I have never before prepared ready meals. Now, since the processed meat scandal I really need to cook these meals at home, using my own ingredients and freeze them a-la 'ready meal' style

Prob is I have never ever done this.

The meals I would like to cook & freeze in lock n lock boxes are:

Chilli con carne
curry
spag bol.

Is this possible? Once I have these meals all waiting on the hob, what should I do regarding cooling - portioning out - freezing -
then the routine to using? Can I treat them like a shop frozen meal? (Unseal the lid, slam in micro frozen?)

I really am puzzled about this.
All I know so far is that pasta or rice should be mixed into sauce before freezing as separation causes freezer burn

I am a complete novice, I really wont buy another frozen dinner, but, they are so convenient!

so convenience with natural ingredients is now the perfect combo required

Let the meat sauce cool before you freeze. As for portioning, it depends how many you are cooking for on a regular basis. I portion for 2 as there's only 2 of us and if I need to feed more people I just use more portions. If you're organised you can take the meat sauce out of the freezer the night before and let it defrost overnight in the fridge. I'm not, so rely on the micro a lot but I do it gradually bit by bit or it can start to cook. Personally, I only ever freeze the meat sauce so if it's cottage pie, for example, I'll still do the potatoes on the day.

If you can make the basics you'll be fine and wonder why you ever bought ready meals. Good luck!

If you google 'once a month cooking' you will find all the information you need and more. Recipes, preparation tips, freezing tips and reheating tips for preparing and storing large batches of food.

I normally freeze around 12 to 15 portions of many different meals at a time. As long as you have the freezer space its a great time saver, cost saver and you have control of the ingredients and recipes.

BTW, I don't use storage boxes, would take up too much space in my freezer. I use freezer bags (around £1.50 for 50 from Aldi I think) or if you feeling more flush then ziplock back). I do a bit of forward planning by taking the meal out of the freezer in the morning and let it defrost on the counter top (I would suggest you put it in a dish as its likely to collect condensation). Its then ready to reheat in a few minutes by the time I get home.

Agreed that I would freeze the meat sauce and cook the spag fresh each time. I re-use the plastic boxes from the local take-away, though you can buy them in supermarkets too. For me they hold a generous portion for one I find they stack in my freezer efficiently. When using freezer bags they tend to mould into each other and are hard to seperate once frozen.

Defrost - best done overnight. If pushed I'll nuke on the defrost setting and usually will empty the food into a small round casserole to aid stiring once its loose from the freezer box.
Some things freeze better than others - you'll find out what with practise but chilli, curry, stew and most soups are excellent.

I use freezer bags for individual portions and then when I need then I gently defrost them in a plastic container in the microwave for a few mins until I can tip it out of the bag into the plastic container. I use one that I've made a hole in but you could just eave the lid unsealed at one end. Then reheat until bubbling gently giving it the odd stir. Towards the end I normally turn the microwave down to the low setting to avoid over cooking.

One thing I normally do if freezing is add some extra water during the initial cooking as the whole freezing/reheating process tends to dry food out..

thank you all so much for your help!!

some brilliant tips I had never thought of before left me thinking 'wow'

I make a start today making hot chili con carne and bolognaise using basic meat/onion/tomato but jigging the spices in each

Im going to take a chance and mix in the pasta/rice with meat before freezing. Looks less appetizing but This is because the ready meal is for OAPs and they dont know or cannot boil these things themselves on the day of eating the meat part

I will use foil take away trays for my first attempt then, if the OAPs survive my cooking, I will try bags