Ideas for meals that can last two or three days

[SeptemberSun01]

What do you like to make that you can eat over a few days? I already do things like cottage pie, chilli and rice etc.

I have a fussy teen at home who doesn’t like eating a meal twice in a row but I find it convenient eg less shopping and cooking and I can personally eat the same meal a few times quite happily.

Looking for ideas, obviously things that keep and heat up easily and also meals that a teen might like as I tend to have a traditional repertoire 😆. Also meals which can be changed up with different veg or potatoes or salad so they are like a completely different meal if that exists!

We will often do a double batch of lasagna, or other pasta dishes, and then serve with different salads

Chilli
soup
curry

Why don’t you batch cook & freeze?

Gammon joint
1.Roasted with cauli/broccoli cheese or roasted veg.
2.Cold ham with egg and chips
3.Pasta - make a cheese sauce with leeks, Mushrooms, grated courgette and ham of course.
4.https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/ham-boozy-cranberry-mushroom-sauce

Thai curry
mince with mixed veg
cook up stuff like peppers / onions / mushrooms that can go in various casseroles with different sauces / meats
i make a bbq lamb dish which is better reheated.
cook a chicken and chop it - chuck it in a stir fry or fajitas etc quickly

Day one - bean chilli
Day two - add liquid (tomatoes, stock), fresh tortellini and grated cheese to make a pasta and bean soup

Day one - roast chicken and veg
Day two - bubble and squeak (using leftover veg), beans, fried egg
Day three - spicy chicken and sweetcorn noodle soup
Day four sometimes! - creamy chicken and mushroom pasta

Day one and two - start the base for a spaghetti bol/ chilli (chop and brown the veg and meat, add tomatoes). Split in half and add Italian seasoning and balsamic to one for spag bol, kidney beans and spices to the other for chilli.

Ratatouille- with pasta, baked potatoes, on toast, used as a filling for wraps and baked like enchiladas, add some chilli crack an egg into it and bake like shaksuka. Cook some meatballs or chop some cooked sausages and stir it through.

I’d also make them responsible for dinner once a week. They can be as fussy if they like if they’re cooking, always good to learn.

I only have a small freezer and a small kitchen so I don’t do much batch cooking.

Brilliant suggestions so far. I like the idea of halving the mince and all the other meals I could do too.

If you make a chilli, you can make quesadillas with it the following day and loaded nachos the day after so you only cook the one main bit but it’s 3 different meals. You also only need a small amount of chilli, and can use up the sundries (guacamole, sour cream and salsa)

I always overmake mince dishes (chilli, spag bol) then have them in wraps covered in cheese and air fried the next day or day after.

I cooked a large pack of chipolata sausages tonight, we ate a third with mash, green beans and gravy. Tomorrow I'll cook some pasta shapes, cool and mix with chopped up cue, small toms, red pepper and peas to make a salad - garlic mayo stirred in. The last third I'll stir into cooked rice, roasted onions and red peppers and cook any other veg lingering in the fridge. Add a dollop of chilli of some sort and a bit of sun-dried toms smashed in hot water and then freeze. Boring food from my childhood really (we're in our 70s) but goes down well.

I don’t want to be a pedant but surely most home made meals last 2-3 days if you cook double/ triple portions, refrigerate and re heat?

Firstly get fussy teen to do some of the cooking. Then they will not so fussy about eating similar meals twice.

This week I did a Spanish style chicken tray bake and then the next day blended it with stock and added some cream for soup served with bread.

I had leftover roast pork (from typical roast dinner) which I added to stirfried veg and made a stirfry sauce.

Leftover roast chicken and brocolli was made into a quick chicken and brocolli lasagne the other day.

I know its a big spend. But even a small under counter freezer can save you a lot of time and money

As above cooked food will last more than a couple of days so you can alternate meals with slight changes for variation.

For freezing I love the soupercubes, you can store so much more in your freezer. I'll often freeze components eg Bolognaise (I'll cook 2-3 kg mince at a time) and white sauce separately and then I can defrost and make up to a lasagne or use as other meals if I want.

How about various salads?

One bag of salad greens, mixed leaves, rocket salad or bistro salad, a small pot of baby tomatoes and a cucumber as base for all three days - cucumber can be simply sliced one day, lightly picked another, chopped into Greek yogurt with mint to make a simple tzatziki the third day.

Add a protein each day - a small goats cheese, feta, smoked salmon or gravlax, salami, mortadella, ham, prosciutto, chicken, devilled eggs.

Vary the salads with a selection from the following: pomegranate, blueberries, toasted walnuts, olives, chopped figs, radishes, spring onions, crispy onions, croutons, crunchy salad topper.

You can add sides of garlic bread, potato salad, pasta in a yoghurt and basil dressing if you want to add carbs.

You can use one (bottled) cheap French dressing but vary it by adding honey one day, soy sauce and a little ginger another, lemon juice and zest another.

Dhal. Honey mustard chicken. Pork and apple casserole. Pulled pork. Fajita mix (I add grated carrot and a tin of black beans). Katsu curry sauce - served over chicken, ideally breaded but it works with plain baked too. A roast is also pretty good - slice the whole thing when cold and reheat slices in gravy, covered in foil. We do double potatoes on day 1 and reheat, or do mash on day 2.

I hear what you say about the small freezer but my daughter has one drawer at uni and silicon 250ml freezer cubes are fabulous (like the souper cubes already suggested. We have trays of 4. Each cube holds one portion. Once frozen they can repacked in freezer bags and take up less space, and they even fit in a mug to reheat in the microwave. DD has ADHD and struggles to manage batch cooking but this has been a total gamechanger. I've started using them at home too as it's so convenient to have it ready portioned.

Also maybe have a look at flavours of Stocked?

There’s a Jamie Oliver book that sort of gives you a cut of meat which you roast or whatever then two other meals to make from the leftovers which might be useful

Most teens wouldn’t eat a lot of the suggested I don’t think, especially often. Ask your teen what they would like, take them shopping to help pick meals and perhaps they could prepare some themselves ?

The obvious solution would be that the 'fussy teen' cooks at least a couple of times a week to show them why sometimes the same meal is served twice in a row.

I can't speak for most teens but mine are fairly fussy and would eat nearly all of what's been suggested so far. DD tells me her entire flat batch cook and reheat. There is nothing like having to do your own shopping and cooking to help you embrace repetition.

The other option OP is have more days that are not even "a dish" at all. Put protein, carb and veg on a plate. Bake some sausages or chicken, do some mash and veg.

Freeze portions, most things do freeze

All curries and daal are better after a day.

No-one has suggested anything particularly outlandish and a good range of food. If you think 'most teens' wouldn't eat a lot of the listed meals, most of which are quite basic, then what on earth are they eating?

I still go back to this book for making most of same/similar ingredients.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Economy_Gastronomy.html?id=RQ7QDwAAQBAJ