Best homemade freezer meals?

[smithlane]

Cajun turkey burgers as well as most of the above

[abiknox]

Thanks everyone! Great ides.

For pies, would I put a pastry crust on the frozen mix & straight in the over or would I need to defrost the filling first?

[wanye]

Originally Posted by olgaandcoda

And label well! A frozen curry will look very similar to a home made chocolate ice-cream! As my sons found out when we were away once, and they defrosted the wrong tray!

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true dat. no matter how good your memory is, if its not labelled, that tub of chilli could be an extra spicy curry that makes your OH cry

ive found rice and pasta dont reheat particularly well after freezing, so cook them fresh (12 mins in a lightly covered plastic bowl will do the rice from scratch anyway)

i also do batch cooking in stages. then you can make 2 or 3 different things from the same base...

so start off with onion & mince, when cooked, take a tub full (or two) for the freezer.
add tomatos (passata and/or chopped) and mushrooms/garlic/chilli/kidney beans, take a tub for the freezer. then cook whats left as a chilli or bolognese sauce adding in anything else you have lying around that will go with it.

then, take a tub of base out, add curry spices, chickpeas, extra meat, take one for the freezer, and eat the rest

i do similar with veg soup base and thai curry sauce... make a few tubs of base sauce, then i can just dig one out in the morning, then when i get home, chuck it in a pan with some raw prawns (or quorn chicken pieces) and by the time its heated up, the prawns are cooked.

i also buy larger joints of meat than i need, then slice it off and freeze in a ziplock bag. make some gravy in a pan and chuck the meat in to defrost. serve with veg and yorkshire puddings, quick sunday dinner!

or pulled pork... i did a massive pork shoulder on sunday... slow cooked for 6+ hours. shredded it and portioned off for the freezer... can use with burritos, chilli, or just served in some nice cobs with some coleslaw

mashed potato freezes well too and is a quick side dish for things (like a pack of frozen sausages or a pie for example!)

i have a massive freezer, and i'd say at least a third of it is taken up with food tubs full of random stuff!

[wanye]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Thanks everyone! Great ides.

For pies, would I put a pastry crust on the frozen mix & straight in the over or would I need to defrost the filling first?

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personally, i would defrost the filling first... although if your pie tin is the same shape and size as the tubs you are freezing, i suppose it *might* work from frozen if theres not too much of it!

[Bianca]

Pioneer Woman has a lovely recipe for BBQ meatballs, which freezes really well. Just make more sauce than she suggests (recipes are often stingy with sauce, I find), because that will help it freeze better and, also, taste better! Just serve tossed with tagliatelle you cook on the day.

Wishing you a smooth and easy delivery and an awesome experience generally with your soon-to-be new little one.

[orlandosgr8]

Pulled Pork, Chicken etc tends to freeze well. Another alternative to freezing might be using a slow cooker, just chuck everything at the start of the day and then you can eat it later, I guess the potential problem with that is having the time to do it, I well remember me and my hubby eating in shifts in the first few months lol

[justacey]

I don't batch cook for freezing but if I'm doing any casserole or stew I'll make sure there's enough for 4 when there's only 2 of us. That means a portion for lunch the next day and portions for the freezer. I bag them (and don't label as I like a surprise) and will take one to work and defrost in the morning.
So time permitting don't go overboard but make extra portions as you go along.

[skalexander]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Thanks everyone! Great ides.

For pies, would I put a pastry crust on the frozen mix & straight in the over or would I need to defrost the filling first?

See more...

I would freeze it, uncooked as a pie, freeze overnight on a baking tray and then package up and put back in the freezer.

If I wanted a pie, and had no frozen pies but stuff for a filling, I would defrost the filling in the microwave until mostly defrosted, and then put into the pastry.

[loubieloo]

I make a chicken breast soup with mash that freezes great!

chicken breast (one per person) cubed, chucked in a large pan, dice one smoked bacon rasher each, add a tin of condensed cream of chicken soup and water, cook on medium for 15-20 min, add peas & sweetcorn to the soup, pinch of mixed herbs.

we eat it with mash or pasta!

[Unexpectedpenny]

Lamb tagine!

Also don't forget the sweet stuff! Things like mini apple crumbles, chocolate torte and lemon crumble traybake (my mum makes one similar to this and freezes them, they are lovely and only take 10 minutes to defrost so handy for a quick cake fix)

There's a lot of good ideas on happy money saver/ too.