How far ahead to do cooking?

Hi everyone :D

I want to make a huge batch of meals and freeze them to have once bubby arrives.

I was originally going to wait until I started leave (at 36 weeks), but now I'm thinking I might start cooking them now (currently 31 weeks), to spread the process out

Is it too early to make them? I'm just thinking storage wise, some of the meals might be frozen for up to 4 or 5 months? I happily keep meats etc in the freezer for that long, but I'm not too sure about full meals like lasagne/meatloaf/sausage casseroles (things with sauces and pasta) etc - is it too long/would it alter taste/safety? They'll just be stored in plastic throwaway containers.

Should I just wait?

Thanks

personally i'd wait for a few more weeks - i tend to find anything taht's been cooked and left in the freezer more than about three months starts to get frost bite and doesn't taste any good (and really isn't good for you)

i just spent this weekend cooking - got a fair bit of cooking done but divided it between myself and a couple of other people and i know a lot will be used before bub arrives. i think if you can get in the habit of doing one thing a week or fortnight between yourself and your partner, you can get a decent turnover of freezer food without putting undue strain on yourself. make sure you date everything you freeze too - then you'll know how long it's been there!

the ONLY way i'd start at 31 weeks is if i intended to use that towards the end of the pregnancy while i'm starting to stock the freezer with more (so you cook now, and then what you'd normally cook fresh at 36+weeks, you freeze, and use the stuff you've frozen now kwim)

BG - Can quiche be frozen? I am going to have to get you to pm or email me a stack of the recipes you use, I do not want to risk some of DH's combinations again :sick:

cooked quiche should be fine to freeze - personally, i'd just make sure i wrapped it in either cling wrap or foil (usually wrap) to make sure it's sealed from air, then reheat in the oven - so essentially make sure it's "just" set, wrap, freeze and then defrost and reheat. i know you can buy frozen quiche so i'm assuming it would be the same. i wouldn't freeze it for long though. personally i'd be more likely to make and precook the base pastry just a bit and stack them in the freezer (again wrapped) and make the quiche on the day - would be a fresher alternative for me...

if you have access to a slow cooker Ali, i can forward you the recipes we used for my aunt - they're pretty much fool proof... i simplified my own improvised meals into recipes for her and she managed to make sense of them (how scary is that!) - i don't think even your DH could stuff them up! lol

I do have a SC BG. I will MSN you the best email address to send to.

Thanks for the reply. Three months does sound like a reasonable time. I think I'll just be patient and wait until I start leave.

Thanks again :D