Batch cooking ideas please

zippychick

I've merged this with our existing batch cooking thread,

our complete vegetarian collection may be of interest as it links to heaps of veggie threads

Zip

houseimprover

I had a look for threads on this but I'm sure the seach facility on this website is pretty rubbish.

I have some ideas of what to cook but are there any threads on here I should be looking at? Also, if I batch cook say Lasagna how long can I keep it frozen for?

All this type of information would be very helpful

thanks

Linda32

Hi,


You can keep lasagne and anything similar for ever in the freezer. As long as its working perfectly at -18 degrees which I'm sure it is then nothing what so ever will happen.


When I have frozen lasagne, I have made a big one. Then served each portion into what I call sandwich boxes.


http://www.addis.co.uk/food-storage.html


I've bought these from Tesco's. You can buy similar in Poundland but the addis ones are better. The Poundland ones are probably worth a pound but they don't last very long before the split/crack etc.


To re-heat I take out of the freezer tea time the night before (leave a note for yourself where you will see it) to defrost in the fridge. You need to decant into an overproof dish, then I re-heat at gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. I don't re-heat in the microwave as I find things re-heat to a nicer texture in the oven. But that might be just me


You can also make the bolognaise part of spaghetti bolognaise. Just make a really big batch (double up any recipe, if you don't have a big enough saucepan then split between two saucepans) Freeze this in the above boxes and again re-heat and cook spaghetti at the same time.


I do the same with casseroles, I use a brisket joint with root veggies, onions and celery for flavour. Cook this as per instructions on the packet (My oven has a slow cooker setting so I use this) Then I portion up just the same with some meat and veggies. Then I use this as the 'meat' part of the meal with extra veggies and potatoes.


HTH, did you have anything in particular in mind that perhaps we can help with.

superrhinos

Plenty of ideas on this thread:-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/242856

houseimprover

Thanks for the reply Linda and Superrhinos. I think I'm gonna give a chili a go first

houseimprover

Just a thought, has anyone costed their own ready meals against the supermarkets? Obviously they will be better but I just wondered how much cheaper we're looking at.

TravellingAbuela

I like to keep portions of Shepherds Pie base in the freezer and, when I have a bit of mashed potato leftover, I can get a portion out and plonk the mash on top for a quick meal.

Linda32

houseimprover wrote: »

Just a thought, has anyone costed their own ready meals against the supermarkets? Obviously they will be better but I just wondered how much cheaper we're looking at.

I think things like cakes and biscuits are cheaper to make yourself, because you would have to compare to "finest" ranges etc. But I wouldn't like to say with regards to ready meals.

nuatha

houseimprover wrote: »

I had a look for threads on this but I'm sure the seach facility on this website is pretty rubbish.

I have some ideas of what to cook but are there any threads on here I should be looking at? Also, if I batch cook say Lasagna how long can I keep it frozen for?

All this type of information would be very helpful

thanks

I generally work on keeping things 3-4 months in the freezers.
I'd start small, cooking double or triple quantities of dishes you like and freezing the surplus, this quickly gives you a range of meals to choose from.
If you want to progress to serious bulk cooking, then look at meals that are variations on the same ingredients, I'll cook mince, some remains as mince, some becomes bolognaise (and some of that becomes lasagne) and some becomes chilli con carne).
I'll then process a sack of potatoes, last time I did this, the yield was 14lb of spicy wedges, 18lb of mash, with the balance of the sack the right sizes and shapes for hotpots/dauphinoise and baking so these were left as potatoes that weekend. Some of the mash becomes shepherds pie topping, some becomes cheese and onion or corned beef pie filling and some is frozen as simple mash. Its a fairly intensive two days work, but produces a lot of meals. I've also been known to turn 5Kg of chicken breasts in to tikka.
This approach relies on large pans (stock pots are handy) and plenty of freezer space.
An alternative approach is building blocks. Things that you can assemble into a variety of meals. Think it was Thriftqueen who introduced me to this idea. Unfortunately I can't find references on her blog this morning. Another idea gained from her was freezing down pots of grated onions, carrots and celery (mixed) which provide an excellent base for a number of dishes.

I haven't done costings for quite a while, it generally worked out cheaper than supermarket ready meals, but its far cheaper than a takeaway and from freezer to microwave to plate is faster than a takeaway to.
HTH

LisaJane

Hello.

I love cooking for the freezer, but unfortunately only have a small top box freezer so am restricted as to how much I can keep at once, so can't be too ambitious.

There are two of us, so I generally cook enough for four and then split it in two. I try to have a good variety of things and can keep around 8/9 freezer bags of meals at once. I find this really handy for when I can't be bothered cooking properly when I'm tired after work.

Currently I have:

3 x chilli
1 x beef curry
1 x hairy dieters chicken pie
1 x beef stew
1 x packet of sausages for sausage and mash

The plan would be to eat a few of these this week and then try to replace them with one or two other different things at the weekend to keep it topped up.

I like to make sure we are eating fish at least one a week and chicken maybe twice a week and lots of veg for health reasons...so will make perhaps salmon/potaoes/veg one night, chicken stir fry one night and maybe some sort of chicken bake another night (love the hairy dieters easy chicken bake), as these things are easy and don't take too much time to prepare.