to ask how you batch cook?

[cjt110]

I know HOW, obviously, but I don't have the energy to cook one bloody meal, let alone tonnes. And let's not even get started on the space to freeze if if I manage it.

I would LOVE to have a barrage of ready cooked, healthy and ready to go meals but right now (staving off an ME crash) the idea of even slinging someone in my instant pot makes my body hurt...

VanGoghsDog

None of my cooking contains " mixed herbs". Vile stuff.

Both bolognese and chilli can contain oregano.
I put fresh basil into my bolognese just before I serve. It doesn't go into the main batch I freeze.

The former has mixed herbs/basil etc what is the etc?

I use my frozen sauce for chilli- I add chilli flakes, kindney beans cocoa powder and cumin.

How is that different from your chilli?

If you make a basic batch, you can vary what you add to it; eg basic beef casserole, into the slow cooker to thaw, add mushrooms one time, lots of onion the next, tinned cherry tomatoes the next, mixed grilled veggies from the freezer department, you get the idea.....less freezer space needed, because you only freeze the meaty part.

I have staples frozen in the freezer for treats eg. samosas, spring rolls, kebabs. I will then cook for Monday on a Sunday night and make enough good to freeze, that will be eaten one day the following week. At least one day in the week I will make a biriyani or pilau type dish that can be eaten over the course of two days (would not tend to freeze this). Any food that is left over during the week will be frozen asap and used in the coming weeks. I tend to batch cook things like bolognese or chicken stock to save myself time too. I am keen to reduce our food wastage and am committed to having three days a week meat free whilst still making sure our diet is packed with nutrients and variety.

I would start by just making extra portions of what you would normally cook and go from there.

I only have a small, under fridge freezer, but still batch-cook things like spag bol sauce or a semi-veggie version of mince - about 50% red lentils and various veg chopped small.

It’s a bit more effort at the time, but so much less effort for several future meals.
Having enough plastic containers the right size for meal-sized portions - ones where either lids or bases haven’t somehow disappeared - is a help! God knows what happens to ours - they’re a bit like socks in this house, magical disappearing acts.

I'm doing it with jars at the moment. Just as a start...

None of my cooking contains " mixed herbs". Vile stuff.

Both bolognese and chilli can contain oregano.
I put fresh basil into my bolognese just before I serve. It doesn't go into the main batch I freeze.

The former has mixed herbs/basil etc what is the etc?*

I use my frozen sauce for chilli- I add chilli flakes, kindney beans cocoa powder and cumin.

How is that different from your chilli?

There's nothing wrong with mixed herbs if people want to use them. It's just some herbs, mixed together.

I've never put oregano in chili, so that's one difference.

But basically, what you are freezing is not Bolognese in the first place, it's just mince cooked with tomatoes sauce. Which can obviously be changed into Bolognese (by adding basil in your case) or chili.

Re "etc", I'm sure you are aware that people use different things in their cooking than you or I do, right? I mean, I don't make Bolognese anyway but I have had it with rosemary which was very nice.

How your chilli differs is that I don't put oregano in it, nor chocolate, I usually put fresh chilies and chili powder as well as cumin, which I prefer to cook into the sauce, not add later.

So, in your world, batch cooking means "a load of stuff that all tastes the same".

It's just some herbs, mixed together

"some herbs" is a little too random for me.

"some herbs" is a little too random for me.

Well, if you BUY mixed herbs, it tells you on the label what herbs are in it, so not random at all.
If you mixed your preferred herbs together in a jar, then it's even more specific.

I've never heard such food snobbery. Ridiculous.

Which, frankly, sounds disgusting.

Food snobbery?

Frankly.

I cook once every 2 weeks and do maybe 3 dishes all at the same time
Then I portion them up and whack them in the freezer. Mine isnt a large freezer btw
Then I come home from work, open the feezer', choose what I am having and sling it in the oven or the microwave accordingly.
It's so easy
I too have a chronic condition and it helps because I just pick a day when I can stand up in the kitchen
It also helps with
Budgeting, because it's cheaper to buy in bulk and you don't buy rubbish when you can be arsed cooking
Diet, because you can control portion sizes and choose healthy options
Fuel, only cooking once instead of everyday
Washing up too
The planet, less packaging on items bought, less transport costs in delivering food items, less waste from buying food that goes off in the fridge
I don't understand why anyone would.cook any other way
I currently hav 8 different dishes in the freezer

Yeah, Bolognese and chili mixed together sounds disgusting.

Nothing snobby about that. Why would you mix two totally different dishes, it's bizarre.

@VanGoghsDog by making a mince and tomato base - and only adding spices after? Either separated in the pan or added after freezing when you hear them up?

I make lots of base sauces. Tomato based, or olive based etc. Then I add them to the pasta or meat on the day.

I batch cook a lot. But I also enjoy cooking. So Sunday nights I cook. I throw everyone out, (aka DH), put on the radio and cook.
I make:
Soups- usually a butternut squash/ginger one, a pea one and one other.
Big pasta/tomato sauce. This can then also be easily turned into a fajita sauce.
Chicken curry
Two kinds of vegetable curry
Two portions of dal.
I can make all of this in about 2.5 hours. If I am cooking for longer I might make a Thai red curry and a green curry as well.

Then depending on what gets eaten in the week, I will cook the following Sunday.

But typically:
Monday- don’t use frozen food. Bung some chicken thighs and veg into the oven. Or make a chicken pulao
Tuesday- bring out the Indian food from the freezer. Especially if we have left over pulao.
Wednesday: leftover Indian food with naan.
Thursday: pasta with soup.
Friday- usually a pizza night. Or fajitas. Or Thai curry.

by making a mince and tomato base - and only adding spices after?

Yes, that makes sense. But it's not turning Bolognese into chili, which is what people were saying.

I do prefer to cook the spices in myself so I don't do this, I make specific things.

I buy ready chopped frozen onion, garlic & bags of veg from Iceland. The quality of Iceland frozen veg is good and saves me time prepping.

I cook a big pan of spice base using 2/3 bags of frozen onions. I then split and make separate curries, bolognese sauce, chilli etc. Or if freezer space is tight then I freeze the onion base in zip lock bags & stack them library style.

I make a big pan of dhaal & freeze in zip lock bags. If I'm using the oven, then I roast frozen veg with onions & herbs/spices or use the pre made onion base. Then I've got a dry vegetable curry ready to eat or freeze for another night.

I agree no turning bolognese into chilli.
It’s brilliant though prepping isn’t it? I can’t believe how much it’s helped my life. I spend two evenings a week cooking, and sometimes only one.
It’s making me think I should freeze some things, it’s just I hate that frozen defrosted taste, they just never taste as good.

Plus I prep into glass jars with plastic lids.

What are people’s favourite prep meals? Mine are trying to reduce cholesterol as well as appease kids:

Lentil dahl
Pasta - always cook a big batch and surprisingly this will keep on its own or with a bit of olive oil mixed in for up to 5 days in the fridge. Kids can take it out and have with tuna or chicken or sauce I make.
Pasta sauce - two lots, stored separately. Tomato ones.
Chicken fajitas- I cook the chicken I advance and just store it separate to the wraps.
Chicken curry. Serve with naan bread.
Spaghetti bolognese or chilli (make a tomato mince base with no spices and out in fridge)
Plain chicken either cooked with lemon and black pepper, or with garlic and olives.
Fresh mashed potatoes to add to chicken for a roast type dish or Mediterranean dish.

Plus I cook lots of vegetables from fresh as it tastes so much nicer, but store these separately so it can be added to dishes. E,g,
Broccoli - for roast dishes or pasta
Peppers - fajitas or pasta
Garlic and onions - pasta sauce
Carrots and sweet potato - to add to chicken or as a vegetarian meal, or to make a quick soup with peas or spinach thrown in.

By a vacuum thingy. Food last longer and they take up less room in the freezer.

I always have frozen rice on hand for left over friendly fried rice.

I'm generally as a good cook and I think it is perfectly feasible to use a mince and tomato base to become a chilli, lasagne, bolognaise. It only takes a few minutes to cook off the spices and chop fresh herbs into the required dish. My chilli for example I would add some garam masala, curry powder, fresh chopped (or dry) chillis to a pan with a little olive oil to release the flavour and them dump into the base as it was reheating. I already put cumin into bolognaise anyway, then add some chopped dill, basil and coriander when it is nearly reheated. I'm not sure why it is so hard to understand that people may have different tastes or variations in ingredients in a dish?

I think it is perfectly feasible to use a mince and tomato base to become a chilli, lasagne, bolognaise

Noone said it wasn't.

I'm not sure why it is so hard to understand that people may have different tastes or variations in ingredients in a dish?

Noone is finding that hard to understand. If that's aimed at me, my query was people saying they were making Bolognese and then turning it into chili, which is weird (if people like it, that's fine, but it would be unusual and not helpful to the op).
As we have ascertained, turning a mince and tomato base into various things makes total sense.

Though for me batch cooking is about having whole meals to rely on, not just the base. But that's because I live alone and have a large freezer, so I have room for it.

I love my meal prep.

At weekends I roast a pumpkin, cauliflower and celeriac to put in my weekday lunches with felafal, humous and salad. I also cube a pineapple into four or five tubs and add pomegranate seeds, so I have tubs of fruit for work. Then I also make up pots of (coconut based) yoghurt, oats and berries to take in for breakfast.

And I make something like a big risotto or tomato pilaf and have it two evenings in the week, putting three into the freezer.

I also like to do a bean casserole or veg chili.
I've got a recipe for butter beans in cider I keep meaning to make.

I'm trying to turn vegan but I have to eat up the freezer full of non vegan food first! At least I'll be ok if I ever have two week coronavirus quarantine!
(In fact I had pneumonia a couple of years ago and was very grateful for a freezer full of food)

I don't have loads of freezer space either so I tend to batch cook "building blocks" that can be quickly turned into a meal.So I batch cook a bolognese sauce and freeze - it can become a lasagne a moussaka a chilli (with chopped fresh chili) or a cottage pie (with added baked beans or peas and mash). Or I'll batch cook a tomato sauce and cook it until it is really thick. Then I freeze in small portions so it can be a pizza topping or I can take a couple of pots and thin with a little stock or creme fraiche or frozen spinachfor a pasta sauce

When I had a smaller freezer, I used to line take away containers with cling film (before cling film was found to be killing the planet of course), fill the llined container with the food, freeze it and when frozen take it out, wrap the cling film round it, and pop it back in without the tub. Used half the space and meant I only needed a few tubs.

Now I have millions of tubs and I know when I need to do a cook up because the tub drawer won't close!

DH and I almost always make enough for 4 portions of each meal, so we eat the same thing 2 days running. It works for us and I guess it counts as batch cooking on a micro level

Basically if I’m making something ‘stew like’, such as chilli, bolognese, tagine, refried beans, curry, dhal, or soup, I make enough for about 16 portions (quadruple the recipe), portion it out and freeze it.

When good quality tinned tomatoes are on offer I buy a ton, which helps.

I freeze leftovers if I have plenty. By doing this I’ve discovered that cooked couscous freezes really well! Mashed potato also freezes well - I hate dealing with potatoes so usually do a large batch at a time.

I’m afraid I use foil containers (I wash and recycle). They stack in the freezer and are easy to label clearly.

Two things are a massive help: a chest freezer and a food processor. Chest freezers are insanely good value for money. Food processors are expensive but save a lot of time.

Every Saturday and / or Sunday I stick the slow cooker on and make a big batch of something then freeze into family sized portions so all I need to do is defrost, warm through and do some veggies or salad. It’s literally 10 mins work.