Best batch cook recipes for veggies? - to survive early newborn days

[milkyman]

One of my maternity leave plans is to batch cook beforehand as made the mistake of not doing this for last ds. Any tried and tested veggie recipes that are easy and tasty?

[nehagarg]

Oooh, tagging on here as I'd love some ideas too.

Couple of things on my list is

• Homemade pasta sauce with lots of veggies (Easy to thaw and pour over some pasta)
  
• Sweet potato and black bean chilli. Made this the other day and froze some to test. Freezes well and very tasty.
  

greenlitebites.com/2012/03/sweet-potato-black-bean-chili-avocado/

[milkyman]

That looks nice! How long do things freeze safely for as die mid april - might be a bit early yet?

[milkyman]

due in April not 'die'...

[nehagarg]

I have frozen foods for 3 months in the past and they have been okay. I think I'll stick to 1-2 months max though, to be safe.

[Autumn2014]

Chunky soups. Asda do some pre chopped veg packs If you want to save even more time.
Other than that your favourite curry veg style or Quorn bolognaise.

[Heirhelp]

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4382/veggie-shepherds-pie-with-sweet-potato-mash

[SpecialStains]

I batch cook a bit, though would never class myself as the world's best cook, and I use a lot of garlic! I've never really had problems with how long I've left things frozen for. I find the foil containers really good. If you are not adverse to quorn/soya mince:

Veg curry (lightly fry veg, onions, garlic, quorn chunks, add tins tomatoes and curry powder, simmer briefly then dish into portions and freeze). *instead of quorn chunks you can also use tinned lentils or chickpeas.

Shepherds pie (fry onion, garlic, quorn mince. Add chopped carrots/peas/sweet corn. Add stock cube with 1 pint water, two teaspoons of Marmite, a bit of gravy power. Dish into individual portions, and spoon mash potatoes on top. Can then be frozen, and cooked at 180 for 40mins.

Lasagne/spag bol (fry soya mince, onions, garlic, mushrooms. Add tin tomatoes, stock cube and some tomato paste. Italian herbs. Let simmer until thicker in texture. For spag bol, freeze here. For lasagne, dish into individual portions, layered with lasagne sheets. Use the BBC good food cheese sauce recipe for the top).

Thai green curry (onion, chopped veg, garlic fried, add and lightly fry the green curry paste-make sure veggie- then add tin or two of coconut milk, add cauldron tofu chunks and simmer. Freeze.)

Veg stew (lightly fry chopped onion and leeks and garlic. Add root veg, tin of beans -any tinned beans will do, not baked ones!- pint of water with stock cube, some gravy powder. Place in oven proof dish for 30, then divide into individual portions and freeze. Only needs microwave to reheat.

Mousakka - more fiddly - fry onions, garlic and soya mince. Add tin tomatoes, half pint water and stock cube. Add a couple of teaspoons cinnamon to taste. Simmer until thick consistency. Put in individual portions. Thinly slice some potatoes, and lightly fry on both sides until light brown. Layer the fried potato slices on top of the mince, then cover with the BBC good food cheese sauce).

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup (peel chop and dice a small squash and a large sweet potato, lightly fry an onion and some garlic. Add the squash and potato chunks, top up with water, add a stock cube and some black pepper. Boil until veg is soft. Blend with a handheld blender. This is made better with a couple of teaspoons of curry powder (depending on preference). Freezes well.

Veggie chilli - fry onion, garlic and soya mince. Add a tins of chopped tomatoes, some tomato puree, a tin of black beans and some chilli powder. Simmer until right consistency. Freeze. Can reheat to have with rice, or in tortilla wraps.

Love to hear other people's favourite veggie dishes.

[SpecialStains]

Also this is lovely www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4519/vegetable-tagine-with-chickpeas-and-raisins-

Though I also add apricots, tomato puree and honey. Its OK to freeze, but if intentionally freezing, I wouldn't add the peas, and then add them when defrosting.

I also really liked this, but got the consistency of the sauce wrong. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/339607/bean-and-sausage-hotpot

[notagiraffe]

Quorn mince veggie chilli and shepherd's pies freeze well.

Veggie korma with red lentils, sweet potatoes, mixed veg that you love, mild spices and coconut milk.

Apple crumble made with oat and ground almond topping.

[JasperDamerel]

I batch cooked loads of stews, soups, chilli etc with DC1, but she fed all the bloody time, so I needed food that could be easily eaten one-handed while doing skin to sin on the sofa. So I would also include some more solid, finger-food type options - stuff in individual pastry cases, veggie burgers/fritters, but roast/lentil bake which can be sliced.

[JasperDamerel]

Nut roast, not but roast.

[Junosmum]

gnocchi in sauce - carrot, celery, onion, courgette- fry, add tinned tomatoes and a tin of water, tom puree some herbs, add the gnocchi and bake in the oven for 20mins.

[frangipani13]

Aubergine parmigiana! I actually made this as it was supposed to induce labour clearly that was a load of balls but it did taste gorgeous and I had lovely lunches for a few days! Tesco do some fab veggie meals in the frozen section - the veggie Lincolnshire sausages are gorgeous in a sarnie or casserole.

[milkyman]

Thanks some great ideas here!

[Autumn2014]

Making me hungry..