weezl and friends Phase 4 - recipe testing christmas treats!

Lesley_Gaye

Allegra wrote: »

Delete all the ones that have the whirly thing next to them, then sign out of everything and start all over again. It normally works - eventually....

ok, thanks, am giving that a go. No joy so far, so will close laptop right down and re-start, prob not this eve tho, and am walking tom am and WI book club tom pm, so later on tom I hope to be able to talk to you all again

by the way, there is a batch of brownies cooling in the kitchen and calling my name - I'm trying to ignore them!

have made an A5 poster for a WI lady who works in a CAB advising people on debt etc. She loved the carrot cake and brownies at a recent WI meeting and was very interested in the whole concept and wants to promote it to her clients - yippee

aless02

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

have made an A5 poster for a WI lady who works in a CAB advising people on debt etc. She loved the carrot cake and brownies at a recent WI meeting and was very interested in the whole concept and wants to promote it to her clients - yippee

:T:T:T fab news, Lesley!

artybear

Aless I managed to muck up a brownie batch too... I did exactly the same thing as my first batch but they were more like brownie flavoured chewing gum than proper brownies. I still ate them

Right guys and girls small ask of you all. I have been really getting into batch cooking and made loads and loads of chilli and spaghetti bolognaise and veggie curry a few weeks ago and am still eating them. Now this has worked in practise as it saves so much time on cooking and washing up in the week, however if I eat another bolognaise I may do some harm to myself......or even worse buy a takeaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::rotfl:

So can people give me ideas on what they batch cook which are easy to freeze as I need inspiration?

Allegra

Anything that can be cooked up in a big pot and divvied up into easily reheated portions, Arty So any non-creamy pasta sauce, any type of curry/chili, stews (which you don't like, lol), soups, things like shepherds pie, fish pie etc.... Ummm.... Actual pies (make loadsa filling in a big pot, big batch of pastry separately, form into pies, freeze), pizzas.... I would not batch cook and freeze risottos and the like as it's a space gobbler plus a pain to reheat without a microwave, but if you have a m/w for reheating, deffo an option

katkins78

artybear wrote: »

Aless I managed to muck up a brownie batch too... I did exactly the same thing as my first batch but they were more like brownie flavoured chewing gum than proper brownies. I still ate them

I am ashamed to say I ate most of my burnt offerings too, although mine were more biscuity

Happens sometimes doesn't it, a recipe that you've made countless times is a disaster for unknown reasons? Oh well I suppose it keeps us humble and stops us getting too cocky!

katkins78

[QUOTE=artybear;40400316
So can people give me ideas on what they batch cook which are easy to freeze as I need inspiration?[/QUOTE]

Just had a look in the freezer and we have coq au vin, cannelloni, lasagne, roast beef in gravy, mashed potatoes and mashed carrot and swede plus about a million tiny bags of miscellaneous bits and bobs.

I went through a 'feed the freezer' stage a while back and had a browse through the freezer section of the supermarket for inspiration- I figure anything they can do.....:D!

queen_of_string

Arty, there are loads of mse batch cooking threads, I particularly like the ideas in this one : https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/571339

and some times do the things they suggest. Right now I have a huge pork leg, which was super cheap, slow roasting which I will cut into portions and freeze in gravy.

Making your batches a regular size, either blocks or flattened zip loc bags, makes a big difference in how much you can get in your freezer. My dream is to have a freezer that looks like a shelf of books when you open it, we have a long way to go yet !!

Allegra

queen_of_string wrote: »

My dream is to have a freezer that looks like a shelf of books when you open it, we have a long way to go yet !!

Blimmin' heck, woman, how geeky OCD is that, eh ?

Me likey :rotfl:

SusanC_2

artybear wrote: »

Right guys and girls small ask of you all. I have been really getting into batch cooking and made loads and loads of chilli and spaghetti bolognaise and veggie curry a few weeks ago and am still eating them. Now this has worked in practise as it saves so much time on cooking and washing up in the week, however if I eat another bolognaise I may do some harm to myself......or even worse buy a takeaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::rotfl:

So can people give me ideas on what they batch cook which are easy to freeze as I need inspiration?

I freeze almost everything even the things you're not "supposed" to. The only thing I've found doesn't come out so well is carbonara pasta but I still do it as it still tastes nice enough to me. Also I usually add a bit of water and stir half way through when reheating pasta dishes because otherwise you end up with some bits of pasta going rather dry and hard.

SusanC_2

I've never frozen chips though - I always make them fresh (or send OH to the fish n chip shop).