College Dinners that can be Frozen!

nerdysal

I'm going back to college in 6-7 weeks and unfortunetely I'm not going to have as much time for cooking as I did last year. So what I'm looking for is recipes that I can cook when I come home at the weekend and put in the freezer.

I just want simple recipes (nice hearty food!), nothing too fancy. I'm not hugely into fish, although I wouldn't mind a nice fish stew (no prawns though). Also, I have crohn's disease so I can't eat anything spicy.

Has any got any suggestions!!!??? They would be really appreciated!! REALLY REALLY!!!

olaola

Cottage pie freezes well, same as lasagne. Never tried fish pie - but I'd say it would be ok.
Anything that is 'saucy' will work well.

Dizzyblonde

Cottage Pie (or Shepherd's pie if you use lamb)

1lb of lean minced beef 2 medium carrots, diced
2 medium onions, chopped
1 pint of hot water
2 red Oxo cubes or any beef stock cubes
A teaspoon of tomato puree
A dessertspoon of flour - any kind
A dash of Worcestershire Sauce if you have it
A pinch of mixed herbs

Fry the onion and carrot in a little oil over a low heat until they start to soften. Turn up the heat and add the minced beef, fry until browned. Sprinkle on the flour and stir well over a low heat for a minute. Pour on the stock made with the Oxo cubes and hot water and stir well. Add the tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce and herbs then season with salt and black pepper (not too much salt!). Stir well and add a little more hot water if it looks too thick. Simmer for around 30 minutes.
Place in an oven-proof dish and cover with potatoes mashed with real butter and milk until light and fluffy, and drag a fork across the top to rough it up. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees, gas mark 5.

This would make 4 individual portions - you could assemble them in those foil cartons with the cardboard lids. Put the mash on top and freeze them without baking them. Defrost and bake

Miss No Name

Pasta/Rice/Cous Cous with a tomato based sauce.
Meat of choice: chicken, mince (i'm a veggie so not sure what else)
Veg: Onions, garlic, chillis, peppers, mushrooms, brocilli, courgettes, carrots, aubergine, spinage - you can see where I'm going with this - you can use anything.
2 x tins of chopped tomatoes
Stock - veg or chicken,
Wine (white or red will do) if you have it (tip- freeze left over wine in those ice cube bags - very handy)
Herbs and spices.

In a large frying pan cook your meat cook for a few mins, then throw in your veg, let it cook for a few mins
Then put in your wine if you have it, let half of it evaporate
Then put in your can of chopped tomatoes
Then put in your stock
Put in your herbs and spices
Cover and let it simmer for around ten mins.

And you're done.

Let it cool and simply fill little plastic food bags- you should get at least 4 large portions. Take all the air out of the bag and freeze it.

So simple and handy.

JIZZLORD

here's my €0.02.

Haven't cooked this in a while so exact amounts aren't going to be mentioned, but you'll know what to use depending on your scale.

Bratwurst or frankfurters cooked and chopped up
onion
mushrooms
Gravy with a lot of black pepper
carrots

throw all of the above into a saucepan and cook. Serve with mash.
Easy, freezes well, cheap, quick and delicious!

Seaneh

Like said already, anything that has a lot of sauce (Pastas, curry's, pies etc) will freeze will.

I also freeze soups (true story).

Make a massive pot of soup for like a fiver, blend it, strain it through a sive and then devide into freezer tubs (about 2 potions per tub) and pop them in the freezer, sorted.

Chuckchuck

Spaggetti Bolognaise, Chicken pie buy ready made pastry if you must. shepards pie freezes really well. sweet n sour, curry and so on. Most things with a sauce freeze well just make sure it is cold before freezing

nerdysal

I made really nice meatballs the other day (a mixture of minced beef and sausagemeat!!!) and I was thinking they could probably be easily frozen?!

Does anyone have a traditional chicken casserole recipe that I could do?!

Chuckchuck

Don`t have a traditional but a tin of cambells soup either chicken or chick n mushroom is really nice. Add some carrots, sweetcorn, mushrooms and chicken and yummy. I use the same for chicken pie just don`t add water to the soup

Dizzyblonde

I have a simple chicken casserole that I make with breast fillets, though you could use joints if you wanted.

4 Chicken fillets cut into large-ish chunks
3-4 carrots, cut into chunks
2 sticks of celery cut into chunks
1 large or 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
A chicken stock cube
Hot water
A good pinch of dried sage or whatever herb you prefer
A slightly heaped dessertspoon of flour
Olive oil for frying

Fry chicken until sealed then place in a casserole dish. Add veg to the pan and fry gently until they begin to soften - add a splash of water if necessary to stop them sticking. Turn the heat down very low and sprinkle on the flour. Stir for a minute then add the salt, pepper, herb and stock cube and enough water to cover - if it seems too thick add some more water. Stir well. Bring to the boil and then add to the chicken in the casserole dish. It looks pale and uninteresting at this stage but it will darken as it cooks.
Bake for an hour and a half at 180C, or throw it into the slow cooker for 3 hours on high, 6 on low.

nerdysal

Thank you so much Dizzy Blonde... that is EXACTLY the kind of casserole I have been looking for,for AGES!