Nutritionally good meals for the Freezer?

Thriftylady

I would suggest stews, stews and more stews, they are the one thing that actually improves when you cook them in advance, so I reckon sticking them in the freezer actually enhances them!

And even if you make loads of the same recipe, you can give it variety by serving it with different things e.g. rice one time, mashed potatoes next time, crusty bread the next time.

Or if you make a basic tomato type sauce (onions, garlic, herbs, tinned tomatoes etc,) it can be turned into so many different things. You can just pour it over pasta, use it as a pizza topping, or stir it into mince to make bolognese sauce.

Or you could keep the tomato sauce frozen in portions and then add a tin of pulses (butter beans or cannellini beans are good) and any other appropriate veg that you have in the fridge (maybe courgette or peppers) and turn it into a vegetable stew and serve it with nice bread for mopping up the sauce. Quite a good way of getting the kiddies to eat their veg too....

the_other_mce

Hiya - I have the same problem! I find chilli con carne and kormas are ideal along with bolognaise sauce. I try to cook extra quantities at the weekend. You could try freezing the leftover meat and gravy from Sunday roast and serve with a ready made yorkshire puds -my kids love that. And when I'm desperate a frankfurter in a roll takes 2 mins in the microwave!!!!

Spendless

I used to have a part-time evening job mon-fri when my eldest was little. I found anything I could prepare during day and then hubby could reheat and maybe add the rice/pasta/veg etc to just before I came in ideal.

things like

shepherds pie
chilli
lasagne
bolognaise
curry
casseroles

Penny-Pincher!!

Fishpie
Sausage and Mash
Curries
Chilli
Spagbol
Shepards Pie
Lasagna
Stews
Soups

HTH

PP
xx

tina68

if you look in the freezer section at your supermarket that will give you an idea about what you can freeze:j
some things are uncooked though like toad in the whole and pizza's but most things are possible:T

taplady

I freeze the following:

lasagne
Cottage pie
chicken and mushroom pie
steak and mushroom pie
Quiche
curry
sweet and sour
sausage casserole
stews
soups
spag bol
chilli

am always looking for new ideas to expand my range too!;)

Rachie_B

aswell as freezing meals you could try making a meal in the day with the 3 yr old ( maybe if the little one has a nap??)

something easy like a tuna hash,corned beef hash,fish cakes ,HM pasta sauce etc

then all you need do nearer tea time is put in the oven or stick some pasta on and hubby can serve it to them when he gets home

Sallys_Savings

Have you thought of a slow cooker?....so you can prepare everything in the morning...dish the childrens meals up at tea time and still have it on low for when you return (obviously depending on how long you are).
This worked for me when I was doing evening work. It means you're not rushing around at teatime when you're trying to sort out.
Theres receipes for a slow cooker thread on this board (sorry i haven't a clue how to do the links).

njc12

Hi - my son starts school next week and as I work full time, I thought that I would like to get organised(!) and make all of our meals for the week at the weekend and then freeze them. I've thought of things like shepherds pie and chilli but I'm at a bit of a loss!!!
So I'm looking for some help please!!!!
njc12

sas_senrab

Do a big pot of mince, then you have got chilli, spaghetti bolanase, sheppards pies etc.

For the fridge, on sunday night you could do a pasta bake. Tuna my fav:j

Sas