new freezer

mother_noah

my ds has bought me a new large upright freezer to replace my small chest one that always had un-identifiable frosty stuff at the bottom, now i have to fill it up! I am on a very limited budget and like to cook as much as possible from scratch.I cook for me dp ds 26 and ds 5 . what would you fill it up with ?

Skint_Catt

Mine is currently full of home made curry & chilli, bread bought on offer, pasta sauces, chopped onions/peppers/mushrooms, other seafood and meat that has been on offer! You could make a casserole and freeze it in portions?

Gingham_Ribbon

I always have frozen sweetcorn and peas in mine and this time of year I like to have a couple of boxes of cauldren sausages for making sausage casserole in there too.

I also buy pulses in bulk, boil them up a kilo at a time then freeze them in mug sized portions.

The rest is bits and bobs of frozen things I've made extra of. Usually lots of soup.

nodwah

Go to your supermarket about 8.30 in the evening and buy all the loaves and cakes etc for 10p and stuff them in your freezer. I've only just finished the frozen bags of chipolatas that I got last january for 25p must've bought about 20 of them and my kids love them, nearly time to stock up again!!

frosty

My freezer is 3/4 full of bread,scones,crumpets,bread rolls ect.We use two loaves of bread a day,I pop into the supermarket about 3 times a week at about 8pm and buy everything I can reduced.Last week I managed to buy bread at 2p a loaf ,crumpets 4p,rolls 5p for pack of 6,lasagne (tesco finest)was £3.89 reduced to 31p.We have a large freezer outside and an upright in the kitchen.We have a very tight budget of £50.00 a week (5 adults) plus my mum eats with us at lunchtime and several evenings aswell.If you like cooking then you could fill the freezer with soups,shepherds pies,spag bol,I always make a little extra to freeze and then you always have meals for when you dont feel like cooking.

D&DD

Theres a thread on here by Thriftlady thats has some great ideas for building blocks for the freezer..itmes that are always useful for example stocks and ready made up bases for pasta dishes etc.Will see if I can find a link.. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=571339

morwenna

If you can't cook fast enough to fill it quickly, use polystrene packaging to fill the gaps. A full freezer uses less electricity to run and you are bound to have the packaging if it's new!

lilmisskitkat

My freezer almost always has.....

*Bread bought RTC and frozen, also crumpets, rolls, pittas etc. Also buy Flora when on offer and freeze.

*Cheap vanilla ice cream for quick desserts with tinned fruit or in cones for DD (cheaper than ice cream van)

* Meals, batch cooked and frozen in portions. Always have bolognse, chilli, curry, mince and onions and if possible casseroles, cheese/tomato sauces and soup. When i get a bigger freezer a whole new world will open up to me lol. I always make twice as much as i need and freeze the extra. I live for the 'cook once, eat twice' rule lol

* Meat bought RTC, on offer or from my Grandad, bless him, his favourite line is "Now i was just passing the butchers and i got this and me and your gran can't use it all...." lol

* I have sliced lemons and limes frozen for drinks but sadly no V,L&S for me for a while (pg) so its virgin lime and sodas now lol

* Frozen peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, sweetcorn, onions etc for quick preparation. Also means when just cooking for DD i only get out what i need

* A 'junk' drawer with fish fingers, oven chips, waffles, chicken kievs, any RTC ready meals i buy etc for lazy nights. Saves getting a takeaway!

Hope this helps!

Kate xxx

mother_noah

thanks for all your ideas ,will read Thriftladys thread for more ideas . the polystrene blocks are something i would not have thought off.

belfastgirl23

Don't think you should rush into filling it up - as thriftlady says use polystyrene or even crumpled up newspapers in the meantime. No matter what, in six months time you'll be trying frantically to make space to fit in an ice cube tray in any case