To ask whether you fill the freezer with batch cooking and then don't eat it?

[SpudsandGravy]

Just that. It's embarrassing, and obvs a waste of money and effort :-(

From time to time I'll make stews or risottos or things like that and freeze them in tubs. When it comes to the crunch, though, I look forward to dinner so much during the day that I tend to make a daily plan (which might well be sandwiches, which I love with fresh crunchy bread) and never get round to eating what I've frozen.

Not only is this a waste of money and effort, the freezer then fills up with all this stuff and there's no room for other interesting items like ice cream (though maybe that's a blessing, right?)...

Don't batch cook

But I will freeze yellow sticker bargains

Freeze homemade soup, stock, fruit & odds & ends

Yes most of it gets eaten eventually

I do a batch cooking weekend every couple of months, everything gets eaten!

We had this problem

Im very thrifty, and only eat meat a couple of times a week.

DH loves curries and Bolognese and the like.

I thought I had it cracked, bought a slow cooker and made loads of meaty saucy dishes, so, that if I fancied pasta and veg, all he had to do was defrost a bog sauce and he was sorted.

Turns out he hates defrosted food and annoyingly, he can always tell, even if he doesn’t know when I serve it up — he just picks at it and says ‘that’s not as nice as usual‘.

So If I batch cook I end up eating loads more meat that I want to. And I hate defrosted home cooked veggie food.

I’ve give up. We buy yellow sticker stuff and freeze it. Or nice ready meals. The rest of the freezer is full of bread and frozen veg of the birds eye variety.

The thought of frozen meals / leftovers does make me feel a bit sick. So I don’t bother doing it.

I know logically there is nothing wrong with it and it’s actually a really good plan for those with limited time and busy lives - just gives me the ick.

If you won’t use them then don’t do it. Just plan for easy throw together meals instead

I only batch cook soup, chilli, Bolognese and cheese sauce. Anything else is crap defrosted

Oups, I also freeze homemade cake, apple sauce and stock.

I was a bit like this but since September 2029 I’ve become a bit more organised! I’ve got a three drawer freezer under the fridge in the kitchen and then an under the counter freezer in the shed. The top drawer in the shed is for frozen veg that I have prepped, probably because it was going on the turn or I over bought. The middle drawer is frozen meals that were either leftover or batch cooked - mostly chilli, bolognese, mash. The bottom drawer is ice lollies in the house, I tend to keep meat, which I buy in bulk portions from the butcher, more veg/fruit but also things in packets like hash browns, waffles etc.

It’s come to my attention that I’m stashing a load of cabbage/spring greens because I panic froze a lot last year. I’m making a concerted effort this month to use things that I know I won’t otherwise!

I meant to say that initially I’d started freezing properly because I’m on a very low budget and was scared that I wouldn’t cope with any massive brexit related price hikes. Little did I know that it would come into its own much quicker than that thanks to covid

Nope, if it goes in the freezer it never comes out ever again. Same with freezing meats etc which are short dated. I do t bother, I will ever ever use it.

I dont tend to have leftovers, I just make what I meed and if there is a little left dp usually polished that off before the night is over.

The only things that live in our freezer are peas, ice cream/lollies bags of ice, chicken nuggets and possibly frozen sausages/burgers. Oh and bits of stray frozen food at the bottom the drawer that I keep insisting I will clean out.

I was a bit like this but since September 2029
Hows the future and do we finally out of lockdown?

Batch cooking isn’t really working for us at the moment. I cooked and froze in small portions some food for DS who is quite fussy. I’m dairy free atm because the baby has CMPA so that limits what I can make and freeze and with two small children I don’t really have time to batch cook.
I am when time allows makin a few puddings up. Frozen veg is my big time saver and we don’t have leftovers because DP eats them all.

Glad to see I'm no the only one who occasionally puts leftovers in freezer - only to find them 8 months down the line looking seriously unappetizing and promptly going straight to the bin. Dont do this very often so dont think there is much waste really.
I like the food graveyard - it is a bit like that.
Weve now got over half the freezer stocked with meat from local farm so once the usual chips, fish fingers etc taken into account there isnt any room for unwanted leftover odds and sods. phew.

I batch cook quite a lot and we definitely eat it. I do bolognaise, chilli, pasta sauce and cottage pie. I work full time as a single parent and sometimes just can’t be bothered or have the time to do some of these things from scratch mid-week. Chilli and bolognaise always tastes better after being frozen and defrosted. I just do fresh pasta and some garlic bread with it, so we get a meal in 10 minutes.

All are kept in foil trays with the type of dish and the date on the lid.

Such a relief when it's a spag bol night and you only have to microwave and boil some pasta

This made me smile. A few years ago I was ill and my late OH was on kitchen duty, I suugested he got some spag sauce out of the freezer, cooked some pasta and grated parmesan. It took him over two hours!

Yeah I do this, it’s just not as nice reheated so I try to halve things before I cook them, freeze the rest then defrost and cook (mince for example)

@Lucieintheskye

Why adults choose food they fancy over food that's going in the bin is beyond me. Put down the chicken nuggets and chips and eat the stew you spent 7 hours cooking.

Who mentioned chicken nuggets and chips? Not me, that's for sure Nor is it a choice between eat it or bin it on any individual day.

this might be a stupid question but I'm gonna ask anyway.
How do you reheat the food you batch cook?

[quote SpudsandGravy]@Lucieintheskye

Why adults choose food they fancy over food that's going in the bin is beyond me. Put down the chicken nuggets and chips and eat the stew you spent 7 hours cooking.

Who mentioned chicken nuggets and chips? Not me, that's for sure Nor is it a choice between eat it or bin it on any individual day.[/quote]
If it doesn't sound like something that applies to you, did you not think maybe it wasn't directed at you?

@lillylemons

this might be a stupid question but I'm gonna ask anyway. How do you reheat the food you batch cook?

Depends on what it is, but soupy/sauce based things I do low and slow in a pan. Lasagne, stuffed peppers etc in the oven.

Chilli/Bol/stew- defrost in the fridge and then reheat in a saucepan slowly (adding a bit of extra water if it looks a little dry)

Soup - pan or microwave- again adding a little water if too dry.

I also freeze roasted meat (chicken:beef/lamb). I try to break it down into useable chunks and then freeze in usable portions (roughly 150g or multiples thereof). Defrost it in fridge and use the same as any cooked meat. So risotto/curry/in a sauce.

I make enormous batches of 5 veg sauce and freeze in small pots. That can be added to eg mince dishes or cooked with chorizo or lardons to make a quick but deeply flavoured pasta sauce (a tin of chopped tomatoes simmered for 15 mins wil never taste as good).

@lillylemons

this might be a stupid question but I'm gonna ask anyway. How do you reheat the food you batch cook?

That's also my bane , I have to either defrost the night before or don't cook it as I don't have a microwave ( cannot stand microwaved food.)

I don't batch cook but any left overs get frozen for quick lunches or can't be bothered dinners

No we eat it.
Every week when I'm doing the food order I meal plan, check what's in the freezer and work out what extras I need.
I have a list in the kitchen which I cross off when we've used it so I know what is left.

I batch cook but only use the stuff properly when I plan ahead.

This morning I wrote a meal plan while I did the shopping list

Monday curry - just took it out of the freezer

Tuesday cook fresh

Wednesday - chicken and chorizo in sauce over pasta. Alarm set on Alexa to take it out of the freezer on Tuesday night

Blah blah. I'm shite otherwise and, pre covid, was always running to the supermarket to buy stuff for midweek dinners

I'm only going once a week now so planned to the hilt

Wednesday - chicken and chorizo in sauce over pasta. Alarm set on Alexa to take it out of the freezer on Tuesday night

Just to add I only freeze the sauce type bit. Enpugh to top pasta for the 3 of us. Cook pasta, warm the sauce in a pan and I'm done.

They're known as 10 minute teas in my house. Dp usually tries to swing it so it's a ten minute tea on his cooking night - looks like a flash tea but ready in a fifth of the time!