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Cooking under restraints, large batch meals and a leftover destiny

ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
edited August 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
I have a ridiculous life schedule that doesn't leave me much available time to cook. I also like to eat a lot. A lot. I am also a big creature of habit and can easily, and quite happily, eat the same thing for large spans of time (I wouldn't mind cooking 30 servings of something and eating it throughout the week). Since I don't have time every night to cook, but I can find large enough chunks of time to cook once a week, I would like to start using that time to cook large batches of food that I can portion out, freeze, and eat throughout the week.
I'm also health conscious and "frugal". I'm competent in the kitchen and do not require one-pot meals only, but I do require sustenance. Nay, I demand it.

I'll of course be snacking in between meals on healthy snacks, but I need to make sure that these meals are, as much as possible, a good foundation for nutrition.

Do you have any recipes or suggestions to help me stock pile my freezer?

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Posts

  • blakfeldblakfeld Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    I too am frugal and health conscious, and I tend to overeat a little, so I've crafted my meals to be things I enjoy, but stuffed with veggies

    So I've created what I refer to as Kitchen sink chili. It makes a ton of food, and it's mostly veggies (I actually had it for dinner tonight, ate 2 heaping bowls and still had two or three bowls worth left without trying)

    I buy 1 packet of low sodium Chili Mix
    1 pound Turkey meat (Again, I buy the low fat kind, but thats a bit more expensive)
    1 zucchini
    ... some amount of onion? I dunno, I just chop up a good amount
    1 small red potato
    A bit of broccoli ( I just buy a big frozen bag and drop in however much looks good)
    1 can diced tomatoes
    1 can red kidney beans

    I chop the potato and zuchini into small bits, then toss them, and the onion, into a pan with a bit of olive oil. And let them cook. The goal is to brown the sides of the potato and zuchini, in which case I put the meat in and brown it. When it's brown put in the mix, the tomatoes, beans, broccoli, and a cup of water. Mix it up and bring it to a boil, then simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes and bam. Awesome Chili

    The great part is, you can toss in literally whatever you want, I told a guy at work about it and he added pineapple slices, among other things I can't remember.

    blakfeld on
  • CauldCauld Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    I like making lasagna because it freezes well and is pretty good reheated. If you make your own its a solid entree. Add in some sides and you've got hearty meal.

    Cauld on
  • ElinElin Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Soups. In a crock pot. Lentil soup is cheap, healthy, and easy. Beef vegetable freezes like a champ and is great reheated. You can also make meatloaf and freeze it. Freeze it raw and pop it in the oven frozen, it just takes and extra hour or so of cooking.

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  • AmytheLibrarianAmytheLibrarian Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    i second the chilli and lasagna suggestions. after making my mom's usual boring old chilli for years i tried jamie oliver's chilli con carne recipe a few weeks ago and it rocked my socks. made a TON of food too, and i'm sure it'd be just a good doubled. my husband and i ate on it for 3 or 4 days. it fed me lunch and both of us dinner. pair it with some rice or some fresh buns / bread and it'll last even longer.

    http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/chilli-con-carne

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  • PheezerPheezer Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited August 2010
    If you're working on a budget, lean ground beef is cheaper than turkey last I checked.

    My chili recipe goes as follows (roughly, it changes):
    Toss the beef into the pot. Ideally you're using a large cast iron dutch oven, but stainless stuff is okay.

    Brown it up a bit. Add healthy quantities of minced fresh garlic (3-5 cloves), ground cumin (enough to cover the meat), ground chili powder (or lots of diced fresh chili peppers, but that's pricier), kosher salt (regular salt is okay but doesn't taste as good), and smoked paprika if you have. It's pricey, and it's far from necessary.

    Mix that all up. Like, mash those spices in with a stainless steel lifter.

    Add diced onion. Keep cooking it, until the onion turns translucent.

    You are now at the bean stage. I like three beans. I like pinto, black and kidney beans. If you're going to drop one, then from a health point of view you want to keep the black and kidney beans. From a taste point of view, you want to keep the pinto and black beans. Either way they're pretty fucking good for you.

    You want to get some heat into those beans, some spice on them, all that good shit.

    Then you add a can of diced tomatoes. Not tomato paste, that sucks. Diced. San Marzano tomatoes are really good, and only cost like ten cents extra. Regular are just fine tho. I actually buy my canned tomatoes as whole canned tomatoes in flats from Costco. They come at a really good price point, and I just hack them to pieces with my stainless steel lifter (spatula, whatever) as they're in the pot. You drive downwards quickly, straight through to hack them into pieces. It's fun.

    I stir it up, leave it at medium to medium-high, stirring every five to ten minutes for the first 45 minutes. Then I drop the heat down to minimal heat, just to keep it going, put the lid on, and give it a full hour. Then I move it to a cold element and give it a few more to cool off, and load it into my fridge. In the iron. I put a doubled over tea towel on the base of my fridge and put it on that.

    The next day, you heat it for about a half hour at medium heat and you're looking at the best fucking chili you've ever had.


    If you REEEEEALLY want badass chili though, you'll use a cheap rump roast. Coat it in a rub consisting of the above mentioned spices. Brown it thoroughly on every side, then boil it in the juice from the canned tomatoes, some broth, some water. Once it starts falling apart, you shred it up with some forks (careful*) and then continue with the rest of the recipe I described above.


    *I'm lazy so I shred it in situ, in the pot with the water in it. How do I pull off such a daring feat without burning my forearms to shit? Well, I use welding gauntlets. See, you can get a good pair of welding gauntlets for about $10 at your local surplus store (mad fucking props to www.princessauto.com) that are meant for pipe fitting and so forth. We're talking about a quarter inch of leather with a heat resistant lining inside, individual fingers instead of big clumsy mittens and protection up to your elbows. I've seen specialty cooking gear with lesser heat protection for three times the cost and you can't get them in black.

    Pheezer on
    IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
    CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
  • TayaTaya Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    I don't have any recipes but I will suggest burgers. You can make a bunch of patties at once and freeze them.

    You can also try different burger recipes so you're not always eating pure beef every day.

    Taya on
  • PheezerPheezer Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited August 2010
    Oh, also discover the joy that is lentils. You cook them the same way you cook rice, and then you just toss in a bunch of cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic and chili powder and it tastes fucking rad and fills you up like nothing and leaves you full of energy all day.

    Pheezer on
    IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
    CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
  • FeatherBladeFeatherBlade Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    1 cup each red bean and pinto beans
    1 cup each rice and pearled barley
    2 cups dried currants
    creole seasoning
    chicken broth

    Prepare the beans as directed on the package (i.e. soak overnight and boil for 1.5 hours)
    cook barley and rice (1 cycle in a rice cooker, they can be mixed; or as directed on the package)
    Mix barley, rice, and beans with creole seasoning (to taste) and a splash of chicken broth (maybe 1/3 cup)
    Add currants to mixture, portion out, and freeze.

    Warms up well in the microwave, and is a great accompaniment to baked chicken, or lamb roast.


    1 cup sticky rice (Calrose, or something of that sort)
    1 cup each brown rice, barley, and whole wheat kernels
    1 cup millet
    Powdered cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
    Dill leaves

    Pre-cook the millet by boiling it for a couple minutes, then toss the millet and all the dry grains into a rice cooker, mix in a couple shakes of each of the spices, and run the cooker for 1 cycle.
    Portion out and freeze.

    Warms up well in the microwave (make sure to add a bit of water before heating). Goes well with baked chicken.

    If you don't have a rice cooker, just mix it all together and follow the package directions for stovetop cooking.

    If your grocery store has a bulk goods section (I <3 Winco) just go in and check out what grains they have available, and experiment with different combinations. Grains and beans are excessively cheap foods, so it's not a big financial drain to buy a pound and play around with it.

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  • AtheraalAtheraal Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Baked assorted root veg. Potatoes, yams, carrots, onions, whole cloves of garlic, squash (not actually a root veg) and really whatever else you can think of to put in. Chop into roughly the same size, put it all into a casserole dish, (also, casseroles are a great thing to make) drizzle oil on and toss with whatever spices you like, and bake at 400 for about an hour. Maybe take it out and toss everything again halfway through. Ridiculously simple, and equally delicious. Don't skimp on the garlic! I usually use 2 whole heads to a dish, since they get all nice and caramelized.

    Atheraal on
  • proXimityproXimity Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Curry, with lots of potatoes and meat cooks and stores well, then make rice to go with it when you're eating

    proXimity on
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  • KarlKarl Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    proXimity wrote: »
    Curry, with lots of potatoes and meat cooks and stores well, then make rice to go with it when you're eating

    This, a million times this.

    My parents do this and the curry lasts for weeks in the freezer.

    Karl on
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