Freezer meals...

greensalad

savingpennies wrote: »

If you like fish, there's always good old fashioned fish pie or try the curried fish pie on the recipe index.

My big problem with fish pie / cottage pie is I don't find that mashed potato does very well after being defrosted/in the microwave. I know it's OK but I don't think it's as nice as the fresh stuff. I guess I could prepare the filling beforehand and make mash on the day.

Pollycat wrote: »

Not having a clue what an 'intellichef' is, just curious why you would want to braise meat, then slow-cook

Personally I find braised meat tastes better when it comes out of the slowcooker. If I was being quick and only had a slowcooker I would just leave it raw, but the intellichef is like a mix between a griddle pan and a slowcooker. It's metal based rather than ceramic so you can fry/braise stuff off then reduce the temperature and slowcook. So typically I'd chuck all my spices in along with the meat and put it on a high temperature. I'd braise the meat, reduce the temperature and add the broth and veggies and then slowcook from there. It can also act as a steamer (put boiling water in and place veggies on a rack) and a deep fat fryer which I will never use. I had a 1-person slowcooker but asked for a larger one for Christmas and this is what my Nanny bought! I guess it's useful but I didn't choose it specifically.

lisa110rry wrote: »

One of my favourite slow cooker recipes is Red Beans and Rice (not a veg dish) if you like complicated spices. Google 'Deep South Dish' and 'Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice' together.

Googled and yum! Thanks for the ideas

greensalad

I have just written a list that I think will make me the following:

Lasagne x 3 portions
Meatball sauce with mozzarella x 3 portions
Macaroni Cheese x 4 portions
Bechamel veggie bake x 4 portions
Thai chicken curry x 2 portions
Thai prawn curry x 2 portions
Thai sweet potato soup x 2 portions

But it's working out at £2.50 a portion. I'll do it this time and then see what else I can reduce to try and get it down to £2 a portion. It's still a lot less than what I normally spend!

Justamum

lisa110rry wrote: »

I'm going to come in from left wing here... One of my favourite slow cooker recipes is Red Beans and Rice (not a veg dish) if you like complicated spices. Google 'Deep South Dish' and 'Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice' together.

If you're going to cook dried beans - and especially red kidney beans - you are supposed to boil them for 10 minutes. Unfortunately I've noticed a lot of American recipe sites don't specify this. I did post a comment on one US recipe blog about this, but the comment was removed. I posted it again, and again it was removed. It seems they don't want to warn people about the (admittedly rare, but there all the same) dangers of eating beans which aren't properly prepared.

madnotstupid

Chicken thighs are good to batch cook (for curry, risotto etc) and freeze, I find they are less dry than if you cook, freeze, and then reheat chicken breasts. Also a bit cheaper. As well as different mince recipes as other people have suggested, I like to make curry sauces, ready for adding frozen fish or prawns (again, cheaper than fresh), chicken or veggies. Lamb or chicken tagine is another one, just needs cous cous to serve.

Pollycat

greensalad wrote: »

My big problem with fish pie / cottage pie is I don't find that mashed potato does very well after being defrosted/in the microwave. I know it's OK but I don't think it's as nice as the fresh stuff. I guess I could prepare the filling beforehand and make mash on the day.

How do you do your mashed potato?

If it's going in the freezer, I don't add a lot of butter and no milk at all.
You can always do this when you come to use it.

I find it's just as good as made fresh.

greensalad wrote: »

Personally I find braised meat tastes better when it comes out of the slowcooker. If I was being quick and only had a slowcooker I would just leave it raw, but the intellichef is like a mix between a griddle pan and a slowcooker. It's metal based rather than ceramic so you can fry/braise stuff off then reduce the temperature and slowcook. So typically I'd chuck all my spices in along with the meat and put it on a high temperature. I'd braise the meat, reduce the temperature and add the broth and veggies and then slowcook from there. It can also act as a steamer (put boiling water in and place veggies on a rack) and a deep fat fryer which I will never use. I had a 1-person slowcooker but asked for a larger one for Christmas and this is what my Nanny bought! I guess it's useful but I didn't choose it specifically.

WOW! Does it make a cup of tea and do the ironing too?

Well done, Nanny! :T

greensalad

Pollycat wrote: »

WOW! Does it make a cup of tea and do the ironing too?

No that's what my boyfriend is for

Except the ironing. The wind does that.

Pollycat

Justamum wrote: »

If you're going to cook dried beans - and especially red kidney beans - you are supposed to boil them for 10 minutes. Unfortunately I've noticed a lot of American recipe sites don't specify this. I did post a comment on one US recipe blog about this, but the comment was removed. I posted it again, and again it was removed. It seems they don't want to warn people about the (admittedly rare, but there all the same) dangers of eating beans which aren't properly prepared.

A very important point.

The recipe Lisa110rry mentioned has a big warning before and after the recipe so well done to them.

Pollycat

greensalad wrote: »

No that's what my boyfriend is for

Except the ironing. The wind does that.

:rotfl:
Just looked at the Morphy Richards one on Amazon - £45.00 instead of £99.00.

Sounds pretty good value for what it does.

ScotinLondon

Am a veggie that also batch cooks, will start again when my new fridge freezer is delivered.

I batch cook all curries especially dahls. I also have a pressure cooker for the dried lentils, which makes life a lot easier, as i can pressure cook the lentils in the morning - everything is cooled down by the time i return from work, therefore no blown up kitchens and then make the dahl.

We also make a batch of veggie quesidillas - the way i make it - makes 8.

also when making pasta sauces, you can also use them as pizza sauce too. I batch cook pasta tomato sauces for all pastas and pizza - bit bags and little bags.

Soups are also good for batch cooking - we have only just discovered the delights of homemade soups. Better late than never as they say.

Hope that helps.

greensalad

ScotinLondon wrote: »

also when making pasta sauces, you can also use them as pizza sauce too. I batch cook pasta tomato sauces for all pastas and pizza - bit bags and little bags.

Great great great idea! I love making pizza. I make the dough really well.

I'm thinking maybe I could make up a batch of dough, roll it out and put the sauce and cheese on top and then freeze like that.

Then when it comes to cooking them I could just take it out halfway through and put a load of chopped stuff on top. Leftovers from the fridge maybe (we often have odd half an onion, or other veg, or sometimes leftover cheeses) and just have leftover-topped pizza!