A Freezer to Fill

DebtFreeMrsC

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

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

I wonder if mum might also agree to a day's batch cooking with me?! Although its a 4 hour drive from her house, I could sell it her as a mini break from Dad!

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.

This is what I need to get into - good routines. I think mum is hoping that a freezer might kick start that for me!
Thank you for your help and advice
Mrs C

DebtFreeMrsC

Chris25 wrote: »

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.

Husband likes this idea! He says he may even be able to manage it with supervision LOL. He is now thinking of boxes for each type of veg that he can throw a couple of bags into every so often.
Thanks
x

DebtFreeMrsC

kittycat204 wrote: »

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

Thanks - I put it in the old style section because I was thinking of it in terms of using the freezer like a store cupboard and I'd seen discussions about that on there. But I've had some great ideas on here too so I cannot complain!

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

Brilliant - thanks. Its ME that I have and there are some great ideas in that thread.

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

Agree. And bless him he tries! He just needs lots of practice and recipies!

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.

I think husband will be good at this if I write him lists.

Thank you so much for your ideas. I've just emailed mum and sent her the link so she is now in full planning mode too!!

MrsC

Chris25

DebtFreeMrsC wrote: »

Husband likes this idea! He says he may even be able to manage it with supervision LOL. He is now thinking of boxes for each type of veg that he can throw a couple of bags into every so often.
Thanks
x

good for him and with a selection of frozen veggies and some passata or tomato puree, you can top a pizza base for a quick meal.

Carrot & swede or parsnip mash is good frozen too - I use less milk in the mash before freezing, so that it's quite stiff.

kittycat204

DebtFreeMrsC wrote: »

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?

This is the recipe I use

Rice pudding in a slow cooker

Serves:!4
• 110g (4 oz) pudding rice
• 55g (2 oz) sugar (granulated or caster)
• 25g (1 oz) margarine
• 1.2L (2 pints) of milk (whole, semi skimmed or skimmed)
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinamon/nutmeg
Preparation method
Prep:!10 mins |!Cook:!5 hours

Put it all into the slow cooker, stir it and turn it on to high and cover. After about an hour stir it then you can leave it till it has finished!cooking. Add jam, syrup or honey to taste. but will also taste fab on its own. Hope you all enjoy - let me know what you think of it.

Pasted from <http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/7190/traditional-rice-pudding--my-mum-s-way-.aspx&gt;

chardonnay_2

hi, if your mum wants to come with you and fill your freezer your best bet will be farmfoods if you have one close. (or similar) farmfoods do vouchers 2.50 off £25 and £5 off £50. you can print these out. they sell some branded stuff but also have deals on packs of meat like 3 for £10. might be worth taking a look.

OrganicNancy

Would you eat frozen meat? I know Sainsburys do frozen mince and chicken as my parents get it. They do a wide range of frozen veg and fruit also- you wouldn't believe some of things you can freeze!

Batch make things like:
-Spag bol
-Chilli
-Meatballs
-Chicken curry
-Cauliflower curry
-Beef curry
-Shephards pie
-Cottage pie
-Fish pie

Don't forget you can freeze things like milk and juice so if you see it on offer- stock up! UHT milk is obviously cheaper than fresh. Squash is cheaper than fresh juice, supermarket brand pop is cheaper than brand names. Remember to look out for fresh meat offers in the supermarket. I was in Tesco earlier- it was £4.50 for one packet of extra lean mince or £7 for 2, so I brought six of them- we don't eat mince much so it will probably do us for the year and has cost us £21 instead of £27- not much maybe but it adds up! Use supermarket brand- remember to look on the bottom shelves and do your sums. Just because those packs of kitchen rolls are mark as £3 and the ones on the bottom are £3.50- look at them! The more expensive ones on the bottom probably have more in them! Again I looked for kitchen rolls (we had ran out :eek) and it was £2 for 4, or £3.20 for eight on the bottom shelf.

Do you have any pets? Feed them on biscuit and not food, works out cheaper. If they are hungry they will eat it.

babyblooz

DebtFreeMrsC, I do sometimes empty the odds and ends of bags of frozen veg into my creations, but not too many because they seem to dilute the sauce a little and I like mine to be really rich and flavoursome, hence adding tomato puree to things. Its a bit of an experiment to be honest, but you are cooking with real food, not chemicals so there's not much can go wrong really.

For the rice pud I just use any old recipe for the quantities but bung it into the slow cooker to cook as it seems to make it more luscious, especially if they have channel island milk on the whoopsy section lol.

I also put a sponge cake mix over the top of stewed windfall apples, blackberries, rhubarb etc. I double up on quantities and bake it in big yorkshire pudding tin in the oven then section that up and freeze it away for the winter. There's nothing like home made pud with hot custard for perking you up when you come in from work on a cold winter evening. Especially when its homemade and you know exactly what went into it.

DebtFreeMrsC

OrganicNancy wrote: »

Would you eat frozen meat?

Absolutely! If its real meat then its a massive step up on the processed rubbish I'm surviving on at the minute (I think it hurst more because before I got ill I cooked everything from scratch and took pride in every meal)

Do you have any pets? Feed them on biscuit and not food, works out cheaper. If they are hungry they will eat it.

Yes two cats. They did the drop a brand challenge with me earlier this year and are on (almost) the cheapest biscuits in the shop.

Thanks so much
MrsC

DebtFreeMrsC

chardonnay wrote: »

hi, if your mum wants to come with you and fill your freezer your best bet will be farmfoods if you have one close. (or similar) farmfoods do vouchers 2.50 off £25 and £5 off £50. you can print these out. they sell some branded stuff but also have deals on packs of meat like 3 for £10. might be worth taking a look.

We have one a few miles away - but we get leaflets through the door. WIll have to dig out the coupons. Assume you can double them up (i.e. use two £5 ones if you spend 100?) Or I suppose just split the shopping and pay twice!