Food prep

I often freeze casseroles in portions as then I can defrost and reheat them and serve with whatever potatoes or rice I want, plus fresh veg.

I also make things like Spaghetti Bologneses (just the meat sauce bit) and freeze that in portions.

If you're looking for something that's more all-in-one, then stew is good. I've also made a veggie bean Hotpot that froze ok.

I always defrost first, then reheat thoroughly.

I get my recipes from various cookbooks or from my mum : D

Boeuf Bourgignon is good. I'll see if I can find a recipe online.

Got distracted by another recipe:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/casserole/beef-in-designer-beer

The bread goes soft when you reheat it but I don't mind that.


This is good on a Sunday with extra portioned up and frozen:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/french/boeuf-bourguignon

An easy pork recipe:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/one-pot-recipes/pork-stroganoff-with-three-mustards

I tend to have a spell of cooking casseroles and freezing the extra portions, then over a few weeks I build up a nice selection of quick meals ready to,take out of the freezer.

I've also frozen mashed potato in portions to make meals quicker.

Vegetarian Lasagne freezes nicely too.

Hope that helps a bit @samantha13

BBC good food is a fairly decent source of sound recipes. You'll find ones with varying carbohydrate contents, so you can select the ones which work best with your 150g per day limit.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com

My personal favourite casserole dish has to be this one. You can select your own types of sausages, specifically ones which aren't loaded with breadcrumbs to give you a lower carb content:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/great_sausage_casserole_73010

You may find it beneficial to have a few Chinese/Indian takeaways also... Not for the dietary benefits, but for the wee plastic dishes that their food comes in. They're excellent for portion control and accurate carb counting

There is no harm in cooking the majority of foods from frozen, the only "risk" is not heating the meal through enough to kill any dormant bacterium that may be there. As long as you reheat slow enough and for long enough, there should be no issue. You may find that your microwave has a defrost setting on it also, that would rule out any problems when it comes to reheating frozen dishes.

One other important thing worth remembering, is that you should not re-freeze anything which has already been defrosted.

I precook in bulk loads of proteins. Salmon, chicken, turkey, shrimp, rare beef and lamb. Then I freeze in my size meals. I take one out and defrost in water then grab some veggies and add avocado and olive oil.

My husband takes his and leaves it on his desk to defrost for lunch. I'm not keen on that but it works for him

Bulk cooking protein gives me a large variety and the least amount of kitchen and mess time. You could of course add your veggies and starch if you want and freeze 'meals'. Then put one in the fridge before bed to defrost. I never know what I want until the time comes

@samantha13 ,get yourself a good sized stock pot and a hand blender and make some lovely homemade soup, it freezes well and you just defrost it and quickly heat-up in the microwave when required.

The good thing about soup is you can chuck just about anything in it........... including leftover veggies from previous meals

samantha13 said:

I've gained 3st since my type 1 diagnosis 7years ago. Im 5ft 6in and 13st 7lb. My diet is not great. Currently around 250gm carbs daily. I've developed insulin resistance and am on Metformin alongside my insulin.

I have brought my hbA1c down from 9.2 to 8.3 and my next goal is 7.5% I've started exercising twice a day and am really enjoying it. I'm trying to keep my carbs around 150gm a day now which I'm finding easy enough.

I'm not a great cook but plan to start making more homemade meals soups etc in batch and freezing. Would anyone have some simple recipes they'd like to share? Also if i batch cook and freeze something do i defrost before heating up or cook from frozen? Yes I really am that useless lol

Click to expand...

Samantha - A short while ago, I discovered www.yummly.com , since when it has become my go-to site for food ideas and recipes. It's like many other aggregation sites, in that there are masses, and masses and masses of recipes on there. What differentiates it from other sites, in my view, is the variety of filters one can apply to the search criteria. The snip below is my logged-in yummly home page, where I have set my permanent filters, so that I don't have to put them in every time:



You can filter by things you want to include and things you want to exclude, so for me, the ingredients in my permi filter are rice, pasta sugar and potatoes. The diet is Paleo, although I don't use paleo, but it cuts out the grains I'd rather do without. You can also filter, in the basic set-up for preferences, so that includes skill levels (Easy - Advanced), spiciness and so on.

In the search box, you can go for "low carb x" or even just "beef casserole", or whatever you fancy.

I love it. However, like many things, it pays to just sense check what comes up, to ensure it suits your requirements. Give it a whirl.

I freeze loads of stuff, although at the moment, I'm trying to eat down a freezer so that I can clean both and leave one switched off, whilst we're both away.

Good luck with the reduced carbing. There's some utterly delicious food out there to be experimented with.

Soups are so easy. Broth, veggies, protein and herbs. Cook veggies first if desired, however you desire, add cooked protein and broth, heat and good to go.

Minced meats, rotisserie chickens , doesn't have to be complicated. Just throw things in a pot and experiment !!! Add some butter or olive oil at the end or some avocado chunks. It's all good

@samantha13 have you bought a slow cooker yet? they are awesome!