If you are unsure of the benefits of a freezer cooking, you might be surprised at the time that this can save during the week, when you are more rushed for time. But by preparing extra, too, when you are cooking is an easy way to ensure that you have ready meals that are home cooked ready and waiting to be put into the oven or the slow cooker, saving you time and money.

Saving time on potatoes

My own personal hate with cooking is potatoes, I like to eat them but I hate to peel them. So once a week, normally my other half, will peel a supply of potatoes, which are kept in a bowl of water in the fridge ready for me to use when I need to prepare tea. This means my time in an evening is not spent peeling potatoes, this was found to be a main reason for me to find alternatives to the humble potato, when all that was wrong was having the time to peel them.

I have also found that by cooking extra and mashing them and allowing them to cool, I then store in the freezer for when I need an emergency accompaniment to a meal, which is quick and easy to prepare.

My husband likes roast potatoes but again during the week it can be difficult to accommodate. This is why I, par boil some potatoes, cool, and then freeze them on a flat tray before bagging into meal size portions. I cook these from the freezer and they taste great too.

Mince meals

Whenever I prepare a meal that is based on mince, which can be chilli, spaghetti Bolognese, or just a mince to go with potatoes, I cook more than I need and the extra is bagged up once it has gone cold and then labelled.

This is often used to go with jacket potatoes; I normally store these meals in single servings; that way my family members can pick their favourite combination. This is the only time that I will cook different meals for individual family members.

If I am making a lasagna I will complete two dishes, one to be consumed that day and the other, once cooled, will be wrapped and stored in the freezer for one of those days when I have too much to do and need to have a quick meal preparation day.

Sandwiches in the freezer

I normally make my own bread, which we have for sandwiches during the week. But if I am out and I noticed a pre-cut loaf of bread reduced but still fresh I will often purchase these and use them to make sandwiches that can be made into toasties. These are then placed in bags before going into the freezer, ready for any family member who wants one for their lunch.

These extra food items that I have in my freezer stretches my food budget each week and it means that we have some great easy choices that take little preparation when the time is short.