to think batch cooking is a bit soulless?

[iCod]

I get the logistics practicality, time saving etc ...
but apart from that (!) when you see the sad plastic boxes it seems to reduce food to fuel rather than joy

I prob am unreasonable, obseity prob etc but YANNOW

We have lovely tubs for ours which gets around this issue. I know it makes no difference to the taste but seeing meal preps in sad little stained tubs would also put me off!😂

I'm with you. I tried but it's not for me. I loathe cooking too. Quite often I make extra and we eat the same thing two days running. The height of my culinary expertise is Monday, chilli and garlic bread. Tuesday. Chilli and baked potatoes.

I've done part-cooked food for this term. Chicken/ mince cooked with veg as a base but can be customised with a sauce easily. It's broken the back of the preparation, but is more flexible than 10x bolognese sauce.

People who batch cook- how long will you keep a meal in the fridge before you eat it?

Nope, I'm totally with you.

See also "bunging" things in a slow cooker in the morning.

I’m vegetarian so no meat issues but I cook on Monday and eat the last meal on Saturday

but I will make quick things during the week like boiled eggs or overnight oats

also add that atm I’m only cooking for one

I’m sort of with you OP if it’s a bit like when body builders have chicken, rice and broccoli x 5 each week. I’m exaggerating but I do thing some are totally okay with eating very repetitively. But I think it’s easier in the autumn/winter with chili con carne, soup, stew etc. I like doing a fresh leafy salad in the summer though and find the chopping quite relaxing after a hard day - if it’s not too late. But I agree with all the posters who said it means they avoid expensive convenience junk.

I agree. I have to force food down if I’ve defrosted it from the freezer. Doesn’t matter what it is, I don’t want it. I still have to do it though 🤷‍♀️

Oh and as a side note, my pet peeve was being told to “just batch cook” as a mum of a 1yo and newborn.

I get a huge amount of joy from having a lovely meal on a night I don’t have time to cook. Nothing soulless about that.

I find it's very satisfying and l enjoy the challenge

Yeah the plastic tubs, eating the same meal everyday and food sitting in the fridge for the week puts me off the type of prep you see on social media.

I mostly batch cook and freeze part of a meal in blocks e.g chilli, bolognese, daal. I reheat those in a small pan then make everything else fresh. I can vary the sides and decide how much effort to put in to it on the day.

The tubs don't have to put you off..you can get pyrex dishes with plastic lids from IKEA or home bargains, make a huge amount of curry/chilli/cottage pie and have one lot for dinner and freeze the other half in said pyrex for a convenient family dinner

Present it nicely, and that disappears 😋
I'm about to have something I cooked a month ago. It'll be presented properly, on a plate, with loads of fresh veg.
Eat it out of the tub, and yeah, it's soulless 👍
Exactly. I put notes on my tubs for the serving suggestions eg needs sticky rice, or add sliced avocado and sour cream.
Makes a world of difference

I totally agree, @iCod, and I'm so glad to find I'm not the only person that thinks this.
My DH died earlier this year and having the motivation to cook for one is just one of the challenges I'm facing. I tried batch cooking a spaghetti bolognese, doing the same quantity I've always done then freezing what I didn't use. It was so depressing, I've not tried again! 😂

I love the idea but how do you heat it up to eat it? Whenever I’ve put it in the microwave it just dries out 😭😭😭

I'm not a fan of it...I'm really not convinced that the time spent batch cooking is really less than just doing quick dinners...i mean you often have to defrost/reheat/add a carb/add veg to the batch cooked food anyway.

YABVU. The container doesn’t make any difference to the nice food. Delicious soup/stew/crumble without having to make it again from scratch? What's not to like about that?!

Yes but it means you get to eat things other than quick dinners on a week night.

Depends what's in the boxes.

Mundane leftovers? Yeah, food as fuel.

A delicious favourite? Wow, something to look forward to!

I know its the right thing to do. But It feels so boring and practical. Very fanny craddock.
Its the food equivalent of always buying black shoes as they go with everything.

God, I think the complete opposite! When I manage to batch cook and have blocks of various meals in the freezer, it gives me immense joy!

Couldn't disagree more.I love a batch cooking session. Get a good podcast or radio on and stash away soups,filling for pies,casserole etc. I get different sized foil freezer dishes.Easy to stack and what's nicer than something homemade but already done.Then just add some fresh veg ,a jacket spud or a packet of rice .But I enjoy cooking and hate wasting anything.

We have toddler twins and both work full time, 2 days a week my husband finished at 8pm. So it's pretty essential in our house as we would eat crap and / or eat super late all the time. Plus twins are in a phase of waking up early 🙄

I think it really depends on the meals you batch cook! I try to do a variety of things to stash in freezer (curries, stews, soups, pasta things, cup cakes, bakery items, puddings, marinaded meats etc), and once or twice a week I'll do some bircher or overnight oats and a salad to last the week. Sometimes, I'll cook a load of pancakes and freeze them into portions for the DC to stick in toaster. I'm trying to throw in more variety with what I prep and freeze.

I used to freeze things into four portion sizes but I've recently started freezing them into single portions. Way more convenient for me and the DC (I work FT, my DS works shifts, my DD is in year 8). It means that when I'm at work, I can easily grab a portion of something healthy and home cooked for lunch, my DC can grab something for meals etc. They can pick the meal they want. I look at it (batch cooking/meal prep) like trying to be my future best friend. Saves me a lot of the mental load racking up in my head, clicking on take away menus or spending a fortune at work etc. :)

FWIW, I wasn't feeling the love for it last month as I'd fallen off the wagon (I was knackered from work and upset about my lovely DCat dying)...but my friend gave me a verbal kick up the bum to get on with it. I felt a lot better after the freezers were full again, and since then I'm just doing a smaller batch cook thing once a fortnight (rather than a massive thing once a month). For me, it saves a huge amount of faff :)