Making 'homemade ready meals' ?

[littleducks]

Following on from the other thread in chat, i wanted to make a list 'homemade ready meals' that we could make and reheat quickly

I can do stuff like make an extra portion of spag bol/ shepherds pie etc and freeze but they can still take a good while to 'cook'.

HOw do you make your own chicken nuggets/fish fingers do you freeze raw or cooked?

annabel karmel is your lady - her meal planner has been slated on MN but she knows what she is doing and sounds right up your street. look her up on amazon

I have frozen homemade meat balls, chicken nuggets, fish cakes, etc. bboth from raw and from cooked.

If using previously frozen meat or fish you need to cook it first, let it cool down and then freeze.

If it is fresh meat or fish, you can freeze it from raw.

I make chicken nuggets and freeze them raw.

Agree Annabel Karmel does have some good ideas for these things.

Really, i got given a Annabelle Karmel leaflet from tumbletots and it was all a bit 'artsy' for me, bugers sitting on spaghetti swirl 'hair'

I can make chicken nuggets/goujons to eat immediately, but havent got a clue how to get them to freeze and then how to reheat them

So i could chop up raw chicken, dip in flour and egg and then freeze raw? How would i cook from frozen, what temp/timings?

no, she was prob trying too hard there; look at these

www.annabelkarmel.com/recipies

sorry, here

www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes

ok just noticed the chicken pie with a face but the fish pie is the best ever, honestly

Not for freezing but my easy 'standby' is fresh linguine, passata, ready to eat seafood, spinach leaves and lemon juice. So tasty and takes around 5 mins maz.

Slow cooker can be good too - do the prep the night before and just chuck in and turn on in the morning. I make loads of casseroles/ chilli etc like this.

If you make chicken goujon/nugget things, what I do is thaw them in the fridge and then cook as fresh.

I make meatballs, meatloaf, pasta sauce, chilli, curry, burgers, soup, stew etc. for freezing. Also these things, which the children like:

chilli dog bake

chilli
hotdogs
tortilla wraps
tin tomatoes with peppers and chilli or a jar of salsa
grated cheese.

Spread a tortilla with a couple of tablespoons of chilli. Lay a hotdog in the middle and roll tortilla up. Lay join side down in a tray, continue, in a single layer, until tray is full, pour over the tomatoes or salsa, sprinkle with cheese, cover with foil and freeze. Either defrost and cook for about 20 mins at 180 or cook at 160 for about 1 hour until heated through.

tortilla bake
chilli or taco spiced mince
grated cheese
3 tortillas

lay a tortilla in the bottom of a 9 inch foil pie dish.Top with half the mince and just less than half the cheese. Add another tortilla, the rest of the mince and more cheese. Top with a tortilla, sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Cover with foil and freeze. Cook from frozen at 180 for about 45minutes or so until cooked through, or bake for 25 minutes if thawed.

Chicken tortilla bake.

cooked chicken (probably about 12oz-1lb), chopped into bite size pieces
tin condensed tomato soup
tin chopped tomatoes with peppers and chilli
bag tortillas, cut into little squares about 1 inch or so
grated cheese

Mix everything except the cheese together. Pour into a 9 inch foil pie dish and sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil and freeze. Bake at 180 for between 45 minutes and 1 hour until cooked through and bubbly.

You can make this one with cream of chicken soup and apple juice instead of the tomato sauce for a different kind of flavour.

Also quiche which you freeze before cooking, pancakes (seperate each one with a layer of baking parchment), muffins, individual little ommelettes.

If you remember to take things out the freezer the night before, they won't take any longer to cook than a ready meal.