Cooking for the Freezer..

skader

Hello thenanny2die4

Plenty of good ideas on the thread already, but a few things that spring to my mind

- cooking large batch of curry veg, lentil, meat whatever, and freezing into plastic takeaway type boxes individually. They can go from freezer to microwave very quickly, and could be served with micro rice or naan. You could go a step further and bulk cook rice and freeze, have read on these boards you can but have never done it myself.

- pies/lasagnes etc cook and then freeze again into individual portions as above

Will try and post later when I can think of more ideas

trolleyrun

You can get cheap take-away style tubs in poundland or similar shops. Perfect one person portion

How about soups, shepherd's/cottage pie, chilli, stroganoff, and casseroles? Where I get my tubs from, they sell two types, round ones and rectangular ones. You could put the veggie dishes in one type and meaty dishes in the other. Soups are very easy to do, I usually make Potato & leek, Sweet potato & aduki bean, Spicy pumpkin, and Carrot & coriander soups.

Good luck with the refurb!

thenanny2die4

Thanks both of you for your suggestions. We recently got a local Poundland so I'll nip down there and see what they have in the way of tubs.

I'm feeling downright virtuous now as I made DH a moussaka for dinner and split it into thirds. He had one portion and I've frozen the other two in takeaway tubs I discovered in the cupboard, so that's two down...

cheesedoffwithdebt

I just bought some containers off Ebay to freeze single portion meals,. £6 for 30 plastic containers- the measurements seem ok, I did nearly die when I had paid in case I'd missed the detail and ordered sizes fit for Lilliput but apparently not.
Just thought I'd share!

I've just started batch baking main meals and can't believe how much it's saving me.

trixie888

Will start doing this.

Chris25

thenanny2die4 wrote: »

I'm looking for simple to reheat recipes and also advice on how best to freeze. Obviously I can't put metal in the microwave so that scuppers my initial thought of using individual meal sized foil containers.

you could use the foil containers to put in the freezer. When you want to use the meal, take out & and when the contents have slightly defrosted, you can push them out into another bowl or dish that can go in the microwave. The foil container can then be washed & reused.

Useful if you only have those rather than the plastic type containers as you've got portion size sorted & they stack neatly in the freezer.

Chris25

trolleyrun wrote: »

You could put the veggie dishes in one type and meaty dishes in the other.

that's a brilliant idea, why have I never thought of it

I have pots that have either blue or clear lids that you can use, so I could put veggie lasagne, into clear & beef into a blue lidded one.

My labels keep coming off in the freezer. Recently, I took out what I thought was roast chicken in gravy & ended up with chicken stock! Have also had mashed celeriac instead of parsnip - which is ok though; not as bad as not having any meat to reheat when you thought you did.

dibuzz

As long as you don't end up with apple pie and chips or steak pie and custard.

cornishchick

Re labeling in freezer, I have 2 different approaches,
approach one, wrap frozen block in foil, apply label then put in freezer bag, this means if the label does come off it is still in the bag so no steak pie and custard.
number 2, i found that a permanent marker on the clear part of the lid (not the rough center bit) stays on the plastic in the fridge/freezer, but, wipes off with a tissue when you're finished,. I think the process of freezing changes it's structure. If you know what I mean.

hope this helps.
X CC

[Deleted User]

Hi MSE's,

I am new to living within my means, I have always ate like I'm earning 4 x my salary. I have cut down a lot in the past few months and I a looking for recipes for bulk cooking to freeze and reheat to save money and time.

I have been cooking and freezing spaghetti bolognese (just the sauce) what else could I do this with?

Thanks in advance
Aiden