Healthy meals that can be cooked from frozen?

Archer0710

This may not even be possible but are there any meals that I can cook from scratch, freeze and then cook through from frozen?

Yet another night here, my dinner has been snacks....in this case Ham slices and crisps as I was late home (work, medical appt, then dogs walked and fed before I even consider myself) and my dinner plan went out the window. I have chilli, spag Bol curry etc in the freezer but not thawed.

This is a common occurrence as my not so Dh is in the forces and plans change at the drop of a hat and I am too old to keep eating rubbish.

Either that or suggestions for basic quick meal building blocks that don't go off.

I am an ok cook but my education thought Latin was a more useful life skill than cookery:rotfl:

flutterbyuk25

If you have the meals already in your freezer, then do you have a microwave?

I can come home from work/busy day, put kettle on, put rice/pasta/spagetti on to boil and whack the spag bol/curry/chilli in the microwave for 8-10mins. Pasta/spagetti will be cooked by then, rice a bit longer. Dinner on table within 15mins

Could you get the bits out of the freezer before work? or even before you walk the dogs? It will defrost more then and be even quicker to cook. Even on a stove top it won't take more than 20mins to defrost and cook spag bol etc?

Or make a big pan of pasta/rice on Sunday to eat with next few meals? Should last up to 3 days in fridge. I freeze both, though some say you shouldn't freeze rice.

HTH

Linda32

Hi, May I ask are you in for tea every night? (regardless of the time you actually do get to eat it) Rather than being out late and getting something whilst you are out.

If it is the case that you always have tea at home, at some point, you can still have your frozen meals but take them out of the freezer the night before and then they can defrost over night and be ready for tea the following night.

For instance you can take your spag bol out now for tea tomorrow.

cornishchick

i freeze alsorts of meals. always cook double basic mince and onions, defrost in the micky then add either tomatoes for spag bol or frozen mash :eek:!! on top for quick cottage pie,
also freeze left over pasta so even quicker. home made soup is frozen in single portions for work lunch, taken out before bed to defrost.
search for batch cooking, its a big thing in the USA but there is more and more info out there.

tryingtoruletheworld

I don't have a microwave and try to keep some things in the freezer that can be cooked from frozen for those days I haven't planned ahead or things change unexpectedly. I tend to stick to things I think will be 'safer' to defrost and cook in one go, like veggie curry, soup and bread rolls, vegetable stew, pasta sauce, pesto, home-made pizza/calzone, home-made potato wedges, and home -made nutty/beany burgers.

Another thing that you can buy or make yourself are the individual building blocks like frozen chopped tomatoes/peppers/mushrooms/onions/garlic etc, which make it super speedy to make something like a risotto or pasta sauce without any prep.

Butterfly_Brain

Like cornish chick I make a basic mince (mince, carrots and onion) and just add tomato puree for bolognaise or top with potato for a cottage pie.
When I make a beef stew/casserole I always make enough for three or four meals worth because stew is better when reheated and because the initial cooking time for mine is at least two hours on a gentle heat, so it saves on fuel as well.
I roast a joint of meat (beef, pork or lamb) slice it up and freeze in meal sized portions, then it is just a matter of a gentle reheat with some gravy or a sauce of choice.

Nicki

I work on the basis that any ready cook meals which can be cooked from frozen can be adapted to homemade meals of the same type. So I would cook a chicken pie, a cottage pie, lasagne etc from frozen, just give it an extra 15 mins or so in the oven and check it is piping hot all the way through by sticking the tip of a knife in the centre and checking how hot the knife is when you take it out. The common denominator I think is that all the meals I cook from frozen, the meat inside is already cooked so just need to be sure it is reheated to a high enough temperature to kill any nasties.