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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Batch cooking

89 replies

MrTrebus · 06/10/2018 20:16

What actually is this

All I think to do is chilli stew curry etc

I really want to save money on the food shop and have time and more money to ourselves but the thought of eating this sort of thing all the time is boring

Help please!

OP posts:
MrTrebus · 08/10/2018 14:22

This is all so amazingly helpful thank you

OP posts:
wink1970 · 08/10/2018 14:48

There are only 2 of us, and sometimes we want different meals, so I tend to 'batch' things that only 1 of us wants, or where the main ingredient comes in big packs...

Home-made turkey meatballs, for example: yesterday I made 20 out of 1 pack of turkey mince, 1 onion, 1/2 pepper, various spices and a small amount of blitzed peanuts. We ate half with spicy tomato sauce & pitta, and half have gone in a foil tray in the freezer ready for eating in a huge sub on Saturday mid-gardening!!

Andtheresaw · 08/10/2018 14:56

Apart from the standard eat half/freeze half (where I have individual boxes with half rice and hald curry etc: great with teens! I also 'batch cook' things which are going off into meal 'components':
thus mashed potatoes, mashed carrot and swede, chopped onions, bags of crumble mix, prepared apples, breadcrumbs etc: all things which can be rustled into a meal really quickly but aren't committed to any particular dish.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 08/10/2018 15:02

We have a weird set of recycling/batch cooking habits from when we lived in the very middle of nowhere. There are 2 of us, so a lot of veg can get wasted unless we think about it.

We save scraps of veg: tomato and peppers in one bag; aubergine, courgette, sweet potato, squash in another; greens in a third; carrot and celery in a fourth.

Tomato bag become soup or a tomato sauce that then gets turned into batch made meals of spag, chilli etc;

The mixed veg gets dipped into for Mediterranean roasted veg. we used to batch cook it, but realised it is nicer this way;

Th greens get added to cheesy bits to make a sort of Stilton and broccoli soup, which DH hates, so it is just for me;

The carrot and celery get used under roasted meats for gravy - which is batch made and frozen back in 2 person portions.

Chicken carcasses get made into stock/soup and frozen back.

And after that, we just make BIG portions of stews and anything that takes a bit of time.

At the moment I am freezing old fashioned puddings. You can't easily make a small treacle tart (I tell myself) So I made a large on yesterday and have frozen back most of it... and the other half of the pastry. That will become a chicken and mushroom pie eventually!

Sorry, That's probably not all that helpful, but I wanted to say that small changes to how you see 'bits' of food can often help you see a bigger change you can make more easily.

seventhgonickname · 08/10/2018 15:13

Lasagne,could be quite,lentil or spinach.Fish pie,pasta back.Curries,stews.
Also tomato sauce,using one batch tonight with burritos.Onion graveyard.Rice in bags to defrost.Deseeded chillies,peppers,herbs(don't need defrosting).
Always have crumble mix and breadcrumbs and bread crusts wailing until there are enough to make into bread crumbs.
I use pyrex dishes with clop on lids ,take out in the morning or defrost in fridge over night and straight into the oven when needed.
Pastry,always make double,and double the pie mix.I don't usually bother with potatoes as it takes the same out of time to cook as to reheat your batch meals but also limits my freeze space.

AmIRightOrAMeringue · 08/10/2018 15:20

We freeze portions of pulled pork or brisket then have them with baked potato or nachos or quesidillas or in burger buns. Also potatoey things - roast potatoes, portions of potato gratin, tartiflette etc. Also some vegetable sides to have with easy oven meals like baked fish or breaded chicken etc. Such as carrot and swede mash portions or red cabbage portions. Whenever I make home made stuffing I make 4x as much and freeze it raw then defrost before a roast. Fishcakes always are a faff to make so I freeze them too

CuriousaboutSamphire · 08/10/2018 15:32

Oh! Yes to that. Our local butcher has regular 'sales' of less usual cuts of meat. We buy whatever it is and then spend an afternoon looking up great recipes.

So I also have a lot of unglazed pulled pork, so DH can spend an hour or so pondering the possibilities. There is beef skirt on special at the moment so I'll probably get some of that.

I hadn't thought of potato dishes!!! How daft. Some of our favourites take a while to make so don't get done often. Batch cooking them would be helpful. Dauphinoise and boulangere spring to mind immediately!

And a red cabbage may be braised as well. Wonder what else takes that long to cook at similar temperature, we could fill the oven Smile

MrTrebus · 08/10/2018 18:09

I would be wary of freezing rice isn't it the hardest thing to reheat safely? I am new to this remember I don't batch cook and freeze anything yet!

OP posts:
allthgoodusernamesaretaken · 08/10/2018 18:13

Fish cakes - freeze, then dip in flour / egg / breadcrumbs, fry 10-15 mins, then put in oven low temperature 1 hour to finish cooking

Lentil / veg burgers = same

allthgoodusernamesaretaken · 08/10/2018 18:16

Mary Berry's books often have advice about which dishes can be frozen

seventhgonickname · 08/10/2018 23:47

Freezing rice is safe if you cool and freeze straight away,I even freeze if I'm going to use the next day and reheat from frozen in the microwave.

AwdBovril · 09/10/2018 00:16

If I want to freeze leftover rice, I spread it out on a cold plate, it's usually cool in less than 10 minutes. Then into a freezer bag, arrange carefully in the freezer in a thin layer - again, quick cooling, but it also means the rice doesn't stick together in a big horrible block. Much easier to fit in if it's loose or in chunks, and it's easier & safer to defrost. When properly frozen, quickly remove from freezer, squeeze all the air out, & reseal the bag.

MrTrebus · 09/10/2018 08:49

Good advice thanks I do worry about rice! I suppose worst case I could always do microwave rice fresh each time to go with the frozen curry etc.

OP posts:
HoraceWimpIsThisYourLife · 09/10/2018 09:10

Frozen rice is really good for egg fried rice too

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