Freezer Fillers

Vegetable Crumble

With a full month planned for work in Europe, I spent a few weeks in early January stocking the freezer with pre-done meals so Mr E could still eat plenty of healthy meals whilst I was away. Planning was the key to ensuring a selection of easy to prepare meals were available, without having to spend too long making additional dinners in what was a busy time.

Channa Massala and Onion Bhajis

The dinners I opted to make consisted of lentil lasagne, vegetable crumble, Indian and Thai curries, aubergine tagine and fish pie, all of which could be portioned out relatively easily and popped into the freezer. My only issue was the amount of food the freezer could hold as we only have a “2 shelf above fridge” freezer so not a vast amount of storage space. All Mr E would then need to do would be to defrost and reheat, make some rice, accompanying vegetables or salad and a meal could be ready in minutes.

Fish Pie

Sounds simple right? Well I’ve returned home and most of the food has been devoured, but perhaps with some unexpected results. Without labels the “ready” meals were somewhat of a surprise and afterall the curry sauce did look pretty much like the tomato pasta sauce – leading to a rather spicy pasta dish never before eaten, or likely to be eaten again!

Meanwhile I’ve been sampling some amazing food in Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Nicole’s Fondue Chinoise was heavenly and Mum’s taramasalata was delicious, I’ll be attempting to emulate Kelly’s turkey chilli and Jules’ burgers too. With plenty of meals out and some new cooking magazines I’ve returned home with some fresh ideas that I’m keen to try out.