Storage For Freezing

danz0l

Hi guys, this is my first post to moneysavingexpert.com so i hope i do this right

Basically i've taken to home cooking in a big way. This is both a cost saving and healthy living exercise and i'm enjoying it greatly.

Being a "buy it ready prepared in a supermarket" type of shopper previously i've realised i can make 2 of the same meal for around the same price as one and wondered how best to freeze one whilst cooking the other.

For instance i made a fantastic Cheese Crusted Cottage Pie the other day and realised i would have been able to make a second with just the added expense of more beef mince. However how do i store the other ready to cook ?

I know i could get a second casserole dish, cling film it and pop in the freezer but if i had 10 meals like that then i would certainly run out of space in the freezer and would certainly not have enough casserole dishs

The problem is to feed a family of 4, two adults and two very hungry teenagers i need to make the meals quite large and the cheese crusted cottage pie above filled a 8inch square, 20cm deep dish pretty much.

I looked online to see if you can buy the foil type containers often sold in supermarkets containing family size ready meals so i could effectively freeze one ready for cooking but alas they all seem to be the size of takeaway curry containers.

So my question is, what options do i have available and what do you usually use to freeze an entire prepared meal ??

I'd love to save money by making double and freezing one down for those lazy days when cooking isn't the priority it should be.

Any help appreciated

Skint_Catt

I'd like to know too - only have a small freezer, but I've never been sure how to do a whole shepherds pie!

lolarentt

I always over produce and freeze part. If it's something like casseroles, cottage pie etc then I freeze the extra in a microwave/tupperware type container - once it's frozen you can remove the container, and wrap the food. When I need to use it I'll put it straight into a similar sized casserole type dish and off we go! If it's a casserole/stew type of thing you can microwave it back in the plastic container

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

When im bulk freezing things like shepherds pie..i cut it into portions, put the dish in the freezer for about 1hr so its firm and then i take it out and remove the portions..
put your hand in a plastic bag, serve the portion onto your hand with a fish slice (i put mine on my hand upside down, so you can add and bits of filling that might be left in the dish)and then pull the bag around, wrap lable and place back in freezer -you can just take out the number of portions required remove from bag and place in an oven proof dish-and if you want the whole thing, you can unwrap each portion and place back in its original dish ..
hope that helps..if you can make sense of my ramble lol

danz0l

Thanks guys thats some great advice.

I was hoping however for a "straight from freezer" to oven solution where i could take out the second casserole or shepherds pie and pop in the oven as you would a shop bought solution.

I'm actually quite amazed you can't buy containers big enough for this purpose.

Anyway if i can't find a better solution i'll certainly try the freeze down and then bag solutions offered above.

destiny_star2006

i dont like freezing food as i find it doesnt quite taste the same so i just home cook to the best ability i can as and when needed maybe im just picky lol i dunno

strawberryfields

you can buy larger foil containers look at catering supplies there are lots of websites selling them i just typed "large foil food containers" into google, no idea what size you want but there are lots out there, they seem a little expensive though

newlywed

I store the shepherds/cottage pie mix in one tub, mash in another, defrost em, then bung em together in the dish and reheat

Family of 4 and small freezer here too.

I also try and work my meal plan so that if I do freeze say a whole lasagna then I use it within a week or so - that way getting the space back again

ChasingButterflies

Hi,

I use some pyrex dishes which have plastic lids (so you can stack them in the freezer)

I just had a quick look on the lakeland site though and I can't see them there anymore - I did spot them in Tesco's though so if you have an extra store near you might be worth a try?

They look like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PYREX-Rectangular-Dish-with-plastic-lid-19cm-x-14cm_W0QQitemZ300195432377QQihZ020QQcategoryZ4765QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem They come in different sizes.

Pink.

Hi danz,

Welcome to Old Style

These older threads might give you some ideas:

Meal building blocks for the freezer

Freezer containers (merged threads)

Pink

danz0l

newlywed wrote: »

I store the shepherds/cottage pie mix in one tub, mash in another, defrost em, then bung em together in the dish and reheat

Family of 4 and small freezer here too.

Now thats a neat idea. Something i would never have thought of, nice one