Ideas please...

lowesy

Hello all,

As I've mentioned my SD1 is off to Uni in 3 weeks living away from home for the first time. DH and I be driving her down there, and I think her mother and grandmother are taking care of material stuff, but I (in the position of evil stepmum ) thought it would be good if I could make her a load of "ready-meal" type things for her freezer.

Now this is where you lovely OSer's come in I usually freeze stuff like bolognese sauce and chilli etc but I never freeze the carbs to go with it. What's the general consensus on this? I know shop bought ready-meals have rice or pasta in them but what do they heat up like?

Also, do we think it's ok for her to bung HM ready-meals straight in the microwave from the freezer? If I'm using some bolognese that I've frozen I always defrost it throughout the day so don't know.

Also, any other ideas for good HM ready-meals would be gratefully received.

TIA xx

THIRZAH

Her freezer space may be limited so why not just make the chilli, bolognaise sauce etc as usual,freeze in individual portions and then give her a couple of packets of rice and pasta.You could make lasagne or pasta bake if you do want to include carbs in the ready meal.

I used to give my DDs a few individual size tins too-chilli beans, tinned toms, soup etc and a cake is always a good idea.

Hellyboo

I freeze small amounts of leftover pasta and sauce etc for my toddler and quite often forget to defrost them and cook from frozen in the microwave- they do come out ok, but tend to dry up a little bit. Lasagne does better than fusilli or spaghetti for some reason, maybe because the pasta is mostly covered by the sauce? Maybe ou could make them more saucy than usual, for a real HM treat? I'm sure she'd love it!

When I moved away to uni my friends made me up a big "student hamper" full of tins and jars, 'luxuries' like chewing gum and cider, and of course a can opener!

radiohelen

I know it isn't freezing meals with all the nurture that entails but I saw something the other day that made me wish it had been around when I was a student. Sainos are doing a card you can load with cash that can only be spent at Sainos. You can reload once she's spent it all.
It struck me as blinking marvellous and would put paid to that dreadful week at the end of term when we lived on rice, baked beans and a bit of old cheese. (I distinctly remember picking up a load of old veg off the floor at the market that week and making a soup. Rice, cheese and beans can get REALLY boring for breakfast lunch and dinner.)

flipperOSN

I freeze pasta in lasagne quite often and I've not had a problem. Perhaps that's an alternative (if a bit more fiddly). I don't think there's a problem cooking straight in the microwave, but it must be hot all the way through.

I used to freeze rice sometimes as a lazy student but I know now that it can be dangerous if not frozen/reheated properly so perhaps that ought to be avoided. Cooking boil in the bag rice might be an option? Pricey but I don't know how well your DS1 does at cooking!

radiohelen - oh that last week of rice and soy sauce! I don't miss it :rotfl:It's amazing what combinations you can come up with if you have to though.

dreamyd

I agree with Hellyboo - a crate full of non-perishables (tins, rice, pasta,etc) which can be kept in her room (at least until she susses out the people in her corridor) might be a good idea. A box of HM biscuits might be useful as an icebreaker also. You could also find out what her nearest supermarketmight be , and slip her a small giftcard, especially if it takes a while for the finances to settle down.

flabadabado

When I was living in Halls (6ish years ago) freezer space was extremely limited. As was in all our student houses. Tiny individual portions would be good, rather than big tupperware boxes etc. The gift card is a brilliant idea - we used to buy beer, vodka, ciggies etc etc... All courtesy of well intended rellies lol. Toilet roll is a good thing to pack in the survival kit, plasters (theres always someone who cant use a kitchen knife!), treats like HM biscuits and a nice airfreshener. Oh and a pack of cards - such a good ice breaker for freshers week! We still play all our student drinking card games. Ahhh I miss being a student! Oh and its worth remembering that not all uni's provide a microwave x

babyshoes

Is she living in halls or sharing a house? What cooking facilities will be available? We had a microwave and fridge, but no separate freezer and were not supposed to use the micro for 'proper' cooking, only reheating or for snacks. Jacket potatoes in the micro were a favourite - a bit of butter/mayo/cream cheese is perfect on top.

I remember that the person with the best hot chocolate and cake/biccies in the corridor was always everyone's best friend, until it was finished! If you have a costco card, you can get huge tins of Options hot choc, which I love as a chocolatey treat which is fairly low on calories.

Rotwein44

Yes I agree, even in SC accomodation sometimes there is hardly any fridge/freezer space and depending on how many use the facilities food can disappear! BUT a box of non-perishables is always appreciated, things like:

rice
pasta
small tins of beans, spaghetti, veg, fruit
tins of tuna, soup
packet mixes of sauces, stock cubes, soy sauce, gravy granules crackers, biscuits
plus loo rolls, disinfectant wipes, air freshener spray
tea bags, coffee and bottles of squash

Also tinned new potatoes ha ha! Its amazing what you can do with them!

At least that way she can keep them in her room - in the wardrobe or under the bed and dig in when she has no money. Plus if you buy big bags of pasta etc and heavy things like tins and bottles it saves her from carrying them back from the supermarket!

Oh and we didnt have a microwave - they had to be bought separately but then you can get them for £30 so this could be a Xmas present!

Rotwein44

You could always do a HM food delivery or send her back with some after Christmas, when you know what facilities she has!

lowesy

Thanks for all the ideas so far. She's living in a shared house so will have a bit more room for manouvere so to speak!