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My Friendly Freezer, part 2

© Sonia Fluke

My freezer cooking is going well. It's a kick to open the door and see rows of nutritious, cooked meals just waiting to be defrosted. I am enjoying having the extra time in the afternoon and of course - the dollar savings are a bonus.

I'd like to share a few of the things I have used and that have worked well for me in bulk cooking. Things that freeze well include pies, casseroles, soups, stewed fruits, quiches and steamed or blanched vegetables. There are more of course, but I am not terribly adventurous when it comes to food and if I don't know it will freeze well, someone else will have to try it first!

Being an on-and-off vegetarian, I am always looking for alternatives to meat dishes. (By the way, I am still vegetarian at this moment, but the family ganged up on me and we now have a freezer full of home grown organic meat - a compromise but one I can live with) I have found that the various vege sausages, not-chicken burgers and home made lentil patties all freeze well. I use vege sausaged in curried sausages and sausage and bean casserole and they taste great(I simply could not bear to eat a sausage, I know what is in them!). In my travels around the net looking for vegetarian meals to freeze, I came across a complete vegetarian meal plan - You'll find it here: http://www.frugal-moms.com/cooking/vegpl... The Frugal Mom's site also has other cooking plans for OAMC, and I urge you to check those out too (although I haven't tried them).

Pies are always a favorite with children, and following are two recipes for pie filling that my lot love - and they both freeze well.Use your own home made pastry or a ready rolled shortcrust. One filling is beef and the other chicken, although we don't eat chicken so substitute "Not-chicken" fillets made by Sanitarium here in Oz. Aussie Meat pië: a little oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 medium carrot, coarsely grated 250g (8oz) minced steak 1 tablespoon plain flour 4 tablespoons tomato sauce 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 3 tablespoons water 2 teaspoons chopped parsley salt and pepper Heat oil and fry onion gently until softened. Add carrot and minced steak, stirring until the meat is browned. Add the flour, stirring over low heat for 1 or 2 minutes. Add sauces, water and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Continue to stir until boiling and fill pie when cool.

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