Does anyone on here cook a week's worth of meals in one day?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

I know that some people do it and I'd be interested to know how it works out.

For those who do batch cook, what size are your freezers? I have quite a smaller freezer which is always jab packed as I bulk buy my meat from a wholesale butchers every 8 weeks and freeze.
I'm considering getting another small chest freezer ( even though I've very limited space)

It depends what you mean.

I don't batch cook loads of different meals in one day for the freezer, but I do always cook at least double the amount of certain meals, sometimes much more to freeze. Curry, Chilli, Stews, Fish Pie, some pastas etc.

We use our freezer rarely, but love to make soup and keep it in the fridge for 5 days or so of dinners. Sometimes it's a purée/mash first then we turn it into soup on the 2nd or 3rd day. Carrot, leek, onion and celery is usually the basis and often we'll add something a bit more exciting like sweet potato, pumpkin, red pepper or beetroot.

I usually make a big pan/tray of whatever I'm doing for dinner and freeze the rest either in portions (making sure I label them) or open freeze and bung in a freezer bag. (Thinks like breaded chicken, fish cakes, dollops of mash that I reheat in the oven)

I don't do it all in one day as its not a day off otherwise. I cook for a living.
I've got a fridge freezer and a small countertop freezer. I keep my homemade ready meals in the countertop freezer and ingredients in the freezer. Saves some rummaging around.
If I'm not eating from the freezer I'm making quick simple dishes.
I usually have a rough plan of what we're having for the week but don't always even stick to that!

We have a fridge freezer, it isn't huge, but has the most freezer space we could get to fit the space, it has 4 shelves & the back of the top shelf is just used for stacking homemade ready meals - I use those plastic lidded trays as they stack well & can be clearly labelled, the sort some takeaways use & they sell a version of in Poundland recently

jem I borrow lasagne dishes so I can make double or triple quantities. Zip - seal bags and a water proof marker pen are essential.

Got a veggie lasagne or two to make this afternoon.

We batch cook every few weeks. Currently we've got sweet and sour chicken, chicken and mushroom risotto, chicken casserole and bolognaise in our freezer. We also do beef chilli, Turkey mince chilli, jambalaya, spicy pork and rice, lamb tagines, chicken tagines etc etc. It's brilliant. No waste, no grabbing junkier-type meals because we've all got home from work/school hungry. We're massive fans of The Hairy Dieters and loads of their recipes freeze brilliantly.

Oh and we often cook for friends in exchange for overnight babysitting from time-to-time. Skill-swap, innit?

I have two freezers. Don't know how I managed with only one!

When I'm cooking something freezable I make double so there's another meal for everyone in it.

I nearly went into shock on Friday when I got home and went to find some bolognese sauce or lasagne to defrost. There was none left

I'll cook on Fridays and the weekend so there's always something in the freezer for busy weeknights. Or there's always a jacket potato!

Not really a whole week but if I make something then I make 5-6 portions and freeze
Also prep and keep in fridge
Chopped berries and grapes
Cous cous
Cold roast chicken shredded
Chopped cucumber, spring onions, cherry tomatoes
Hard boiled eggs

Means I can chuck together something quickly as a salad for work

Not really a whole week but if I make something then I make 5-6 portions and freeze
Also prep and keep in fridge
Chopped berries and grapes
Cous cous
Cold roast chicken shredded
Chopped cucumber, spring onions, cherry tomatoes
Hard boiled eggs

Means I can chuck together something quickly as a salad for work

I batch cook when I am well enough, then on the days weeks I'm not so good, we have meals ready.

I have a fridge/freezer and also have a chest freezer as we are a big family anyway. One of my DCs is veggie so she has two drawers in the freezer filled with veggie curry/chilli/quorn spag Bol etc.

We tend to make a lot of "stew" type
meals as they freeze well, like spag Bol, chilli, coq au vin, curry etc.

Lots of tupperware, freezer bags and sharpies in my kitchen. I buy ready chopped and frozen garlic, onion, chilli and ginger etc.

Me! I batch cook and freeze meals for the week. Always have something I can defrost and cook in the freezer

i cook double on my day off, and on one weekend day.
this means I only two work night suppers to worry about. IMO it's a good balance between not having to stress about supper after work all the time, but not having to spend all day in the kitchen at the weekend.

I normally decide to have, let's say chilli for dinner, so instead of making enough chilli for one meal, I make enough for 15 meals. That sounds a bit extreme, but I make 2 huge pots and then bag them into individual portions. 1 cup for adult, 1/2 cup for child. It ends up making about 30 bags. You could do family sized portions, that would make it even easier.

Im going to once my only dc in school this week. I've been researching how to and found this, invaluable! www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Ahead-Cook-Strategies-Dinner-Tonight/dp/1936493845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471858614&sr=8-1&keywords=Make+ahead+America+test

We get free electricity 9-5 on Sunday.

When we are abut I will cook a roast chicken or two (for the ubiquitous MN chicken), lasagne, med veg and pizza for lunch for the next day or 2.

The chicken did a roast, stir fry and sandwiches for the beach with the scronky bit made into a stock to add to the med veg for risotto. The big pieces of meat went back into the freezer to be used next week.

We had half sized lasagne and froze the rest.

I am now looking into what I can roast / micro / bake (I'll eat all the cake so that's a no. Perhaps bread?) on Sundays. We have a gas hob so need to concentrate on micro stuff.

I keep a lot of 'Sainsburys finely chopped vegetables' in the freezer. It's a mixture of carrot, celery and onions, and makes a brilliant base for any mince-based meals (chili, spag.bol, cottage pie)

Shameless place marking

Love threads like these!

I want to batch cook more but have yet to hit my stride. I do however prep all the food as it comes in, otherwise I feel like I'm washing and prepping food all day and it's a ballache.

For example:
wash all fruit,
chop cucumber and store in freezer bag in fridge,
prep lettuce and store in a tub,
grate cheese
chop some carrots into batons/rounds and store in freezer bag in fridge
slice mushrooms and store in freezer bag in fridge
portion out big packs of meat and either freeze or fridge depending on meal plan
boil some eggs and store in fridge
maybe cook some chicken and store in fridge,
maybe make some tuna mayo and store in fridge

Makes making lunches, particularly salads, sooooooooooooo quick and hassle free and means a lot less washing up and cleaning.

'Ballache' sounds very exotic and sophisticated, and as if it rhymes with 'panache'. Of course, I mean "ball-ache"

OMG Bendydick I love that!

I usually buy a big sack of onions (or at this time of year, dig them up from the allotment) and cook them all in a big pan and freeze them in portions so that's 10 mins off whch ever meals i'm going to make. but i LOVE the idea of prepping everything after shopping, i think i might steal this idea. The onyl thing is, surely it won't last as long all cut up?

I'm another who doesn't spend a day batch cooking, but I always make at least double of anything which can be frozen - which in my book, is anything saucey. Curries, soups, the ubiquitous mince sauce for whatever... Even if I make a single batch of something like fish curry, there's usually enough sauce left over to freeze (or is it just my family that trawls through looking for the chunks of fish, leaving most of the sauce behind?).

If making breadcrumbs or crumble topping I always make loads. And if we're boiling potatoes I chop and parboil the whole bag, putting the ones I don't need in a freezer bag with a slosh of oil. They'll cook from frozen in 30 mins in the oven. That's a lifesaver for us as DS doesn't like potatoes very much, so half a bag otherwise goes to waste.

Fevertree mm yeah, the cucumber can go a bit watery after 3+ days, so I'll usually cut enough for a few days and leave the rest whole. I was surprised how long lettuce lasts cut as well (all week, usually stored in an airtight tub with a piece of kitchen paper). Cooked meat and eggs seem fine until their original expiry date, just a case of making a note of the date somewhere! Grated cheese is fine. Carrots can go a bit dry but they cook as they would otherwise, and if having them raw I just eat them as they come. Dunno, works for me! :)