Uneaten defrosted food help please

rosie383

I hate wasting food and am so much better than I was before. Happy to freeze pretty much anything.
My problem comes when I have defrosted a portion to food only to find that circumstances change and it goes uneaten. For example, I defrosted a couple of portions of meals for dh to take to work but he wasn't feeling great nd they were too heavy for his tum so they didn't get eaten. Due to the nature of them (spiciness and allergens) they weren't eaten by anyone else in the family either so ended up going to waste.
It doesn't happen every day, but no matter how hard I try to be organised, usually I end up chucking something perhaps once a week.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to what I can do? I know we aren't meant to refeeeze. I do refreeze samosa pastry but that's about it.

Siebrie

Defrost one portion at a time for dh?

maman

Not sure how the timing fits but if you took the meal out when he leaves for work would it be defrosted by the time he comes to eat it?


On the more general point, when I do my meal plan for the week I always build in at least one meal that can be cooked from frozen. So perhaps a mince dish or fish. That way if something unexpected crops up I can roll those meals over until the following week. Defrosted meat, meals etc will keep in the fridge for at least a day if you don't get to eat them when planned.

rosie383

maman wrote: »

Not sure how the timing fits but if you took the meal out when he leaves for work would it be defrosted by the time he comes to eat it?


On the more general point, when I do my meal plan for the week I always build in at least one meal that can be cooked from frozen. So perhaps a mince dish or fish. That way if something unexpected crops up I can roll those meals over until the following week. Defrosted meat, meals etc will keep in the fridge for at least a day if you don't get to eat them when planned.

What do you mean by cooked from frozen? Could be useful for me to try.
As for dh, I can't even give him a frozen portion to take to work to nuke. Needs to be defrosted first and I usually pack his food up the evening before as he leaves at silly o'clock.

rosie383

Siebrie wrote: »

Defrost one portion at a time for dh?

This would be ideal but I had lifted things out to defrost as I was trying to be organised and was getting things out of the freezer in the shed.

Skint_yet_Again

I have heated pre-cooked chilli, chicken curry, chicken & peppers in black bean sauce, roast dinners etc from frozen in the microwave and my DS often takes batch cooked meals and does the same in the microwave at work.


We just make sure they are thoroughly heated through - same as you would cook a bought frozen microwave meal

Skint_yet_Again

rosie383 wrote: »

As for dh, I can't even give him a frozen portion to take to work to nuke. Needs to be defrosted first .

Sorry cross posted, any reason why has to be defrosted first?

maman

Skint_yet_Again wrote: »

I have heated pre-cooked chilli, chicken curry, chicken & peppers in black bean sauce, roast dinners etc from frozen in the microwave and my DS often takes batch cooked meals and does the same in the microwave at work.


We just make sure they are thoroughly heated through - same as you would cook a bought frozen microwave meal

That's exactly the sort of thing I meant. I keep portioned up chilli, Bolognese, savoury mince in the freezer and ping it while I'm cooking the rice, pasta etc.
Fish can be cooked from frozen in the oven alongside oven chips.
So if I get back later than expected one evening I'll have something frozen and keep whatever's in the fridge for the next day or so. If I get to eat out unexpectedly then I'll have the defrosted meal next day and the frozen meal on the plan gets to roll over to the following week.

If your DH doesn't have access to a microwave at work, how does he get to heat up his meal?

rosie383

Sorry. I wasn't clear. My brain is a bit muddled these days.
He does have a microwave at work, but after giving him frozen food sometimes, which made everything else in the bag wet, I always make sure it has totally thawed before I pack it up.
You know what I mean? When it's frozen, then the outside of the container gets very wet as it thaws.
Is there something really obvious that I can do?

As for nuking frozen HM portions of food, I honestly hadn't thought of doing that. I always figured I needed to have it out and properly defrosted beforehand.
As I say, brain fog. Sometimes it's very helpful when you lot point out the bleedin' obvious to me. Thank you!

Skint_yet_Again

rosie383 wrote: »

Sorry. I wasn't clear. My brain is a bit muddled these days.
He does have a microwave at work, but after giving him frozen food sometimes, which made everything else in the bag wet, I always make sure it has totally thawed before I pack it up.
You know what I mean? When it's frozen, then the outside of the container gets very wet as it thaws.
Is there something really obvious that I can do?

No problem rosie - I suffer with brain fog myself so I know how difficult it can be - especially at this time of year when there are a million other things to try and remember too !


I wrap the food container in a tea towel and place in a plastic bag inside DS's food bag - stops it getting soggy.