Cooking for the Freezer..

got-it-spend-it

I love home-made ready meals. I use the foil tins with cardboard lids for things that need to go in the oven, so mostly lasagne, moussaka, shepherd's pie. Then I use the microwaveable plastic containers for things like bolognese, curry, chilli etc that just need a zap in the microwave.

Have you also considered a slow cooker? I've recently got one and it is great to come home to a cooked meal. Also I make double quantities and freeze the leftovers for another day.

Popperwell

5 medium foil trays and/or 10 small trays with lids at Wilkinsons £1 whichever you go for and often I can use them again...

If I buy a ready meal I save the foil tray and re-use it and that goes for the plastic trays which I use in the microwave as others on here do...

frugalfood

Hey!

Last month I made my first attempt at cooking meals for a month and freezing. I thought it went great making 30 meals for my son and I for £1 each however after defrosting/cooking I had some problems with a few.

There were issues with the veg in all especially the sausage and chicken casseroles, peppers were completely soft and rubbery, small pieces of carrots almost disintegrated and could quite literally be squashed between your fingers as with the swede although that wasn't as bad.

The sausage in the casserole was another issue, it completely mushed.

Anyone have this problem and have tips to prevent this before I start my next batch? I wasn't sure whether it was overcooking before they were frozen, overcooking after, cooking from frozen rather than defrosting overnight?

Chris25

I tend to slightly undercook my veg as I reheat my casseroles in the oven, rather than microwave & so they are going to get another 30-40 mins cooking time.

I don't think I've ever cooked & frozen a dish with peppers already in it. They do freeze well though but I always keep them separate & bung them in about 15 mins before end of reheating time

You could always use a few veggies in the casserole for the flavour so it doesn't matter if they mash up (will add texture anyway) & freeze others on their own & put in dish when reheating?

Don't be disheartened though, it's only your first attempt

spike7451

I've found that too so what I now do is undercook items like meat slightly & make a generic base with mushrooms & onions & a light gravy,then add ready frozen peppers just before cooking from defrosted.

heavenleigh

I'm by no means an expert but i've never killed anyone yet, i slightly under cook any veg and always cook straight from frozen in those tins you see in takeaways with the lids, take the lid off for the last 15 mins (everything from pasta bake to mini chicken dinner in gravy) Health warning may be needed with this post but it has always worked for me, if you can by frozen ready meals in the supermarket, why can't you make your own? x

zippychick

ive merged this with our cooking for the freezer thread

Batch cooking may also help

Don't forget, practice makes perfect

Zip

zippychick

in addition to Pinks links, Home made ready meals may also be helpful

Zip

tim_n

Well it's been a long time since I've been in this part of the forum...

After a number of years in a flat, now in a house with a back garden "allotment" and a baby on the way, we've got to cut back a bit whilst my missus is off work.

I've bought a chest freezer - it's 210L which means very little to me in terms of size - I think it's quite big compared to the little ones we've got in the house (one of which isn't ours and we're probably going to have to give that one back at some point!). The idea behind it is to store the forthcoming glut we're already starting to see - our beetroot really is getting to its top useabel size now and the mange tout and beans aren't far behind.

I'm considering buying a vacuum packer to make more space.

We enjoy curries, chilis, italian foods all of which can be frozen and vacuum packed I guess, though I've never frozen pasta in a meal. I'd like to make as much boil in the bag as possible. I'm also thinking of getting some take away foil cartons to make healthy lasagnes I can just bung in the oven.

The plan is to get the slow cooker on a few times this week and get some beef caseroles and hot pots on and this weekend get cracking making a load of curries, side dishes etc

any tips?

pjran

Hi tim_n
I use oblong plastic containers to store food and use sticky labels to write their content on the lid.They stack neatly, are reusable, microwaveable although I don't use them microwaving and are cheap to buy.
Hope all goes well with the family.
Pj