Batch cooking ideas please

kittykirsty

Yup, :rotfl: i hate the cleaning up, still it's not too bad tonight as i'm doing as i go!! The mash potato is now made, just waiting on the mince finishing and then i can put it together and wait for it to cool!!

A raclette machine sounds really cool, i do love cheese!! Never heard of it so presume it's almost impossible to get in this country?

I was going to do so much more, but it's getting so late, i'm not sure i can.

I've got loads of chicken to cut up, might just freeze it raw, i want to make stock from the bones but it's a bit late to start, do you think i can freeze the bones and make stock another day?? :rotfl:

Bit of a stupid question i know, but i don't want to waste them if i can help it? Also not going to be here tomorrow night/wednesday, so can't leave it til then!!

kittykirsty

Wow, this took a lot longer than i thought, mind you i did start later than i wanted to!

So far made meatballs, hobnobs, and just finished some lovely shepherd's pies. Currently cutting up 4 boxes of chicken drumsticks! OH is up now, and tells me that you can freeze bones, so i'll give it a go, and make stock/soup this weekend!

Also wanted to make tiramisu (not to freeze, don't think it'd get that far anyway :rotfl:), apple pies to freeze, sausage casserole to freeze. But there's no way i'm getting any of that done tonight! The main thing was to use up the mince and chicken, so that's ok!

Thanks everyone for your company and help, i'm logging off now cos i want to get chickidee's finished and get to bed! MRSMCAWBER, you are a star!! Hope the rest of your packing goes ok, and if i don't get to speak to you, i hope you have a great holiday, and speak to you once you get to Germany!!

Night night all!! :kisses3::rotfl:

pollyanna24

Wow, what an interesting post! I try my best to batch cook as well. Don't do all of it on one night though. I cooked 8 portions of spag bol on Thurs and 8 portions of mince/carrots on Friday. All happily sitting in my freezer.

I've never made full on shepherds pie and froze, thought you couldn't for some reason. So I'm taking my mince/carrots which hopefully has been been defrosting while I'm at work and finishing it off when I get in. So can I really just cook and mash pots, put it on the mince and freeze it once it's all gone cold? Cool if I can, will do that in future!

Re the meatballs. I liked the oven idea, but while you're cooking the meatballs in the oven, I presume you also cook the sauce on the hob? Never made them before, but intrigued. How long does it take to cook? Both meatballs and sauce?

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there PollyAnna

Yep you can freeze whole shepherds pie...or if you prefer you can cook it as you would normally and then just portion it into containers to freeze... i do both...depends what mood im in:D ...so yep...just make it as you would normally..cover and freeze and then when you want it, take it out to defrost and bake as normal..but dot the top with a little butter or marge..it makes it go lovely and golden and it tastes yummy

And the meatballs.. im guesstimating here as i never time things :rolleyes: ....so i would say probably 15-20 mins in the oven should be fine.... and the sauce i generally fry onions, mushrooms, peppers and garlic...or anything else i have and then add a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes and a stock cube and whatever herbs i fancy...and let it bubble away so it thickens....and as we dont like tomatoes too acidic i sometimes add a spoon of philladelphia (well the cheap alternative :rotfl: ) it makes the sauce creamier and richer...and then you can either put your sauce in the bottom and balls on top...or the other way round...it depends which you prefer...

hope they come out ok:D

redmel1621

Hi

I have read so many posts where people will batch cook food and then freeze it. I what I was wondering is which kinds of foods do you mostly do this with? I have been thinking of doing this for a while now but DH always moans that re-heated food never tastes the same as freshly cooked. Also how do you generally defrost and re-heat, in microwave?

Doing this would really help me out, especially on a wed and thurs when I don't finish work until 6pm. I'm wondering if you all think the food still tastes just as nice when cooked like this, and are there certain recipes you would or wouldn't do this with?

Thnk you
Mel x

soappie

I mainly batch cook mince for spag bol/lasagne. And stock for soups etc. What I do with the mince is cook it up with onions and tomatoes but leave out the peppers and mushrooms (I freeze them separately) .

I get it out of the freezer and either defrost it over night in the fridge or defrost it in the microwave. I then boil it up and add the peppers and mushrooms and then, if I'm making lasagne, once it's reached boiling point, assemble the lasagne and stick it in the oven. If I'm doing spag bol, I'll let it bubble for about 10 minutes and then serve it up with the spaghetti. It tastes no different.

Racklen

i do this with soup in the winter just make a very basic carrot soup in a huge pan cool and put into food bags place in small food boxes( just so it freezes in a staxkable shape) then defrost in fridge over night in a bowl heat and fill a flask for work.

its costs about 10p a portion in the end and has no added fats, sugars or junk

have also done beef/lamb casseroles/stews too

samf1971

Hi Mel,
I do this mainly to avoid having to keep going to the shops as it gets expensive on public transport & I don't have a car so I get all my veggies and meat from the market on Friday and then batch cook/bake on Saturday.

Can't say I've really noticed a deterioration in the quality of food. the kind of things I cook are:

stews, bolognaise / pasta sauces, cottage/sheperds pie, chicken pie (I buy fresh puff pastry, put the lid on and then freeze it), pasties/pies, yorkshire puds, scones, curries, soups.

I either defrost overnight in the fridge or things like soups can be microwaved from frozen

hth

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

I will freeze just about anything that stands still long enough :rotfl: ..

Seriously.... i think that casseroles, stews, bolognaises, chillies etc all improve after being left for a while anyway, so freezing those is a doddle. The only thing im not usually keen on when it is re-heated is potato, but i think thats just a personal thing....

I do pies, but slightly undercook the pastry - then freeze once cold...then when you shove them back in the oven to re-heat them, it finishes off without drying out,

I always take things out the night before and leave them to defrost in the fridge.... which would be ideal for you with you not getting in until late...
You could take them out just before bed, and you would be coming home knowing what was for tea, and if you needed to pick any extras up....

trying-very-trying

redmel, I would suggest if reheating in a microwave, turn the power down and give it longer. The result is much nicer, I never reheat anything at more than 350w and usually give it about 10 - 15 or even 20 minutes depending on the size of the dish. It's just trial and error really, but I do this even when reheating shop bought ready meals, I always find the instructions on the packet are for a quick heat up and you never get a great result.
HTH.