A Freezer to Fill

DebtFreeMrsC

Hi

I have been lurking on the boards for some time and trying to be more old style but I am ill (long term, not critical) and struggle to do things like cooking from scratch. I need to reduce my grocery bill, whilst eating healthy (current diet terrible!) and being very easy.

To help me out, as she knows we have debts, my mum has offered to buy us a chest freezer and fill it with stuff. (She is extremely kind and would probably pay off our debts if we asked her to, but she knows we want to do this alone and just wants to help get us on track)

So I'd love some help and advice on what to fill it with - and where to buy the stuff from. In my head I'm thinking 'cheap cuts of meat to use in a slow cooker' but Tesco only has popular stuff and the butchers seems expensive.

At the minute we are living on stuff like oven chips and chicken keivs that you just throw in the oven and do nothing with - I have no energy to chop stuff so it needs to be simple. Also husband can only cook curry and works long hours so thats only an option on a weekend! He is trying and learning but needs baby steps!

Thanks in advance
MrsC

Linda32

I'm sure you will get lots of replies, but if it is possible you could make a really big batch of curry. Possibly using two saucepans at a time.

You can then divide this into batches and freeze. That way you have an home made "ready meal".
I have never really mastered curries but I do this with mince based meals or pasta meals. I defrost on the fridge overnight for the following nights tea then re-heat.

I do gas mark 6 for 30 minutes, by which time its bubbling away nicely you would know your oven.
Whilst this is in the oven, obviously you would cook the rice to go with it then.

HTH

Penny-Pincher!!

I bought 6 Halal chickens from Tesco recently on BOGOF, so worked to £1.60 each. They were only 1100g but fine for the 3 of us for a roast and the carcass could make stock for soup or gravies?

Batch cook:
Shepherds Pie
Chilli
Spagbol
Curry
Stew
Fish Pie
Sausage Casserole

Im not a very well person either and although I don't get to cook anymore(hubby does it all and sometimes DD who's 17), I am in charge of the meals etc we eat. Generally we eat well, but we are in a routine of batch cooking and also prepping spuds and veg in the morning which takes 10 minutes, so everything is ready for dinner. They also last well in the fridge for a few days, so you could do a lot in one go when you're feeling a bit stronger.

Mealplan too, so that you can utilise everything and plan ahead.

I got this from Lakeland and its been great to batch cook most the above items

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/15854/Bag-Master

Hope that helps a little.

PP
xx

Pink.

Hi DebtFreeMrsC,

As it's shopping advice you are looking for I've moved your thread over to the Food Shopping and Groceries board to see if you can get more help with filling your freezer.

Pink

babyblooz

Things that work well for me is to buy mince when its whoopsied or reduced and make it in spag bol using the slow cooker. I do passata, tinned tomatoes and tomato puree and take the edge of the acidity with a glug of sugar (it does work) and then throw in chopped up peppers, onions, mushrooms, whatever really and then freeze it in margerine tubs because they stack up really well in the freezer. Add a bit of garlic bread and there you go.

I also make sausage pasta with a tomato based sauce and throw in again onions, peppers, peas, mushrooms, sweetcorn etc. and then freeze that away as well. Again, I buy the good quality sausages when they are whoopsied!

Soup is made with dried peas and scraps of ham left over from other meals, (my favourite one for winter!) or if the veg is just looking sad in the fridge then I cook it and puree it and add it to the sauces of things like spag bol etc.

Another tip is to make up a batch of pizza dough and then tie portions up tightly in a poly bag and then store these little bags it in a biscuit tin with lid in the fridge. The dough does continue to rise up even in the fridge, hence putting it in a tin to contain it. It does look a little like a scene from ghostbusters if you don't put a lid on it! Tomato puree, grated cheese and a couple of sliced cooked sausages and you have a 'takeaway' style meal in minutes, and the kids usually like to make it for themselves.

I make a rather nice gravy with gently sauteed onions and freeze that as well. I use the little ice cream tubs from Aldi that I recycle.

Another thing I sometimes make is rice pud using the slow cooker. It takes the same amount of time to make 8 portions as it does 1 and it tastes soo much better, especially if you get whoopsied milk.

A trick is to label the tubs with masking tape (it doesnt come off in the freezer) and is mega cheap if you buy it at pound shops and the like.

Also if you like fish and chips with mushy peas, then make your own mushy peas at home and portion them out and freeze it away. The trick with these is the seasoning, I use sugar and salt and pepper and chopped mint! They are so much nicer than and shed loads cheaper than buying at the chippy and warm up in the microwave without even having to dirty a pan.

I work full time but get school holidays off so I tend to use the time to make my life a bit easier during term time. I have a husband who eats like a horse and prefers my food to eating out so it's worth a bit of effort, but effort when I feel like it, rather than starting cooking from scratch at the end of a busy day when all I want to do is sit down and have a cuppa.

GreenFairy

Butcher's meat is more expensive, but in my experience it's much better value. There is much less waste (fat or stringy bits to cut off) and the meat seems to go further - especially beef. Due to having good marbling and having spent time hanging it's a lot richer than the bright red stuff.

You also get the option of buying exactly the bit you want, how you want. I have no problem asking my butcher for six chicken fillets bagged in twos or a kilo of mince bagged in five portions (or whatever amount needed for meals) and he's more than happy to oblige. I can pop it straight into the freezer when I get home with no messing, weighing and no waste as there's nothing left lingering in the back of the fridge, forgotten.

The butcher can also give you great suggestions on ways to cook cheaper cuts that you may not have considered as well. So yes, it will be more costly than the supermarkets, but you'll do much better out of it long term

Edited to add: Also bear in mind things that take a long time to cook versus things that take a lot of attention to cook. Bunging some meat and veg in a pot for a stew takes only a few minutes, much like putting a chicken in the oven. They may take an hour or two to cook, but the work for you is minimal. The other joy is that they'll feed you and hubs for a couple of days, so next night is just reheating.

Chris25

I have a lot of mince in my freezer - pork & beef, usually. The pork I mix with beef to make a sauce for pasta or I make it into meatloaf or meatballs. And the beef I also use on it's own in cottage pie.

Some of it is frozen raw & others frozen after a big cook, divided into batches.

I've been prepping the veggies whilst watching Olympics & it's surprising how quickly I get through it when I've got something else to concentrate on

You could chop onions, peppers & mushrooms, for example, & freeze in small bags, ready to mix with mince or fish when you feel well enough to make something. If you did this a little at a time, you could soon build up a stock of ingredients.

Likewise potatoes - if you cook & mash enough to top a pie & freeze it, then if you had some cooked mince in gravy, say, you would only have to top it with the potato & you have a cottage pie.

ZsaZsa

I find sainsburys bags of chopped veg great, much nicer than lots of other brands of veg, for a base for dinners if chopping is an issue. They do bags of chopped mushrooms, onions etc. They also do a bag of mixed chopped onion/celery/carrots which I use as a quick dinner with mince for cottage pie or spag bol.

They also do a bag of chargrilled med veg, dead simple to roast with a couple of chicken breasts and cook some cous cous.

kittycat204

I feel bad you were moved, your question really has 2 parts. I would post the "help with easy meal type question" again.

In the mean time I saw this a while ago and reminded me of your predicament. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4097201

If your OH can cook curry then I would say he can cook most things. Curry is hard to master.

"So I'd love some help and advice on what to fill it with - and where to buy the stuff from. In my head I'm thinking 'cheap cuts of meat to use in a slow cooker' but Tesco only has popular stuff and the butchers seems expensive."

Cheap cuts can be chicken legs and thighs, pork belly, mince, always a winner, offal if you enjoy it.

I love this idea of preparing slow cooker bags for the freezer. Yes it takes time you might not have but if somebody else has time to freeze and bag onions, toms, carrots etc it makes it easier for you to chip some off and throw them in.

TBH, don't under estimate those dry stew mix things. Or a pasta bake sauce. Not ideal but quick and easy and better than chicken kiev and chips.

Keep looking round the OS board I'm sure you will find lots of ideas.

Hope you feel better soon.

DebtFreeMrsC

babyblooz wrote: »

Things that work well for me is to buy mince when its whoopsied or reduced and make it in spag bol using the slow cooker. I do passata, tinned tomatoes and tomato puree and take the edge of the acidity with a glug of sugar (it does work) and then throw in chopped up peppers, onions, mushrooms, whatever really and then freeze it in margerine tubs because they stack up really well in the freezer. Add a bit of garlic bread and there you go.

Thanks for this - I never thought about spag bol in the slow cooker. I have a really big one so I think I could get at least 10 portions into it. Have you ever tried using frozen feg in it?

Another thing I sometimes make is rice pud using the slow cooker. It takes the same amount of time to make 8 portions as it does 1 and it tastes soo much better, especially if you get whoopsied milk.

ooh. That sounds nice. Do you use the same recipe as for in a pan, or does it need to be amended for a slow cooker?

Thanks
MrsC

DebtFreeMrsC

GreenFairy wrote: »

Butcher's meat is more expensive, but in my experience it's much better value. There is much less waste (fat or stringy bits to cut off) and the meat seems to go further - especially beef. Due to having good marbling and having spent time hanging it's a lot richer than the bright red stuff.

Thanks for this - I hadn't thought through the whole quality thing properly, but now you have said it it makes perfect sense. HUsband more likely to accept less lumbs of nice meat in his stew!

You also get the option of buying exactly the bit you want, how you want. I have no problem asking my butcher for six chicken fillets bagged in twos or a kilo of mince bagged in five portions (or whatever amount needed for meals) and he's more than happy to oblige. I can pop it straight into the freezer when I get home with no messing, weighing and no waste as there's nothing left lingering in the back of the fridge, forgotten.

Thats a brilliant idea! The only time I managed to drag myself to the shop for a massive stock up the meat was in my fridge for 2 days before I felt up to packaging it and putting it in the freezer. This way I can just throw it in!

Edited to add: Also bear in mind things that take a long time to cook versus things that take a lot of attention to cook. Bunging some meat and veg in a pot for a stew takes only a few minutes, much like putting a chicken in the oven. They may take an hour or two to cook, but the work for you is minimal. The other joy is that they'll feed you and hubs for a couple of days, so next night is just reheating.

This is exactly the sort of thing I need. I don't need instant food, I just need minimal intervention. Thanks for setting my thoughts off in the right direction!