Cooking for two homes
You’re cooking anyway, so the same pots can fill your freezer and theirs, and you take a few containers over each visit instead of cooking when you get there.
- Ask what they’d like It’s their dinner.
- Same containers in both freezers They stack the same, and you know what fits.
- Keep a note of their freezer Oldest first. Take over what’s running low.
Nomstash plans portions per person, so their dinners are in the plan and on the shopping list from the start, alongside yours.
New to batch cooking? Batch cooking for beginners starts at the beginning, and how to plan a cook day walks through one afternoon by the clock.
Smaller portions
Freeze in single portions. One container is one meal, nothing half-eaten sits in the fridge, and nobody is faced with more than they want.
If something does end up in the fridge, the FSA says to eat leftovers within 48 hours or freeze them. That rule and the rest are in freezing, defrosting and reheating safely.
Nomstash keeps count of every container and its portions, so you can see what’s left without opening the freezer.
Familiar dishes
Cook the dinners they already know and like. These are all among the 42 dishes in Nomstash:
- Cottage pie Beef or veggie mince under mash, with veg
- Shepherd’s pie Lamb or veggie mince under mash, with veg
- Fish pie Fish in a creamy sauce under mash, with peas
- Soup A bowl of soup, with bread
- Bolognese A ragu or tomato sauce, with pasta
- Crumble Fruit under a crumble top, with custard or cream
Ask about anything they can’t or won’t eat before you cook 8 portions of it.
There are more in single portions for someone living alone, each with its recipe and a shopping list.
Dinners they can heat up on their own
The easiest freezer meals for someone you care for take one step to heat up, with nothing else to cook unless they want to.
- One container, one dinner A single portion, so there’s nothing to divide up and nothing left over.
- Soups, stews and sauces In a pan or the microwave, the way they’re used to.
- Pies and bakes in their own tray Frozen in a foil tray, so there’s no dish to wash afterwards.
- How to heat it, on the lid Microwave, hob or oven, written where they’ll see it.
The Food Standards Agency’s rules for defrosting and reheating are further down.
Taking meals over
Take a few containers over each visit and put them in their freezer with the oldest at the front, so the next one out is the one to eat first.
If you can’t get there every week, cook more single portions on the same cook day and take a bigger box less often. Keep a note of what you took over, so you know when the next trip is due.
Clear labels
A label that’s easy to read from the freezer door: the dish in big letters, the date it was made and how many portions are in it. Use the name they’d use. “Cottage pie” beats “Beef and veg mash bake”.
A Nomstash label carries the dish, the date made and the portions, with a QR code. Scanning it opens the container in Nomstash or marks it eaten. Here’s how Nomstash labels and keeps count.
Safety: defrost in the fridge, eat within 24 hours, reheat once
Worth writing out for their fridge door. Each rule comes from the Food Standards Agency.
-
Defrost in the fridge overnight. If you can’t, use the microwave’s defrost setting directly before cooking.
the safest way to defrost food is in the fridge overnight
use a microwave on the defrost setting directly before cooking
Food Standards Agency -
Once it’s fully defrosted, eat it within 24 hours.
use food within 24 hours after it’s been fully defrosted
Food Standards Agency -
Food that’s been cooked and frozen is reheated once, not again after that.
you can freeze food again once cooked, but you’ll only be able to reheat it once after that
Food Standards Agency -
Cool cooked food at room temperature and put it in the fridge within one to two hours.
cool cooked food at room temperature and place in the fridge within one to two hours
Food Standards Agency
Last checked against the Food Standards Agency page linked here.
Every rule, with all its sources: freezing, defrosting and reheating safely.
Special diets
If the person you cook for has a special diet, trouble swallowing or a condition that affects what they can eat, follow the advice of their GP, dietitian or care team. Nothing in this guide is diet advice.
The NHS page on swallowing problems (dysphagia) explains that people may be referred to a speech and language therapist or a dietitian for advice about swallowing and diet.
Questions carers ask
What are good freezer meals for elderly parents?
The dinners they already know: cottage pie, fish pie, soup, a stew or a bolognese. Familiar food gets eaten. Start with two or three they like and add one new dish at a time.
How many meals should I cook?
One container for each night you won’t be there to cook, plus a couple spare. Most recipes make a batch of 8 portions, so two or three dishes fill a week or two for them and still leave some for your own freezer.
Can I cook for them and for my own family on the same day?
Yes. Nomstash plans portions for each person, so their single portions and your family-sized containers come out of the same pots and the same shop.
What if they can’t use a cooker?
Choose dishes that heat up in the microwave, like soups, stews and sauces, and check the maker’s instructions say the container can go in the microwave. Write “microwave” on the lid so they know how to heat it.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency How to chill, freeze and defrost food safely gov.uk
- NHS Dysphagia (swallowing problems) nhs.uk
Last checked . Each quotation on this page was read against the page it links to.