Slow cooker meal planning

Fusspot

I'm just wondering if it's easier to use the slow cooker daily for one meal at a time or use it to batch cook. I live on my own and work full time.

I can't seem to get into a routine with meal planning for myself. I mainly eat chicken and fish, sometimes mince and pasta. I did a pasta bake yesterday, froze some and put some in the fridge to eat today but I felt like I'd hardly eaten anything. My own cooking never seems to statisy me and I tend to prefer ready meals or Birds Eye fillets that you cook from frozen. I want to eat better but I find it such a chore trying to meal plan.

milasavesmoney

I sometimes use my SC to cook sale chicken. I then cube or shred it and freeze in portions. There are lots of recipes for cooked chicken and having it in your freezer, ready to go can be a real time saver. I usually cover it with water, add a bullion cube, a carrot, a bit of celery and onion. It gives the chicken a nice flavor. I can then use the broth for a chicken soup, using a little of the chicken, while freezing the remainder.
I also do this with a combo of mince, chopped onion and garlic. I add a bit of water and let it cook off the water. Huge help for when you don't have much time, and again there are lots of ways to use it. To me it seems if I have part of a meal cooked I don't mind doing the rest, even when I'm tired. I usually try to do this when I find meat on sale, to take advantage of the savings.

As far as batch cooking, it really depends on how much freezer space you have. But honestly, when I have a few different sets of meals in there, it always make me feel happy that I do.

dragonette

It probably is cheaper to batch cook, but it might be more important to work out why the HM meals aren't satisfying you. Is it a smaller volume? Would more fibre (veg) or protein (meat/pulses) help? The levels of salt in ready meals could mean that your body is trying to adapt to the difference

HOWMUCH

I would batch cook as you live on your own, what size SC do you gave? Recipes for 4 would give you 3 portions for the freezer, there's 2 of us and I always do either 4 portions or 8 which I do the most if then that gives me a month's supply. I now only cook 2 to 3 recipes a week and this keeps us rotating nicely. Take it out of the freezer the night before and ping when we get home.
Not sure why you feel that you've not eaten anything after a pasta meal, did you cook enough? What was your portion size I do what we normally have for a meal 100g of dry pasta per portion.

teddysmum

I originally bought a 3.5 litre slow cooker,but sometimes found that just the two of us didn't want the same meal two days running (no freezer space),so I bought a mini 1.5 litre one ,finding it excellent for a single meal for two and also taking less time to cook vegetables.


(Self-confessed collector of gadgets).

Living_proof

I think the biggest mistake beginners make with a slow cooker is to use far far too much fluid. Just half an inch in old money at the bottom of the pot is plenty for cooking a whole chicken, brisket, lamb, etc. If you are cooking a casserole just use a fraction of what you'd normally cook with. Otherwise everything comes out tasting the same - disgusting!

Fusspot

HOWMUCH wrote: »

I would batch cook as you live on your own, what size SC do you gave? Recipes for 4 would give you 3 portions for the freezer, there's 2 of us and I always do either 4 portions or 8 which I do the most if then that gives me a month's supply. I now only cook 2 to 3 recipes a week and this keeps us rotating nicely. Take it out of the freezer the night before and ping when we get home.
Not sure why you feel that you've not eaten anything after a pasta meal, did you cook enough? What was your portion size I do what we normally have for a meal 100g of dry pasta per portion.

Thanks for your replies. My SC is 3.5 litres. Which meals do you cook in yours? The pasta dish I do is pasta bake, boil pasta on the stove which makes a mess, then stir in sauce and veg and bake in the oven. I give myself a fair portion but still don't feel full enough.

JIL

Fusspot wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. My SC is 3.5 litres. Which meals do you cook in yours? The pasta dish I do is pasta bake, boil pasta on the stove which makes a mess, then stir in sauce and veg and bake in the oven. I give myself a fair portion but still don't feel full enough.

I would suggest the reason you aren't feeling full is lack of protein with a white pasta. Could you add some tuna or chicken or ham? Or use a high protein pasta.

What ready meals do you like? Maybe it would help if you can start to recreate them?