Batch cooking ideas.

[amyleigh89]

Hey, hope you are all well.

I've decided to invest in a chest freezer and cook up a load of meals that can just be bunged in the microwave or oven for once baby is born.

I'm having an elcs so I know I won't be up for cooking for a couple of weeks and hubby's idea of cooking is phoning for a takeaway! I remember my first day home after emcs with DD and it was mega late and I just wanted something good to eat... I got a bag of mini cheddars and a cheese sarnie.

Is anyone else planning on doing this? If so thought we could start a thread with some good recipe ideas?

So far I've thought about a beef stew, lasagne, pasta bakes, chilli. I defo need a few more ideas though!

Hugs, Amy xx

 

[redneckhippy]

I haven't been doing batch cooking, but I try to make extra of whatever I'm making and freeze the extras.

 

[Gingerspice]

I'm afraid my spare freezer is full of christmas pressies (homemade fudge) or christmas dinner items all prepped so ready to roast/heat

However I do intend to have some lasagne, spa bol portions to hand I normal freezer. We had meals prepped for dd and they went unused. Besides our church ran a feeding programme where for first week or so a meal a day was dropped off by someboday.

 

[Monzter79]

I don't have a microwave (never replaced my old one when it croaked), but I do have a chest freezer which I LOVE.

I'm so glad you brought up this topic as I'm trying to form a list myself too. I'm planning to do a lot of crockpot meals and some low maintenance oven reheats.

-chowders, soups, and stews (endless possibilities!)
-Chili
-meat pies and quiches (in store bought crusts)
-beans (red beans and rice, or BBQ baked)
-carne adovada and/or pulled pork for wraps and sandwiches
-meatballs and sauce (for sandwich or over pasta)
-enchiladas
-plenty of frozen fruit and veg for quick sides
-pizza (store bought dough with favorite toppings)

Looking forward to reading more ideas!!

 

[amyleigh89]

Ooh didn't think about doing a joint of BBQ pulled pork. Yum...that's made me hungry!

Might do a joint of beef and slice up in gravy for a quick Sunday lunch.

I often dream of having a chef for a hubby!! X

 

[mummy_vic]

I would also suggest investing in a slow cooker if you haven't got one. When we had DD2 and DH was just back to work he would put a casserole in their before he left for work.

 

[Ashersmomma]

I've been working on getting ideas for this. I know I won't be up for cooking for a while and after a week DH will have to go back to work. I've been saving a lot of them on my Pinterest.
I love my crock pot, so I found a lot of crock pot freezer meals. You can Google crock pot freezer meals and there are a ton! I'll probably grab a couple roasts from my father to keep in the freezer as well.(He just butchered a calf. Yay!) Pretty easy to make in the crock pot. I just mix up a package of onion soup mix, brown gravy mix, a can of cream of celery, and water, toss in some baby carrots, new potatoes, and put the roast on top.

 

[amyleigh89]

I've just ordered a slow cooker recipe book and plan to pre make bags up with meat veg and spices to just defrost and wham in slow cooker. X

 

[Dobsd]

Ooh great thread! I was just saying to OH today that I wanted to do some batch cooking. Recently got a slow cooker too so I think I should probably learn how to use that!
I haven't got any recipe ideas yet but will post them here when I do

 

[Nina83]

I wanted to do this, but so far all I have frozen is a cake! LOL. I also plan on baking cookies this evening to freeze.
DH is actually pretty good at cooking, he loves making soups, but I would like to make some quiches and lasagna or something like that. I'll be following this thread!

 

[amyleigh89]

I've not frozen quiche before... Does it defrost okay? I can imagine it goes a big soggy? X

 

[petitpas]

Great idea! Now I just need dh to empty his sardines out of the freezer so I have some space to fill...

With my son we froze some meals beforehand but I realised that some of them, though delicious, were unsuitable. One meal was chicken legs I'm a creamy mushroom sauce. Yummy except when it came to eating it my son was cluster feeding and I really struggled to pick the meat apart with just one hand

 

[Gingerspice]

Plus things like chilli, tomatoes and onions, broccoli etc can taint your milk and give baby hard time with wind etc.

 

[nilllabean26]

I got sad when I opened this thread Lol. I thought I read batch of cookies(didn't even the word ideas until now after edit Lol) and thought u were going to share pics of your baking.

Anywho. That's an awesome idea. Pastas and soups are easy. Premade homemade pizzas are easy to make and taste better than takeout. U can Also cook Some ground beef or chicken and use that meat for different recipes like tscos/ spaghetti etc

 

[Angelbaby_01]

I am planning on making foods like lasagnes, spaghetti bolognaise, chicken pie, cottage pie, stews and curry etc. Obviously I will not eat with the family if it's food that will give baby cramps, but it will help to have food ready to defrost and maybe just make some veggies on the side for them etc. I am planning on investing in a slow cooker as well and will actually mention this to hubby (being hopeful for a Christmas pressie. Haha!)

 

[MarieMo7]

I made a bunch of things the past week...Shepherd's Pies, baked ziti, chili, meat sauce for spaghetti, etc. I also pre-assembled a couple of slow cooker recipes, and I bought some roasts to freeze, so I can throw them in the crock pot to cook all day when I need it. Also, will probably baked quite a few potatoes, leave them in the foil, and freeze as-is. Can thaw at room temp overnight or all day, and reheat in the microwave.
I'm also a big believer in making a big batch of ground beef, and freezing in 1-lb portions. Easy taco, casseroles, etc.

 

[Geo2]

Ive been keen on this idea, i have been buying some reduced meals from supermarket and freezing them, only to eat them a few days later! Just really tired at moment and living without partner so get exhausted and dont have energy to cook, I'm going to try though, whenever i cook, to make extra and freeze it, otherwise I'll be living off placenta after baby's born lol!

 

[petitpas]

MarieMo, did you know you can make baked potatoes in the microwave? They aren't quite as nice as oven ones but you wouldn't need to bake and freeze first.

 

[Gingerspice]

I always do spuds in microwave then chuck in oven for 10 or 20 minutes to crispen skin

 

[MarieMo7]

I've done them in the microwave before but I've found they actually turn out better if I reheat baked ones. I know it'd be just as easy to cook them in the micro...I guess I'm just a little picky

Plus I always seem to mess up the micro ones! Can never get the amount of time right to make sure there are not undercooked spots, and no rubbery spots.