Batch cooking ideas please

juliapenguin

Adding some chopped bacon to 'the usual suspects' would be tasty and would be nice in any of Barneysmom's suggestions, or on its own as a topping for baked spuds, inside pancakes or in a pie. I love bacon in things like that as it's so tasty and goes surprisingly well with mince.

When I was on holiday in Spain once, I thought the minced beef at the supermarket was the best I'd ever tasted, and when I deciphered the packet I realised it was a mixture of beef, pork and lamb. The combined taste of the three meats was so good, I often buy a pack of all three when I'm doing a big pot of mince stuff. I would add loads of onions, peppers/mushrooms/grated carrot, tomatoes/tomato puree and stock then cook it for ages. Delish.

hayleythedaisy

Thanks, I wanted to go it ready to go so we can just heat it up after a long days work! Although I'm liking the usual suspects for a different idea!

the_other_mce

Every couple of months I spend a Saturday afternoon making big pans of chilli, bolognaise sauce and savoury mince. I use large stock pots that I bought from Woolies a few years ago. They all have the same base - onions and mince (!) and then I add tomatoes, kidney beans, garlic, spices as appropriate. It seems easier doing large quantities all in on go. Once it has all cooked and cooled I portion it in re-usable freezer containers. I usually make enough to last 2-3 months and it has made my life so much easier - my family all like 'different' variations of mince meals (DD1 loves bolognaise, lasagne etc, DD2 will only eat 'proper mince and mash, O/h and myself are big fans of chilli etc) and it is brilliant that we can all have food we love without me cooking different meals each night. Also it's great to have things in to put on a jacket potato/serve with oven chips when you can't be bothered to cook. We often eat our chilli with tortillas when we are feeling super lazy! I also cook and freeze mash (there is another thread on here about that!). I love cooking like this - I also pad out meals with things like carrots, lentils etc - my kids haven't got a clue how much veg. they are eating!!
Another tip is to chop and pre cook onions, garlic and peppers and freeze that. You then have an excellent base for stir-frys, taco's, cous-cous type meals - just throw in with cooked carbs and chicken/tuna etc. Have fun!!!

freakyogre

the_other_mce wrote: »

Every couple of months I spend a Saturday afternoon making big pans of chilli, bolognaise sauce and savoury mince. I use large stock pots that I bought from Woolies a few years ago. They all have the same base - onions and mince (!) and then I add tomatoes, kidney beans, garlic, spices as appropriate. It seems easier doing large quantities all in on go. Once it has all cooked and cooled I portion it in re-usable freezer containers. I usually make enough to last 2-3 months and it has made my life so much easier - my family all like 'different' variations of mince meals (DD1 loves bolognaise, lasagne etc, DD2 will only eat 'proper mince and mash, O/h and myself are big fans of chilli etc) and it is brilliant that we can all have food we love without me cooking different meals each night. Also it's great to have things in to put on a jacket potato/serve with oven chips when you can't be bothered to cook. We often eat our chilli with tortillas when we are feeling super lazy! I also cook and freeze mash (there is another thread on here about that!). I love cooking like this - I also pad out meals with things like carrots, lentils etc - my kids haven't got a clue how much veg. they are eating!!
Another tip is to chop and pre cook onions, garlic and peppers and freeze that. You then have an excellent base for stir-frys, taco's, cous-cous type meals - just throw in with cooked carbs and chicken/tuna etc. Have fun!!!

This is what I plan to do when I invest in a bigger freezer. I like the idea of 'ready meals' being there when I want them and being able to choose from what I have. Seems a good way of doing it too as I live on my own and when I make a 'normal' amount of chilli for example, it makes enough for 4+ meals and eating it everyday can get very boring.

zippychick

This thread is ace! Building blocks for the freezer

Penelope_Penguin

hayleythedaisy wrote: »

I'm thinking of making a huge amount, something like 10 portions, and if it works doing it once every couple of weeks to try and keep costs down... is this a good idea?

I'll add this to the existing thread on cooking in bulk to give you more ideas

Penny. x

hayleythedaisy

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm gonna eat down the freezer before hols and stock it up when I get back, will let you know how it goes :-)

Isis_Black

cor blimey, this thread has given me a brainache from info overload! lol

but i really could do with getting into this as i am looking to be going back to college so need to get my weeks sorted out in advance so i dont have to worry about the cooking from scratch after a heavy day of learning then dealing with my kids too.
There are 5 of us altogether myself, hubby and 3 girls who are 10, 8 and 5!
so i am hoping that i can do this on maybe every other saturday at the most leaving me to jsut have to re heat do minor stuff like pizza toppings in the week!

twinklie

I HATE cooking and am so busy in the week I rarely get time to make a proper nutritious meal. Our food bills are starting to reflect this - worryingly. So I want to try batch cooking, since I rarely do anything on a Saturday anyway.

I've been googling but can't really find a dummies guide on what to do. I also don't have a microwave for reheating. Can someone give me advice on any essentials I'll need to purchase before beginning? And also some lovely recipes including how to reheat in oven (temps/times etc).

I really want to get more vegetables in our diet.

I know I sound stupid but I've always just bought packet things and I looked at how much this was costing and....well, I very nearly passed out. :eek:

Pink.

Hi twinklie,

When I batch cook I make double or triple what I would normally make and then cool and freeze the leftovers. I usually defrost overnight in the fridge, then reheat in the oven or microwave or hob (depending on what it is) until piping hot. You won't need to buy anything special before beginning other than the ingredients you want to use.

These threads should give you some ideas:

Batch cooking ideas please

Cooking for the Freezer..

How do you freeze your batch cooking?

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink