Sell batch cooking to me, please.

[TheMotherSide]

Just that.

I love cooking but am time-poor.

DP and I share cooking. Typically, I'll spend approximately an hour preparing our evening meals and, as much as I love it, I've concluded that I no longer have the luxury of this hour of an evening. On the nights when DP cooks, I get a lot of work done which I'd otherwise have to add to the work I do after DC have gone to bed (teacher, so inevitable couple of hours working in the evenings).

I've always resisted batch cooking as I like to roll with what I feel like preparing on any given night, contents of fridge permitting. But I think I'm ready to let this pleasure go in favour of a bedtime the right side of midnight.

So hit me with the game-changing ups of batch cooking!

You could start with just making more of whatever you are making and freeze it. That way you get to have what you fancy, just from the freezer. Easier with things like bolognese or curry, where you can shove some rice or pasta on fresh.

Coming home from work when cold, tired and shivery, a tub of frozen chilli is a godsend when I'm tired, and only need to steam some rice. 🤗

It literally saves time so that should be a big enough sell.

Some things are nicer after they’ve been frozen!

anything that can go in the air fryer gets extra crispy

some things like eg Spag Bol or chilli seem to taste nicer when the veggies have broken down in the freezer

NO WASHING UP!

How many meals do you generally have to choose from in the freezer?

Do you freeze portions x1 or whole family batches -in our case x4?

Any good ideas in addition to bolognese and curry?

Leftovers are also considered batch cooking. Just double the recipe and tub it up to put straight in the freezer.

Cook once, eat twice.

Ah. Should add I don't have an air fryer or a microwave, so it's either hob or oven for heating up.

Take tub of frozen curry/bolognese/chilli/stew/pasta sauce out of the freezer in the morning. Arrive home and cook rice/pasta/potatoes and any veg, whilst heating whatever was in the tub. Job done.

Take jug of soup out of fridge, heat on hob while baking part-baked bread in the oven. Job done, again.

Dinner done and dusted in less than half an hour.

Cottage pie: make two or three
Bolognaise: 2 kilo of mince exteapolates into 2 lasagnes for 4, stuffed pepper with rice, 6-8 portions of bol.
Chilli: 1 kilo extrapolates to chilli for 4, chilli, dups and wraps
Large.roast chicken on a sunday - curroed chicken or chick with onions, mush, stock and a bit of creme fraiche on Monday
Casseroles, various, two portions for 2-4 in the freezer, baked potatoes are easy.

10-20 minute dinners:
Omolette and salad
Quiche and salad
Salmon fillets, pasta with pesto, gree veg or salad
Gammon, egg and chips
Sliced chicken breasts, mushrooms, juice of a lemon, marinade with a heaped tsp of paprika ans salt and pepper, add small carton of single cream - serve with rice and a green veg.
Seabass, roasted veg, new pots

You can buy a microwave for £50.

OP I am also a teacher and I manage it in two ways. During the holidays I will make big batches of the usual suspects eg chilli, bolognese, casseroles and freeze them in portions of 2. So the freezer is full when I go back to school. Then, during term time, I cook 3x a week (Friday - Sunday) and will almost always cook double the amount of whatever we need. So we eat one meal that evening and then the same again goes into the freezer. So Monday - Thursday we eat something from the freezer and only have to prepare whatever carb needs to accompany it.

it means that we always have a choice of freezer meal and it is an enormous time saver!

"Cook once, eat twice." That's the kind of motivation I need. Great.

Do you all tend to have a set batch cooking session during the week? Or does it tend to work out with just 'over catering' a couple of times per week?

How big is your freezer? I currently have a standard undercounter freezer and am wondering whether it might not be big enough once I get into my stride.

Chilli, all sorts of casseroles eg beef and Guinness, coqau vin, chicken chasseur, lamb navari, goulash; sausage casserole; cottage pie; shepherds pie; fajita filling; marry me chicken; risotto; lasagna; savoury mince; corned beef hash; tomato pasta sauce; chicken pie filling, cornish pasty filling; tagline.

I have 3 or 4 different meals in the freezer just now. We've used up a lot of the batch cooked meals, trying to make space for Christmas! I freeze in portions of whatever is left. Sometimes 1, 2 or 3 portions in 1 tub. Curry and chilli taste better out the freezer than the day it was made. And it's helpful to have these meals for days I'm late home from work, or DH is in charge dinner (he would prefer reheating than cooking from scratch and just cooking pasta or rice).

Lasagne, bolognese, various curries, chilli (meat and/or vegetable); soups, chicken/beef/sausage casserole. Those are my batch cook stalwarts. I cook more than I need on the day I’m making something fresh, and the remainder goes into tubs in the freezer.

I usually have about three evening meals worth in the freezer at any one time, but that’s purely down to lack of Tupperware. I’m going to invest in some lovely glass ones in the New Year and then my batch cooking will reach new heights. 😂

I’m a TA so not busy like you in the evenings but knackered after running around all day. I find it is nice to come home knowing there’s one less job to do in the evening. I try to batch cook in half terms and the school holidays.

@TheMotherSide there are a lot of "dump bag" recipes online. Prep all your favourite dinners and freeze. Night before defrost then put in the slow cooker.... dinner is served!!!

ex teacher

i used to batch book every Saturday.

once you’re a few weeks on you have a choice of meals. (I bought a chest freezer).

you can just go out and decide what you want and either nuke it or put it in the oven.

no cooking at all on weeknights.

in summer we did have more meals like hot dogs and salad etc but in winter honestly it saved so, so much time.

I can’t imagine making something like chilli or soup and only making enough for one meal. Making larger quantities is actually easier for lots of things. Also so much cheaper if it’s something that needs a long slow cook.

It also doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Batch cook some stews and curries and have them in the freezer, then they’re an option and you still have the option of making something else if you’re in the mood to.

You also don’t need a microwave. It’s very easy to reheat on the hob.

What sort of food do you like to eat?

I don't like batch cooking in the traditional sense but I do a lot of make a bit extra and repurpose food and it works better for me.

For example - today, I made roasted vegetables and salmon. I put an extra tray of roasted vegetables in and have put that aside. I will have that tomorrow with pasta and pesto.

I do batch cook some specific things - like pesto, which I freeze in ice cube trays.

I basically always make extra vegetables and repurpose them - shakshuka, soup, that sort of thing. If I have left over potatoes, I make bubble and squeak.

If you're being intimidated by the batch cooking content in the internet, I'm not surprised. So many people making a meal (ahem) of something so simple and intuitive. It really does just boil down to cooking more than you need on any given day and freezing half of it. You don't need fancy storage. Most of my stuff goes in freezer bags. I have pasta sauce, chicken pie mix, lentil soup, mashed potato, chicken fajita, beef bourguignon and probably a bunch of other stuff in my freezer right now. I can almost always go to the freezer and just hoik out a dish in the morning for serving in the evening.

I just make double and freeze it.

An hour a night for every meal is too long for a busy family. Look at the Sarah Rossi cook books for faster recipes. Also use short cuts, chopped frozen onions, lazy garlic, frozen base mix and use scissors for chopping up chicken.

Recently discovered Stocked. Am sure I could replicate it by making same meals in batch and freezing in block portions. But I am too lazy and hate cooking so seeing it as an investment in time and stops me from just eating rubbish for dinner!

Make a big batch and stash half in the freezer. Fish pie, shepherd’s pie, curry, soup, lasagne, stew, Italian sausage ragu, tomato mix for shakshuka. I freeze chicken drumsticks or salmon portions in the marinade too. Just need to remember to take it out of the freezer in the morning.