Batch cooking ideas please

Make-it-3

I am due to give birth next week and practically everyone has advised me to do some batch cooking in advance to get us through the first few weeks when we will be too exhausted/busy with baby to cook decent meals.

I’m not really sure where to start, I do meal plan but shop weekly for fresh ingredients, cooking and eating as we go. Also, I just have a small freezer compartment and unsure about food safety when it comes to cooking, freezing and re-heating food.

Can anyone help me out with suggestions, we are mainly vegetarian and my OH likes big flavours rather than plain food (he’s Indian).

kirsteebelle

Batch cooking doesn't suit everyone, especially with small freezers but some things can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days before having to be used up so you could use your freezer & your fridge.

Do you & your OH both share the cooking?

Apricot

How small is your freezer? Is it just one shelf or a few drawers? If it's a few drawers then you can just make big portions of what you ordinarily eat ie. vegetable crumble ,veggie curry, shepherdless pie, stew and freeze a few portions in tupperware or old takeaway containers. If you freeze in portions then you only need to defrost what you need for a meal.

The general rule with freezing is things can be frozen once per state so you can freeze raw meat, defrost it, make something and freeze the cooked product. I know you don't eat meat but im sure the rule is the same with veggie dishes.

Fruball

Oooops just wrote out a load of mince dishes then saw you are mainly veggie

Curries, quorn bolognese etc all good

You can also freeze mash potato and rice (be sure to cool it quickly once cooked by running under cold water, then drain and package up in 2 portion sizes).

I guess a lot depends on what you usually like to eat - be sure to have your all time favourite already made up and frozen for that important first day back at home

Utilise supermarket delivery too Saves either of you having to go out and you can update your order the day before it arrives to make sure you have everything you need

Also, you could make a couple of quiches and cut those into 2 portion sizes and freeze.

And don't be afraid to hint that you wouldn't turn down a casserole if someone turned up with one!!! Wish someone had done that for me as my first meal home was a pack of choc digestives as I didn't prepare very well and EX oh couldn't be bothered to make sure there was anything in.

Rebob

Just make twice the amount you usually do and then freeze half. Curries, stews and similar dishes work well. Means you dont need much time or energy to put a meal together if the biggest part is done.

Good luck with the baby!
x

Toodle

I don't have a lot of freezer space or tupperware/containers so I pop things in freezer bags then put the bag in a tub, once frozen I remove the bag from the tub and stack up the frozen blocks.

Make-it-3

To answer some of your questions, freezer is just two shelves at the top of the fridge. OH and I share the cooking pretty much 50/50. He does sometimes do extra portions of lentil dishes, spinach/paneer, chickpea stews etc which we keep in the fridge. I tend to make lighter, quicker dishes, stir fries, pasta with cream sauces, thai-style curries and soups, foil-baked fish.

I guess I'm a bit worried too that these things will lose their fresh flavours if they are re-heated.

jcr16

why not book a tesco shop for the next 3 weeks, then ur have the fresh produce in your fridge ready to cook the meal.

i agree batch cooking isn't for all, and a week before ur due might not be the best time to try if ur unsure.

Make-it-3

I'm definitely going to be doing the shopping online for a few weeks. Perhaps I am allowing others to panic me a bit, I rarely spend more than 1/2 hour rustling up an evening meal. In fact, I think I'll just meal plan further in advance than I normally would and if the ingredients are being delivered to my door then hopefully we'll manage.

adelight

Curries and stews will taste even better reheated. Say OH does a lentil curry tonight, ask him to do six portions- 2 for tonight, then 2 portions each in 2 tupperwares so you only need to cook rice and reheat. Or just a curry sauce.
Just having a few back up meals that are hard to get wrong may help you

Getting a tesco delivery lined up is also a good idea, that way you can have all your fresh produce arrive and throw together a quick stir fry.

btw you and your OH eat some delicious sounding food, wish my OH could rustle up a tasty chick pea stew :P