Hi girls,

Now that I am on maternity leave I am starting to think about making up some bulk dishes of food that I can freeze for when bubs comes!
I would love it if you could provide me with some ideas and recipes that work well to cook in bulk and freez in portions.

So far I have pasta sauce

TIA!

Rich Beef Casserole and most curries freeze beautifully...if you are going to breastfeed the curries might not be the best idea though
I just went to www.taste.com.au and found this recipe collection if you are interested
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/collections/freezer+friendly

There is probably a big discussion about this somewhere on EB.

We make chilli con carne / spag bog and freeze them. (Buy the kidney beans dry and then soak them. Cheaper and you save the environment from all those tins!). They are recipes that generally take longer to make with all the simmering. Make a big pot and then portion into smaller tuperware. It is just to heat up a batch and boil some pasta, steam some rice, or serve over corn chips with a sprinkling of cheese on top and a dash of sour cream.

We also do lasange.

Soups are good too. Puré the vegies and keep it thick. When you re-heat it, add water to get the right consistancy. We do potato and leak as well as pumpkin. We steam them and don't pour away the water to keep it healthy.

Another thing we do is before sliced meats/left over roast etc run out, we dice them and then freeze them in very small tubs or plastic bags. Same with cheese if it starts to turn, we grate it up and freeze. Then when you need to make toasted sandwiches or pizza quick, you have all the containers ready to go in the freezer.

Lasagne beef or chicken or vege all freeze beautifully - and can be cooked straight from the freezer

Mince, Spaghetti bolognese, taco/burrito mince, cottage/shepards pie (minus the potato as it doesnt defrost well) meatballs/hedgehogs, pies

Quiche of anykind and soups such as pumpkin, potato and leek etc (after cooking soups I let them cool and then use empty cordial bottles to store and freeze)

Homemade Pizza before or after cooking - wrap in baking paper and foil/clingwrap

chicken cattiatore, chicken parmagana, chicken frickasee, etc

Also sandwiches freeze well too - just avoid salady fillings, although avocado is ok. so things like chicken cheese and avocado, or ham and cheese or ham, cheese and cranberry sauce or any leftover meats and even fillings like vegemite, peanut butter or honey are perfect for freezing - then all you have to do is pull out a sandwich and let it thaw on those early days when you are trying to master breastfeeding/sleep depravation/ c-section recovery.

Basically anything thats a little bit saucy will freeze really well - I buy those foil tins with the cardboard lids (woolworths homebrand small size packet of 5 for about $2) depending on how many people you are feeding, the woolworths ones maybe a little on the small side to feed two adults - and also depending what you are cooking. You can usually pick the foil tins up in discount/ cheapo stores too. cook, freeze and reheat all in these tins.

Also the great thing about the above examples is you can cook/reheat them in the microwave in five minutes - just empty the tin into a pyrex/glass casserole dish and viola dinner in 10 minutes.

HTH

There is a really good meatloaf recipe on here somewhere. I got some foil trays with lids, and made them up, and froze them raw. Easy to pop in the oven when you want. It is self saucing, so is nice and moist. Serve with toast if you are really desperate. ( I added grated carrot & zucchini as well)

MEATLOAF –

INGREDIENTS –
1 kg mince meat
1 cup bread crumbs
1 onion
2 eggs – beaten
Half cup water
Half cup milk
2 tsp curry powder
1 cup oats
2 tblsp parsley (dry or fresh)
Salt & pepper

* Preheat oven to 180�
* Combine meat, breadcrumbs, onion, oats, curry powder, salt, pepper, parsley & eggs together in a large bowl.
* Add milk & water.
* Place in a large baking tray/dish.

SAUCE –
3 quarters cup water
Half cup worstershire sauce
3 tsp vinegar
3 tsp lemon juice
Half cup tomato sauce
1 tblsp butter (melted)

* Combine all together in a saucepan– bring to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer. * Pour over meat. Baste occasionally.
* Cook for about 1hr or until cooked.

When I cook in my Slow Cooker I always cook 2 or 3 batches at once adn freeze the left overs in meal sizes and just have to cook the rice or mash potatoe to go with it.

I use the recipie bases and put in what I want, which is usually what ever is on hand (potaoes, pumpkin, carrot, beans, cauliflower etc)