Making meals to freeze - help!

dandy-candy

I want to make some lasagne and shepherds pies to freeze but I'm a bit confused!
I was going to cook up a big batch of bolognese sauce and for the shep pie top with mash, and the lasagne layer it between dried pasta sheets and pour whit sauce over the top. But do I then freeze it, or do I bake them like I would if we were going to eat it and freeze after baking?
Please can someone tell me?!

Seakay

it depends on your preferred method of reheating.
I cooked my lasagne in a big tray in the oven, portioned it up when cooled and froze the portions. I will reheat as required in the microwave.
Previously I've made the lasagne into foil containers and frozen them, then cooked them from frozen or defrosted in those containers

Gonzo1987

I tend to make them as far as assembling them, then freeze. Unless it's for lunches when I'll cook it all then freeze ready to microwave when I want it. So either.

superrhinos

This thread about Meal Building Blocks for the freezer is really useful and has lots of great ideas on it:-

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=6506178#post6506178

Ladyluck1

With bolognese I just put it in a ziploc in freezer.
Lasagne I make and cook in little foil trays and then freeze.
Cooking lasagne before freezing is the best way for me

rachiibell

I will normally make up big trays of meals that require oven cooking (lasagne, shepherds pie, macaroni cheese, ect) then I can cook as many as will fit in the oven at any one time (extra money saving!) usually I'd have a portion for my tea, leave the rest to cool then freeze the leftover in old takeaway containers (good portion size) and then I can just take them out and pop them in the microwave on days I don't want to cook.
Also if you do this a lot its helpful to write a quick label saying what's in the container. When I first started I ended up with a whole freezer drawer of random meals so it was a bit of a lucky dip!

poorly_scammo

I cook my lasagnes and ragu sauces and then freeze. I reheat in the microwave upon thawing.

fiscalfreckles

I would always cook it first then freeze.

Mythi

Another one for the cook, portion and freeze method here

babyblooz

A quick tip, if you use a little strip of masking tape stuck on the top of the carton, it's easy to write on it with biro and it doesn't come off in the freezer. No more random meals for me lol!
:j:j:j

babyblooz

If you like home-made puds, you can make up a big batch of sponge cake in a roasting tin. I sometimes put cooked plums at the bottom (from my own plum tree so very money saving) or apple from windfalls that I see out and about, gooseberries from my friend at work or rhubard etc. etc.

Sometimes a little bit of pud can be just what the doctor ordered, especially on cold days like these, and I freeze mine in washed out margerine tubs.

Reduced price cartons of milk can be made into rice pud in the slow cooker, but this never makes it as far as the freezer at our house.