Batch cooking recipes?

xsunshine02x

So I've found that the only way that I really stick to my diet is by batching cooking and meal preppi gnall of my food once a week. Unfortunately this means I've been eating the same things repeatedly and it's getting a little boring. Does anyone have healthy recipes that yield enough food to last the week?

sahi2lynn

I like to prep large amounts of basics and freeze them in the portions I will use. For example, prepare 3 chickens, use them for a couple meals during the weak and then freeze 3 oz portions for future use. Same with beef and fish, rice, beans and quinoa. Then I combine the basics for whatever style of food I want, add fresh or frozen veggies and I'm good to go. I also freeze tortillas -- separate with wax paper -- so I can use as many as I want. I freeze pita pockets too.

gieshagirl

one trick that I use is a muffin tin. sounds crazy right? 2 words...portion control. I make several dishes in 1 day. portion and weigh into muffin tins freeze and pop out into freezer bag and label. when meal time comes...take an empty muffin tin and put in 2-4 items (depending on what it is and whether side dishes are needed...pop into oven or microwave and bam! dinner. it works with soups, casseroles, side dishes, deserts and a muffin tin is usually the size of 1 portion. :happy:

HeidiCooksSupper

I bought sleeves of commercial-style one- and two-cup containers to use in the freezer instead of the miscellaneous glad, rubbermaid, etc. containers. The commercial ones stack better and they all use the same size lid. This takes some of the pain and guesswork out of freezing portions. That way, you can take a frozen portion out, toss it in the microwave and voila! Supper!

I also do this for buying meats, chicken, etc. I cook a whole chicken, we eat one meal off it, then I separate the meat from the bones and put enough for a meal in each container. Chicken salad? Just thaw a container of chicken overnight in the fridge and turn it into salad or whatever. I also buy a whole pork shoulder or ham, cook it all, and divide it into meal-sized servings for the freezer.

Right now, since they were on sale this week and we were pretty much down to chicken in the freezer, I bought family-sized packs of boneless pork loin chops and a big chunk of beef bottom round. Both these will be divided and wrapped this afternoon and thrown in the freezer. I've found with the raw meat that wrapping them first in saran and then in foil prevents any freezer burn. You can still wait until the last minute to decide what to have for supper with these little frozen chunks of meat. Throw them, still tightly wrapped and maybe in a baggie to float in a sink or large bowl of cold water and they'll be totally thawed in about 1/2 an hour.

If you don't really like "leftovers" but want to be able to make cooking faster and easier, keep lots of jars of stuff in the fridge door to add to your food. For example, I have ginger root ground up in the food processor in a jar covered with rice vinegar. It makes stir fry at the spur of the moment easier. Grab meat from the freezer, thaw, cut into little pieces, brown. While it's browning, chop the veggies. Add them to the wok. Throw in sauce. Instant asian.

You can do all this sort of stuff with a regular sized fridge and the bitty top-of-the-fridge freezer. I do. Also, save any bones for making stock -- even chicken bones after you and your family have chewed on them -- you're going to boil them anyway. Then you have containers of stock in the freezer anytime you need them.

Cooking may be my hobby but I'm a lazy cook and particularly lazy around 6 p.m. Make supper so you can grab it and throw it together without much thinking.

Holler at me if you wanna brainstorm more stuff.

ils_1231

one trick that I use is a muffin tin. sounds crazy right? 2 words...portion control. I make several dishes in 1 day. portion and weigh into muffin tins freeze and pop out into freezer bag and label. when meal time comes...take an empty muffin tin and put in 2-4 items (depending on what it is and whether side dishes are needed...pop into oven or microwave and bam! dinner. it works with soups, casseroles, side dishes, deserts and a muffin tin is usually the size of 1 portion. :happy:

not crazy. THAT IS GENIUS