Anyone familiar with The Batch Lady

[gassylady]

Hi. Does anyone have the Batch Lady Book? I’m interested in some new recipe ideas and stocking the freezer well to make weeknights after work less of a rush. Are they nice family friendly meals (gives hard stare to fussy youngest) or full of junk? Already tend to make large pot chilli etc and freeze half but looking for fresh ideas.

I'm afraid that I can't help you, but I can share your frustration. I want to find out about Jack Monroe. I always like to see a copy of a cookbook before I buy it, I need to see how many recipes we would be lovely to actually make. I've bought a couple of cookbooks off amazon based on reviews and blurb and they have never been used.

I bought the batch lady book, and I'm unimpressed unimpressed. I love cooking healthy meals from scratch, and thought this would help me save time (& cleaning!). Sadly for me, they're an awful lot of processed ingredients in some of the recipes (cans of soup etc). There also aren't many veggie options not, and we're trying to reduce our meat consumption, so that's not hugely helpful!

(Not sure what's gone on there with some of my typing, but hopefully you get the gist!)

They are nice basic recipes and useful in that she shows you how to cook several different things at once , but they are quite simple , few ingredients type things with not much finesse if you like .
I wouldn't for example , use it if cooking for friends but for decent family fare to stash in freezer it's useful

I would recommend The Ice Kitchen - some fab recipes in there

Thanks everyone think I’ll leave it until I can see a physical copy. I had a look inside on amazon and it mentions some of the cheats like using soup in sauces. That was one of the things that put me off. If the kindle edition was on offer in the daily deal at 99p I’d risk it but not at full price

Blondie1984 thank you, just bought the ice kitchen on kindle, it looks great

Pinterest is full of ideas and recipes if you just need some inspiration and check / sub ingredients for things the kids will eat.

The sort of stuff I've done for freezing is:
Chilli
Bolognese
Marinara sauce
Fish pie (sauce + raw fish / prawns ready for for defrosting then frozen mash on top before going in oven)
Cottage pie (as above with frozen mash)
Various curries (jools Oliver easy chicken curry & coconut & spinach dhal popular with mine)
Fajitas
Jamie Oliver's mountain meatballs (make the sauce on the night)
Soups
Stews / casseroles (chicken / beef / sausage & bean - just add dumplings / mash / fresh bread)
Spanish chicken (chicken, chorizo, new potatoes, passata, peppers, onions & paprika)
Homemade burgers (pork & Apple & salmon popular)
Gordon Ramsey's pork & prawn meatballs in aromatic broth would work - could make and freeze the meatballs ahead & the broth is a 10min job

There's also endless dump bag ideas for things to prep ahead and throw in the slow cooker on a morning.

I spend far too much time saving recipes I'll likely never get around to making on Pinterest

I bought it and found it’s also either full of hints like using tins of soups or she ONLY uses chopped frozen veg to make everything quicker. But we made a sausage roll plait that was quite nice!

I prefer the roasting tin cookbooks but they’re not so freezer friendly. An allergy family cookbook I have (kids no longer have allergies) has been the best for that!