[Emerald]

I am looking for ideas on healthy meals that i can cook in advance and freeze. We are very busy during the week and i'd love to just be able to pull out a ready made healthy meal.


if you have any recipes that you can share i would love to have them............Also whats the best container to freeze them in?

Thanks
Em

[premmie_29weeks]

My personal favourite is paprika chicken

1kg of chicken thigh fillets (or any chicken really)
1 red capsicum sliced
3 large tomatoes
Salt/pepper
1 tablespoon of sweet paprika
Olive oil
1 sliced onion

Fry up opinion in olive oil for a few minutes till translucent. Add capsicum and chopped tomato to pan. Add paprika. Cook with lid on for 8 minutes till soft. Add chicken plus a little water if its looking a bit dry. Turn heat to low and simmer for about an hour till chicken is cooked through and very tender. You may need to add more paprika. Season to taste.

Serve with mash, pasta or cous cous. I freeze half

[Allie_D]

Also whats the best container to freeze them in?

I go to the local catering supplies store and get 50 of those square take away containers with lids for $12. I then have two good decor microwave containers for reheating. I just pop the meal out into them

[emlis22]

A couple I've done lately is meat loaf (mince, oats, grated carrot, grated zucchini, onion, tomato sauce) and then frozen in individual portions. I just wrapped in glad wrap and then foil.

Or bolognese really is a staple: lean mince, carrot, celery, zucchini, tinned toms and herbs, Just freeze in portions in plastic containers. To make it healthy, bulk up the veggies and cut down on the meat. You can easily convert this recipe into con carne as well. Just take it out and mix through kidney beans while heating, add some chopped avo and a sprinkling of cheese. Could even bake some tortillas for dipping. Or topped on baked potatoes. It really is so versatile.

[kpingitquiet]

I'm doing a bit of this, myself, right now. Basically making up double/triple size dinners for a few weeks and freezing whatever we won't eat that night. Some of the things I'm making are:

- Chickpea & Chorizo soup. Regular plastic freezer container.
- Black beans & rice. Plastic container. Good on it's own, as filling for burritos, or as stuffing for eggplants or capsicum. You can actually pre-fill the capsicum and freeze that way, too.
- Chicken & veg korma. Plastic container.
- Chicken, eggplant, lentil casserole. Plastic container.
- Tuna & 5 veg mornay (sorta) with pasta. Freezing this in an oven-ready foil container as the pasta holds up better when put straight in the oven, rather than defrosted, then baked.
- Pre-grilled sausages. Wrapped in plastic & foil. Though this is mostly due to husband absentmindedly freezing a whole 2 kg of sausages together without separating, so we have to cook them all up at once.
- Curried sausages (see above). Plastic container.
- Summer squash bisque. Plastic container.
- Potato-leek soup. Plastic container.
- Basil-almond pesto. Small plastic cubes we used to use for homemade babyfood. Perfect amount for a quick steamed veg & pasta dinner.
- Salmon patties. Separated with freezer paper and stacked in plastic container.
- Packets of (homemade) pre-marinated & cooked chicken breast, thigh, sliced steak, pork, etc for various purposes, packed in the sauce. So this way I can just pop some rice or noodles on, quickly stirfry some appropriate veggies and just toss in the thawed meat/sauce for the world's easiest stir-fries and noodle bowls. Also great for throwing tacos or wraps together without the mess of meat prep, or adding a meat component to a dinner salad.

Anyway, that's the list I've been brainstorming. Hope something appeals

[JLC]

Make up a big batch of a cooked mince mixture

Spaghetti sauce - add some tinned tomatoes, herbs, garlic etc then add pasta

Chilli con carne - add some spices/chilli & beans & serve on corn chips for nachos etc

Shepherds pie - I normally add some gravy powder & stock, vegies & tinned tomatos. Top with mashed potatoes & bake

Just a few ideas Hope it helps

[kandj]

Aside from the usual suspects (lasagne, spag bog etc) we do a mixed dhal that freezes really well. One batch can make several nights dinners.
it can be eaten with rice and some natural yoghurt, fresh coriander and mango chutney.
or in a wrap with some yoghurt, coriander and some grilled chicken (I whack a breast in the oven with some cummin powder and ras el hanout on it to give it a bit of extra flavour boost)
or in a wrap with falafels and yogurt and salad stuff.

I can find the recipe if you like.

it has red lentils, yellow split peas, brown lentils and green split peas. a couple onions, the usual curry type spices and garlic and ginger. oh and black mustard seeds.

[*LucyE*]

The usual variations of pasta bakes - bolognese sauce with some white sauce and pasta mix through. Topped with more bechmel sauce and grated cheese. Freeze in pyrex containers. I put it into the oven from frozen for about 40 mins at about 160C. Serve with a simple garden salad with a minimal fuss.

Soups - our staples are chicken and veg soup (usually with pearl barley), pumpkin soup, pea and ham soup etc. I freeze in plastic containers. I'm liking the round ones because I can tip it straight into my pots from frozen. I heat it on the stove top because I don't have a microwave. Serve with bread, my kids like cheesey toast.

Stews and casseroles. I often freeze leftovers and use them as pie fillings.

Home made pizzas. I will often freeze some spares when we make them for an easy meal later.

I also freeze side dishes so I can just cook some meat, throw the sides in the oven and make a quick salad. Potato bake, garlic bread, polenta, savoury souffles, creamed corn, veggie fritters, mac'n'cheese, etc.

[Alacritous~Andy]

I am loving trawling through this site for inspiration:

http://onceamonthmom.com/menus/whole-foods/

They are US based, so you need to shift 6 months to adjust for the seeasons, and some ingedients are not as common in Australia. But as a starting point it can be good.

I particularly like the while foods menus and the diet menus. The others tend to be very processed and high fat/carb for my liking.

[butterflydreamin...]

I love once a month mom and have been following their menus for the most part since I had DD ten weeks ago, just remember though the menus are seasonal so you need to look six months back/forward. At the moment we are eating the august 2012 mini menu.