Home made ready meals

studentgirl_2

Morning all, Im looking for a bit of help. Im a mum with 2 boys. I work full time. I often dont get through the door untill 6.30 and then have to cook. I have decided to start to make my own ready meals, that then just need to be heated when I get in.
Any ideas would be most welcome. Iv come up with cottage pie, stews, fish pie. chilli. quite boring really.
I must say im a bit scard of freezing cooked meals. Should I use those foil trays HELP

hot.chick

ok -why does freezing cooked meals scare you???

Also what does your family like to eat??

penguingirl

I'd stock up on some cheap tupperware for the main reason that you can then cook it in the microwave!

In addition to the ones you've suggested I stock my freezer with bolognaise sauce and curries.

I cook them in the normal way and once they're done I portion them out into my labelled tubs (include date made). I then pop them in the freezer once they've cooled (a couple of hours later). To eat them I try and pop them in the fridge the night before or in the morning to defrost, but sometimes just defrost them in the micro. I then re-heat them in the microwave on full heat for probably about 5 mins (stir regularly and check it's piping hot).

Linda32

They all sound great, and freeze fine, although I've never made or froze a fish pie. I'm not saying you can't I just never have, for no reason whatsoever.

So this is what I do with other things, lets say you have made two lasagna's (I do a mushroom one as well which stays in shape IYKWIM)

When I say two, make sure they are in decent sizes dishes so you get 4 portions out of one dish, not much point otherwise

Leave to go cold, about ½hr.

Cut into four and put into washable plastic boxes, this is just what I use, one you've bought them, you can wash out and use again. Addis / Lock and Lock - although these are expensive.

When they fell cold, (about a further ½hr), put lids on, make sure you've sorted out the lids first

Label the lids, do this because you won't remember

Pop in freezer.

Then, lets say you want lasagna for Wednesdays tea, take out Tuesday tea time and leave in fridge to defrost.

Use a fish slice to slide lasagna into oven proof dish and in my case gas mark 6 for 30 mins does the trick, you know your oven.

:T

Cheapskate

Hi studentgirl

I've used those bags from Lakeland you can put soup, stew, or anything 'wet' into. I think they come in a few sizes. I've defrosted them in the microwave (packaging says you can) until they're just about liquid again, then put in a pan to finish off reheating. If you use those foil trays or your own dishes, just take them out of the freezer the night before or first thing in the morning - as long as they're not in a place that's too warm (& so bacteria breeding) they'll be ready to pop in the oven at teatime. A lot of people on here have slow cookers - I'm hoping to get one soon - so you can bang stuff in before you leave the house & it's ready when you come home!
I think a lot of meals are quick to cook, it's just the preparation that takes time. What about chopping the veg/meat etc in the morning or night before, for stuff like stir-fry, then it's ready to go & will be ready in minutes?
Got loads more ideas, but don't want to bore! Hope this helps.

A xo

Pink.

Hi Studentgirl,

As your thread has fallen down the Old Style board I've added to an earlier one on homemade ready meals that should help. These threads should give you some ideas too:

Cooking for the Freezer..

Batch cooking ideas please

Meal building blocks for the freezer

Pink

lou2604

Hi..
I am going away for the weekend ( Friday til Tuesday) to France to see my lovely nan :j Its just me , my mum & sis going in the 1 car..
Anyway, what I would like to know is what can I do to my help OH feed the family over wkend! I can cook pretty much everything ( I have learnt alot from this site over last 2 yrs!) The only thing is Im rubbish at the whole frozen thing.
What I had in mind was doing sort of easy, HM, 'ready meals' that will feed them all and be easy for me to prepare for them.
There is my OH & 2 boys ( 2yrs and 8yrs) the 8 yr old is at his dads saturday morning til sunday afternoon.
Thanku in advance...

bluebag

Right, it's men we are talking about here so best keep it simple or OH will have a mighty whinge on when you get back instead of telling you how superbly he coped without you. I would do a combination of HM and frozen foods for ease.

A large spag bol with a few oven wedges and garlic bread.

Curry and rice with naan.

Pizza and oven chips with salad.

Corned beef hash with beetroot/red cabbage and crusty (part-baked) rolls hot from the oven.

Chicken casserole with a pastry top and mushy peas.

Will post some more later when I've had a think.
Have a great trip by the way!

Pink.

Hi lou2604,

I would go with what you normally cook as most meals (or their components) freeze well. If there is anything that you're unsure of just post here and there will be someone who can offer advice.

If I was going away for five days I would probably leave a bolognese sauce, casserole, lasagne, shepherd's pie, soup and quiche etc in the freezer.

These threads may give you more ideas:

Home made ready meals

Cooking for the Freezer..

What foods can/can't you freeze?

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Have a lovely time in France.

Pink

meritaten

when my MIL was ill I used to cook up batches of her food and freeze it in foil containers for her to heat up (or rather for whoever was caring for her at the time). I found the following the easiest to heat up.
Cheese and potato pie - simple, just bung in the oven for 45 minutes for a large foil container (the oblong ones).
casserole with rice - put the rice on the bottom and as the casserole melts it keeps the rice moist!
casserole with mash - opposite here! put the mash on top and then it gets a lovely brown crispy top!
I got inspiration by looking at the ready meals in the freezer section of supermarkets! If they can freeze it YOU can too!