batch cookers...what are you making?

[woodwaj]

Looking for some easy meal suggestions for some fussy eaters!

Also pretty much all of my pregnancy i have gone off meat...for anyone else that went off any foods...did you enjoy it again afterwards?

Steak or chicken pie filling freeze really well and mashed potatoes freezes alright too. Can then just use shop bought pastry for the top, which you can even buy ready rolled.

Use crème fresh to make a quick cheese sauce, by heating and then adding grated cheese. Can buy packets of cheese ready grated, which also freezes well. Pour over pasta, cauliflower or broccoli for a super easy meal.

Stew is always a great one to freeze, just put whatever your children eat in it, thicken with lentils (also makes it go further), and even liquidise and add veg your children won't eat, depending on how finely tuned their taste buds are.

Pasta bake is great. Have never tried freezing it but it's super quick and easy. Cook pasta (can be done the night before and kept in fridge), stir in jar of sauce, add any left over meat if you want, sprinkle on grated cheese and put in oven for approx 30 minutes. Also good to accompany something else, instead of chips.

Meant to add, I went off lamb when pregnant with my third. Even the smell was unbearable. Took me a few years to brave it again. Think I just convinced myself it wold make my sick, like it had in pregnancy.

Oh and if you have a slow cooker, just google or search 'crock pot recipes' on Pinterest...there are tonnes!
Just looking at this link myself:
www.familyfreshmeals.com/2014/08/30-easy-crockpot-recipes.html

Place marking here.

Also can I add this valuable tip - when you have no freezer labels as they've all been nicked for last minute panic-labelling of Christmas presents by your teenagers - just tear off a strip of masking tape, stick on the lid and write directly onto it with contents & date. Must be loads cheaper than labels.

I'm getting excited about the idea of batch cooking when I get closer to my due date - I do freeze a fair amount of stuff now but it gets eaten and we've got to move house and get a decent sized freezer first!

Would you cook traybake type things like lasagnes and shepherds pies before freezing? Or construct them and freeze them directly?

elledouble I think assembling is up to you- we all do different I think. I cook the mince/bolognese, freeze , and when i defrost it, I then make it into pasta bake/ cottage pie etc. Or if short of time defrost while rice / pasta/couscous is cooking. But I have enough time on an evening to do that. ( If I am very organised I get it out and defrost it overnight in the fridge :) )I also tend to defrost using my microwave, and then use the oven/ hob for finishing off, rather than cooking from frozen in the oven. If you are busy with children though, its nice to get something out of the freezer and into the oven while you have other things needing attention.
Personally, I think lasagne and shepherds and cottage pie take a long time to defrost/ cook from frozen - mashed potato seems to act like an insulating layer!. But we all have different lives, so its what works best for you.

Thanks dwarf :) that sounds great and I too am now ludicrously excited about being able to do that. Although I will need to go bag shopping to get more I suspect.

I too have roasted tomato sauce in the oven, I threw some courgettes in mine as I had some left that needed using up. Am making a bbq apricot beef brisket tomorrow in the slow cooker which I can then portion out and freeze, is a great way to use huge cheap cuts of beef going cheap in morrisons

If you live near a Home and Bargains they tend to have quite a good variety of ziploc and other seal-able bags. I would really recommend the Pour n Store bags, they're a really thick bag with a base that sort of folds out so you can fill them up and then seal the top. Really handy for pasta sauces and soups and they can be reused a few times. They work out a couple of pounds for 8.

I've been busy cooking chilli, kheema mince curry, beef joints and stews this morning. Have let cool and put them in plastic / foil containers marking what they are. Going to do some chicken meals in a few days so we don't get fed up of beef! My friends have laughed at me and said how organised I am but I would rather have supplies in the freezer that I can just add rice, potatoes etc too to make a meal when baby is here and have valuable time with baby and not in the kitchen!!

I just emptied my freezer and flung a whole bag of stuff out that's been lurking for ever.

Now to plan some meals, baby not due until June but I'm on a save money drive so going to start getting in the batch cooking habit now.

thinking to start:
Meatloaf
Sweet potato enchiladas
cottage pie mince base
cheese and onion pasty

Might even get the slow cooker on the go and make some pulled pork for dh. I hate the texture but he loves it so would be good for him when I'm on nights

Does anyone know if raw potatoes/sweet potatoes freeze well? Was thinking of chopping up a load into wedges/chips so always have some?

Come again i would be tempted to par boil but im not sure if that's the right advice!!

I've done 4 chicken pies, 4 portions of pasta and sausage in tomato sauce and 4 beef stews this morning! And thats me till tomorrow im tired now!!

If you can make a nice curry, that's one thing where quality doesn't go downhill and in fact actually hot food tastes better after it has been frozen strangely.

Other ideas:

• Lasagne
• Shepherds pie/cottage pie
• Cheese & potato pie
• Pies and pastries
• Macaroni cheese
• Fish pie
• Stew
• Homemade soups
• Pasta bake
• Chilli
• Bolognese

Curry tomorrow, im considering boiling the rice and freezing it in the tray, when it's defrosted it can just be microwaved...is this ok with rice?

Potato dauphinoise. Such a faff to make but OMG it is one of those dishes that taste so much better when frozen, defrosted then cooked . Had it yesterday (cooked 6 weeks before). Delicious.

Olivia, do you have the recipe for that anywhere please?

Woodwaj - I always freeze cooked rice then microwave it to defrost. It works really well, particularly if you can freeze in exactly the portions you need.

Nannynome

On my phone at the mo with a feeding baby but if you go to google.co.uk (not sure if you are in the uk?) type in potato dauphinoise then the recipes that come up first and third are the ones I've cooked and frozen. The first boils the potatoes (bbc good food.com) and the third doesn't (bbc.co.uk) although I didn't add the thyme and never nutmeg.
I've frozen both although it only says the third one is freezable.

The second recipe that comes up is Jamie's which I want to try.

We even reheated some lAst night after eating the main defrosted dish on sunday. Still divine!

I've frozen rice before. Just needs to be cool quickly (run cold water through it) and in freezer.

Oh the potato dauphinoise sounds so good!

I'm off to aldi for my big pre-batch cooking shop. Which will occur tomorrow.

wishes there was a clapping hands emoticon

Oh totally intrigued by the dauphinois!

Do do you cook it, cool & freeze or freeze before cooking?

Any other potato dishes people know of that freeze well?

Duphinoise! Inspired! Thank you

Try Nigella Lawsons dauphinoise - awesome but I haven't frozen it, there is never any left when I make it

And here is my batch cook for this week, as its all gone! I triple this recipe :)
Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic
Ingredients
2 tablespoons regular olive oil
8 chicken thighs (with skin on and bone in), preferably organic
6 shallots
8 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme
40 cloves garlic (approximately 3 to 4 heads), unpeeled
2 tablespoons dry white vermouth or white wine
3/4 teaspoons table salt
Good grinding pepper
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the oil on the stovetop in a wide, shallow ovenproof and flameproof casserole dish (that will ultimately fit all the chicken in one layer, and that has a lid), and sear the chicken over a high heat, skin-side down. This may take 2 batches, so transfer the browned pieces to a bowl as you go.

Once the chicken pieces are seared, transfer them all to the bowl. Finely slice the shallots, put them into the casserole dish and quickly stir-fry them with the leaves torn from a few sprigs of thyme.

Put 20 of the unpeeled cloves of garlic (papery excess removed) into the pan, top with the chicken pieces skin-side up, then cover with the remaining 20 cloves of garlic. Add the vermouth (or white wine) to any oily, chickeny juices left in the bowl. Swish it around and pour this into the pan too. Sprinkle with the salt, grind over the pepper, and add a few more sprigs of thyme. Put on the lid and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Thanks for the hone bargains tip cow.

Thanks for the hone bargains tip cow.

Thanks for the hone bargains tip cow.