our freezer is tiny!

hopefulmoneysaver94

Me and my boyfriend live in a studio flat (Seperate toilet, bathroom and kitchen) so our kitchen has spaces for a "under the counter"fridge and washing machine.

we have a fridge, but the freezer is one of those tiny ones at the top, And I'd really like to cook in bulk to save us money, as boyfriend is in debt

Any ideas?!

tanith

Would you have room/money to buy your own separate freezer? If not then there isn't much you can get in such a small freezer.

lindseykim13

You could batch cook pasta and have that for lunch during the week, pretty sure it's fine in the fridge for 4-5days.

redfox

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babyshoes

Any batch cooking you do will need to be fridge meals for the next few days, rather than freezer ones unless you can find space for a separate freezer. Ask on freecycle/freegle, then if no luck look on ebay for ones near you to collect.

I often make pasta and sauce, stews, curries etc for supper, and double/triple the batch to make a few lunch meals for work. Most things will last several days in the fridge if it is properly cold. I think official advice is 3 days, but I fairly frequently eat 5-6 day old leftovers with no problems, mainly because I forget how long they've been there. I use my senses - look, smell and taste to decide if it's safe enough to eat.

If your fridge and freezer are small, don't waste space on things which will store better in the cupboard (or maybe under the bed) uncooked like rice and pasta - just cook those as you need them.

katylou6180

In my opinion a thing for you to do would probably be to take things a bit at a time, I batch cook weekly on a sunday after shopping on saturday to last in the fridge until wednesday (3 days) and if I make anything for Thurs/Fri I freeze it in those portion containers like you get from the chinese (8 for £1 in poundland). I don't know what kinds of foods you eat but I would do something like (and this is just an example)split a pack of mince, make half into a cottage pie for Tuesday (lives in fridge), make other half into a bolognese and put into small freezer in 2 containers for friday. Packet of chicken, Make a chicken curry and freeze for Thursday, have something like chicken Stir fry or fajitas on Monday using the other half the pack, on Wednesday do something like a pasta bake or veggie bake from cupboard ingredients, you can do a lot of bulking out of things with fresh or tinned veggies cheaply which won't clog up the freezer. I'm sure people cleverer than me with more experience will be along shortly to offer ideas, but weekly is the way I find easiest and should take you something like an hour in the kitchen prepping at most and can be done cheaply with planning and you're not eating rubbish, hope this helps.

suzybloo

Try and freeze things in blocks - if you are doing mince or soup - cut down a milk carton, place a freezer bag in and then put your food in that, freeze then remove the carton - repeat as much as room will allow or try the pound shop for the takeaway containers - I got 8 in a pack - they would stack neatly inside with very little space wasted - or put the food into the largest freezer bag you have and freeze as flat as you can - its amazing how many you get in going it this way.

hopefulmoneysaver94

katylou6180 wrote: »

if I make anything for Thurs/Fri I freeze it in those portion containers like you get from the chinese (8 for £1 in poundland).

Sounds good actually, will pop up to poundland and shove them in the freezer I've got a couple hanging around already, so will see how many i can fit in there!

tori.k

why not ask about to see if anyone has a small chest freezer you can have, couple of bar stools and a table cloth and you have the perfect table for two

marmiterulesok

I know that vegetarian dishes will keep fine in the fridge for about 7 days.That's fine if you don't mind eating the same thing every day for a few days.

If you're having rice or pasta with a meal,then the veg or meat portion can be reduced,so that the freezable portion sizes are smaller IYSWIM.

Now that the weather is colder,there is always the option of putting a pan out on the windowsill.

unimaginative_user_name

I would batch cook half meals. Brown off some mince with onions and mushrooms and freeze in small containers. When defrosted, add tabasco, red kidney beans and tinned tomaoes for chilli con carne, or tomatoes and basil for bolognese sauce, or mashed potato for shepherd's pie. That way you are not filling up your freezer with stuff that was originally in tins or would last several days anyway.

Small tins of veg are also useful for this. I often bulk out smaller freezer portions with tinned sweetcorn or pulses.