking up the freezer - Does anyone do this? And with what?

[SpookyAlice]

I really want to get our freezer stocked up for the winter. DH has some busy months at work coming up, and with a toddler and 2 horses i am kept very busy. I enjoy cooking but some nights it is just another very time consuming job that needs doing when i have other stuff that i want to do, or i am struggling to get dinner ready and occupy my DD.

I have ordered some books from the library with soup recipes in, but what else do i make?

Your recipes/ideas would be greatly appreciated

star6 You save so much time by batch cooking. I simply take out the frozen meal the night before, put it in the fridge, it defrosts slowly, and the next evening it's ready for the stovetop or oven. Easy peasy.

And if we had a microwave, it would be even easier to take out a portion, defrost in microwave and eat.

That makes sense Cies. I'm going to try it for a week.

Thanks all

Today i have made a load of carrot/onion/celery soup (4meals worth)
1 batch of fairy cakes
3 meals worth of beef stew

This week will do bolognese and shepherds pie.

Am intrigued by individual omlettes, may have to give that a go

work ft so we batch cook.then put in bags.take bag out defrost in fridge over night

spag bol sauce
chilli
puttenesca
pasta sauces
lasagne
shepherd pie
soup,soup,soup
risotto
fish
daal
curry

batch cook is way to go

So, do you just cook the meal as you would for a normal meal. For example, Risotto. You cook it and the vegetables and then just put it in a plastic dish or a bag and freeze it in portions? Does it need to cool first? Does it still taste the same after being frozen? How long does it take to heat up? How long does it last in the freezer? I'm vegetarian, so not concerned about meats going off or anything.
Sorry so many questions. I want to try this for this week.

cook it
let cool completely
portion up
bag it label and date

This is very exciting! Both Dh and I work ft and this might just make our evenings much less hectic!
Thanks!

it genuinely helps.work ft too.i also menu plan

Yesterday I made roasted tomato sauce for the freezer (using lots of cheap market veg). I roast a couple of large roasting tins full of quartered tomatoes, chopped red peppers, a chopped onion and a few cloves of garlic, lots of salt and pepper and olive oil. Roast at gas 7 until the tomatoes are soft and black at the edges, then blend in the food processor and freeze in freezer bags as it takes up the least space. Then when I want to use it I can either leave it as it is or add chilli, basil, roasted veg, tomatoes, marscapone etc.

The only thing will be meals for DS. Sometimes he eats the same as us but sometimes I tend to make him something different as he's just 12 months and still worried about salt levels not that we use much salt, just things like the vegetable stock.

made my baby food too.freeze ice cubes.v cost effective

If you defrost in the fridge overnight you also save energy as the coldness of the frozen food contributes to cooling the fridge.

At 12m I would not worry too much about stock.....or if you are, you could make your own and freeze it, as I have been doing lately It only takes half an hour for veg stock and is far nicer than anything you can buy.

home made stock. so easy.any ole veg,onions,bouqet garni.boil and simmer 35min

i dont cook with salt or add salt. use herbs instead

I'm going to try that. I think I'm past the ice cube stage for baby food as he can eat most solids. He's just so fussy! We don't use salt either. Just what's in stuff like stock, but making my own would help.

star- you can buy v low salt stock cubes by Kallo at sainsbury or Holland and Barrett- they do vegetable, chicken, or beef- I use these in any cooking the DC are having. But sm's way is probably better

I often freeze leftover portions in children sizes- I use the Avent via cups leftover from expressing bm... they are the perfect size for a portion for my dd (3yo).
Would yoghurt pots be a good size? dunno about lids though.

Am v intrigued by freezing omelettes- something I'd never imagined!

I keep an ice-cream tub in the freezer with things like the cobs from roasted sweetcorn and the ends of carrots and vegies that are wilting but I'm not going to have time to cook.

When I do roast chicken, I stick the bones in a stock pot along with all the veg bits and pieces and let them boost the stock.

You'd think I was raised during the war.

I am seriously jealous of freezer space also. Am still campaigning for a little one for our basement.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned but I also keep prawns in there, I buy on special or get from oriental shop in big bags. Ikea also sells lots of interesting frozen things that I always mean to try. It's worth spending time in the freezer aisle of super markets, it's AMAZING what they freeze.

I tend to use my freezer for glut of veg from the garden, some I do something to, other's just freeze as they are.
I also buy some convinience food like oven chips, and frozen veg is always handy to have around.
I think batch cooking is great, but there are some things that are more worthwhile doing that with than others. Lasagne is a good one, because it is pretty labour intensive and therefore it makes sense to bulk cook. I also make up pastry when I can, and either freeze it in balls or line tin foil flan tins etc
Bread is always a good thing to have emergency supplies of too. Some one else mentioned fish cakes, and I think this are ideal for freezing as they are actually a bit of a flaff to make, so why not make loads and they freeze well. Same could be said for meat balls.
I also freeze panacakes, muffins and things like that, when I am in a baking mood. Shortbread freezes really well and defrosts very quickly (maybe because of the butter?)
I do freeze bones for stock and sometimes stock too.