Batch Cooking

[Jackie]

I cook most of our meat in batches:
I cook up 5-10 pounds of ground beef at a time, drain & rinse it to remove excess grease, then I weigh it into 4 & 6oz servings and put them in ziploc bags - I use the sandwich bags for the 6oz and the snack size bags for the 4 oz. It helps me keep it straight without having to reweigh it later. I then put them all in a big freezer bag and freeze them. I do ground turkey the same way.
I bake a roasting pan full of chicken breasts, (boneless skinless), let them cool, weigh, bag and freeze.
I make my own turkey breakfast sausage (sage, red pepper & sea salt) and I press it into a cookie sheet lined with foil and bake it. When it's browned I use a pizza cutter and cut it into squares, weigh it, bag it and freeze it. Sometimes I just make it into crumbles, or I do patties (but they take lots longer).
I also make my own Italian turkey sausage into crumbles or meat balls (ground turkey, paprika, garlic, red pepper, black pepper, salt and fennel), and I use a cookie dough scoop to scoop out the balls and put them on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 350° until done, cool, weigh them out and package them.
When I make hamburger patties, I fry up a bunch at a time, weigh, bag and freeze. Or, I just make up the patties and put waxed paper between them and freeze and just cook them when you’re ready to use them.

I use dry beans (lots cheaper) I soak beans one day, rinse and cook in the crock pot the next day. When they are done I rinse them, measure 1c into the snack size zipper bags and freeze them.

I bake whole cookie sheets of sweet potatoes (in their skins). I let them cool, remove the skins, weigh out serving, bag and freeze.

When I make "fried" (steamed) potatoes, I scrub them, slice them (with skins) and put them in my big electric skillet, toss in some chopped onion and about a cup of water. I weigh out what I need for that meal, then weigh and bag the rest. I just put them in the fridge - they don't freeze well, and we have them another day (hubby likes them for breakfast). Sometimes I just cube and boil a big pot of them. When they are cool I weigh them out and bag them and keep in the fridge to make potato salad, or to shred up for hash browns, or to mash up for “smashed potatoes”. They’re pretty versatile

Even if I forget to get something out for dinner all I have to do is get out what I need and toss it in the microwave. While it's cooking in the nuker I throw together a salad or other veggie - dinner for 3 in 15 minutes or less!

I have a rice cooker (best $20 I ever spent) and I do all my grains in it. I measure out 1c servings, bag and freeze. When I cook peas, lima beans, etc. I measure up any leftovers and stash in the fridge for another meal. I usually cook a whole bag or two of frozen veggies at a time in the microwave and measure it all into 1c servings, use what I need for the meal & keep the rest in the fridge and just warm up the leftovers for another meal.

As far as fixing different food for everyone, serve the same protein and you can mix and match the starch and veggies according to the likes/dislikes of your family. SIMPLIFY!!!

This was shared by Pat

[pamarnold]

This sounds like a great idea. Sounds like it would save a lot of time, heartache and money. My question is: Doesn't the meat dry out when reheated? I guess it would depend on how you reheat it.

[pamarnold]

I bought one of those pasta boats off tv and I use that to do steamed veggies. Works wonderfully. I also use it to cook my whole wheat pasta, but now I'm learning that whole wheat is just as bad as regular pasta because of the wheat. Learning everyday, I guess.

[JustForToday]

I've reheated the left overs in the fridge in the microwave and usually they taste ok. A bit of water can be added, if dryness seems to be a problem. And those frozen meats can be reheated in a double boiler or steamer basket or just taken out of the freezer the night before you need it and put into the fridge.

Hope this helps

[step3]

I too, like JustForToday, take my meats (and grains too) out of the freezer the night before to defrost. I do that when I'm planning out my menu for the next day. I do it late at night, and my husband, who gets up for work at 5:30am, will put them into the fridge for me the next morning. I found early on that when I forgot and tried to defrost meats in the microwave, they became kind of soggy and not good at all!

[alicemdavid]

WOW!! thanks for the wonderful tips they are very helpful!

[nevertoolate]

HELP!
I AM SICK OF CHICKEN, ANYONE KNOW HOW TO COOK PORK, BEEF OR WHATEVER, ANY ABSTINENT BARBECUE SAUCE OR MAYO (TO PUT ON TUNA)...hate fish, any recommendations for nonfishy fish...or bean recipes????? Any help here greatly appreciated. :)
marilyn in ohio

[lbressem]

Great ideas for batch cooking..thanks.

I like Tilapia as a non-fishy fish. I use grits to cover it and pan fry using Pam spray and a little olive oil. The only clean mayo I've heard of is from Trader Joe's. Meat recipes are pretty easy to modify to meet our clean standards. I like to brown onions and pork in a fry pan, then add to a slow cooker with pre-soaked beans, and cook overnight. I measure and bag what I don't use. These baked beans are great with squash as the starchy veg, or any of the grains. I also like them for breakfast. I'm using my slow cooker more and more. I've started making stock in it overnight, with meat, bones, water, celerytops or whatever veg I want to put in, and some mild spicing. I drain the stock and use it in a variety of ways like in the rice cooker for different flavored grains.

[nevertoolate]

GREAT IDEAS, THANKS!
marilyn

[chicko3x]

i love this!!! I batch cook my food, beans are always in the fridge for last minute meal planning. Its great, best way to go! :)