A Freezer to Fill

rachbc

sorry should have explain - yes freeze spread out on a tray then bag up so you don't end up with a big block of beans all stuck together

rachbc

Tomato sauce is a good one to make in batches - really simple just onion, garlic (carrot and celery if you like) and tinned toms - cook slowly for a good hour or more til its dark, thick and reduced. Use as is, with a tin of tuna or soem bacon with pasta, on a pizza base, as a sauce to pan cook chicken or fish....

Meatballs are another - make a load, brown in the oven then open freeze. Serve with the tom sauce, pasta and cheese. Or add spcies to the sauce and have with rice, add a few chickpeas and veggies and have with cous cous. 3 different meals from 1 set of ingredients.

Penny-Pincher!!

I swear by Ocado frozen and fresh meat and you can get some great offers when combined with a £15 off voucher and cash back through Quidco. Even their frozen veg and fruit is okay.

We also like the tinned peas (4p value range from Tesco etc), tinned sweetcorn and even on occasion have had the tinned carrot but only as a last resort. Value bags of frozen veg which are usually under £1 are not too bad and will have quite a few portions in there.

Soups freeze well and are good for lunches with rolls or toast.

Just wondering and you don't need to answer, but please make sure you're getting everything you're entitled too and maybe even an OT assessment by your local council for support etc.

PP
xx

kittycat204

Have you got a processor with a chopping attachment? I don't use one myself but Jamie does when doing his 30 min meals. So when you were in the mood you could just feed the basic veg in, then freeze.

DebtFreeMrsC

rachbc wrote: »

sorry should have explain - yes freeze spread out on a tray then bag up so you don't end up with a big block of beans all stuck together

Thankyou! It makes perfect sense now you explain.

DebtFreeMrsC

kittycat204 wrote: »

Have you got a processor with a chopping attachment? I don't use one myself but Jamie does when doing his 30 min meals. So when you were in the mood you could just feed the basic veg in, then freeze.

Yes - I have a magi-mix but never thought of using the blades for chopping. Will dig them out of the back of the cupboard and make some good use o it!

cheltenhamgal

The Economy Gastronomy book also details what things to keep in your "pantry" or storecupboard. It was a series on TV a couple of years ago
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Economy-Gastronomy-Better-Spend-Less/dp/0718155726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343993870&sr=8-1
You can get a used one from £2 plus postage
or
the episodes can be watched here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m1c34

:beer:

cheltenhamgal

Or just found the recipes on this website which I also love for cheap nutritional meals

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/economy-gastronomy

Edwardia

Iceland has lots of pre-prepared decent frozen veg and most are only £1 a bag so I think chucking veg in the freezer yourself is only worth doing if the stuff you are buying costs less per kg. You could get member of your family to go at the end of a market to get cheap stuff for soups, I once got a whole tray of tomatoes for £2.

Our freezer conked out and we got a new one in December so I went through all the websites and made lists of the special offers on meat, fish and poultry.

If you want to eat healthily but can't cook much, in reality you either have to teach them to cook and/or buy the better ready meals on YS anytime you/they see them and freeze.

If you/they are going to pre-prepare veg then I'd strongly suggest boiling down the veg water (not from spuds) to make stock since over days a lot of the vitamins will leach out of the veg into that water. Also means you don't have to buy stock cubes. Once made, you can stick it into ice cube bags when cool and freeze.

Connie

This is such an interesting and useful thread!

Edwardia and flippin36 have both mentioned "YS", and I can't for the life of me think what it means. I'm sure it'll be blindingly obvious once you've told me!