Help with freezable meals please :)

Emmi31_2

Hi
I'm fairly new to cooking from scratch but getting there anyway I'm pregnant our baby is due in January I've been sorting out things I need to do as I also have an autistic little boy and I would love to be able to freeze some meals to make things easier for me when I'm heavily pregnant and when baby arrives.
I don't really know what meals are freezable and how long they keep for but if anyone can help with some receipes and freezing instructions i would be so grateful
Then I can make a shopping list

Thankyou

Emma

HOWMUCH

What sort of meals do you cook already and we can tell you if they are freezable.

Emmi31_2

I can cook shepards pie, spaghetti bolognaise, casserole, I'm going to try lasagne soon I do things like sweet and sour chicken and rice or chicken curry and rice.
Other than that it's sort of proper roast dinners

Thanks
Emma

madnotstupid

I usually freeze the components of a meal, so if you make your usual mince part of shepherds pie, or bolognese or say chili con carne, they freeze very well. The mash top of shepherds pie I freeze separately, then assemble before sticking in the oven. I tend to cook pasta and rice from fresh. I make sweet and sour and various curry sauces to freeze, then stir them into stir-fried or (leftover from roasting) chicken fish or meat. Goulash-type stewed beef freezes fine, and I like to freeze cooked brisket in halves for a meal (for 2) plus leftovers for sandwiches.

Floss

How about making a batch of meatballs from mince, onion, breadcrumbs seasoning & an egg to bind them, cook in the oven on a tray then open freeze and keep in a bag so you can take a few out, defrost and cook to serve with pasta or mash for your little boy.

SailorSam

Emmi do you have a slowcooker, they're dead easy to do batch cooking for the freezer. I probably get 10 meals or all bagged up thatyou can get out in the morning ready for your evening meal.

babyshoes

Those will all freeze fine, either as 'components' as suggested or as a meal - though rice and pasta tend to be better cooked when you want to serve it. They do freeze reasonably well, but store better dried and don't take up space in your freezer - they can go a bit mushy after freezing too.
Roast meat will freeze too, though the usual suggestion is to either freeze in gravy, or use in a saucy meal such as curry.

You say your little boy is autistic - does he have issues with food? I know that texture / mouth feel of food can often be an issue for auty kids in particular, and might be something to bear in mind. If you let us know any special requirements we are usually pretty good at working around them between us!

If you are planning to breastfeed baby, you will need to eat well but might find it difficult to make a proper meal during the day. I'd suggest baking some loaf cakes and freezing them in halves - good for general snacking as well as a useful thing to have when people pop in to meet the baby! If you make fruity type cakes they are not totally unhealthy... Some types of biscuits/ cookies will also freeze well uncooked and make another quick treat - just pop them straight into the oven from frozen, set a timer so you don't forget them and within minutes you have fresh biscuits.

You can also freeze cooked quiche in single portions for easy lunches - just pop it in the oven from frozen for 40-60 mins on medium - use a bit of foil on top if it's browning too much. I usually try to cook until it is just set so it will finish cooking in the oven as it heats up.

You can even freeze a lot of sandwiches, as long as the fillings are ok with being frozen. They might go a little dry, but I discovered that cheese or cheese and ham sandwiches are amazing when you use a toastie bag to heat them up (you can buy them in pound shops if you haven't seen them before). You will need to take them out to defrost first though - but they defrost quite quickly so you can do it in the morning or the night before.

As for how long things freeze for - the answer is indefinitely. They might lose some quality after a while, but they won't go off if they've stayed frozen the whole time. Freezer burn can look unpleasant and make the texture go strange, but isn't harmful. That said, I usually cut off the affected parts as it isn't nice, especially on meat. You are less likely to get freezer burn if the food is well wrapped up. I generally aim to use things up within about 6 months to a year, but have eaten food that has been in the freezer for rather more than 2 years with no ill effects...

krlyr

As mentioned, minces like bolognese, cottage pie, etc. freeze well - I too freeze in 'halves', so that you can mix and match. One week it might be bolognese with spaghetti, the next on a jacket potato. Mince in gravy can be paired with mash, or put into a pastry case for a beef & onion pie.

Mash potato freezes quite well, and rice does too - the important bit with rice is to cool it down immediately, either rinsing under cold water, or spreading on a baking tray or two to allow it to cool quickly. I freeze into takeaway tubs, and microwave with the lid on to keep the moisture in.

You can freeze elements of a roast dinner too if it helps. Roast potatoes can be cooked and frozen - then heated through without adding oil. Alternatively, par-boil the potatoes and freeze at this stage, allowing a little extra time to roast from frozen. Meat can be cooked and frozen - try to get an air-tight seal, and you can then defrost and warm through (or even just heat with hot gravy). I freeze stuffing balls, to save having to make them up every time, and I do homemade yorkshire puds, cook through and freeze - they need ~5 or so minutes in the oven to heat up.

eleanor73

Maybe I will tell you what is in my freezer & you might get ideas from them:

Lamb curry
Caribbean beef stew
Thai chicken curry
Beef stew
Venison stew
Meat loaf (sliced in portions)
Meatballs in a tomato sauce
Mushroom soup
Veg curry
Veg chilli con (not) carne
Chilli con carne
Sausage casserole
Chickpea curry

Hope that helps

BritishBibliophile

Bolognese freezes well, I practically live off the stuff in winter.

My Mum talked me through freezing lasagne. Basically you leave the bolognese as a more "liquidy" than you might otherwise want it. Get those foil trays with lids and just layer the bolognese, dry lasagne sheets and the cheese sauce as normal. Then just put the lid on and stick in the freezer. When it comes to cooking it the extra liquid in the bolognese cooks the lasagne sheets, and the cheese sauce holds up well (but does some times stick to the cardboard lid, so keep an eye out for that). You do need to remember to take it out to defrost though, otherwise it takes around 40-odd minutes to cook through at Gas 5 (if you do it at 6 or 7 then I find the cheese sauce has turned in to carbon before the middle is properly cooked).

meritaten

anything you see in the supermarket freezer that you can make at home is 'Freezable'. it may not have as long as freezer 'life' as the supermarket version.........but, its far healthier as you control the amounts of meat, veg, seasonings and sugar it contains.
buy those packs of 'freezer containers' in poundshops and portion it up to suit yourself. label well - or every night will be 'mystery meal' night!