Batch Cooking:What It Is And How I Do It (Part 2)

In part 1 of this series, I shared with you how much I look to cook in spurts, or batches. Today I will share with you what this actually looks like.

Typically, a batch cooking session with last me two or three hours. In this session I will make a variety of things usually depnding on what I have on hand or have gotten a great deal on . this past week I was able to get lots of tomatoes and hamburger so my plan was making as many dishes as I could with those ingredients. I also like to keep some breakfast items on hand for the mornings. Since I am home schooling three children, I like keeping breakfasts quick and easy too, as well as healthy. Having some things ready to reheat makes our this easier to do each day.

Once I plan what I am making, I try to break it down so that I can start with what will takes the longest cooking time. Today I am making spaghetti sauce, so I began right away with that.

I am also making a Minestrone Soup in the crock pot, so I threw in those ingredients real quick as well.

I made up a double batch of Pizza Dough and put that in the bread machine. When that is done, I put it into freezer bags and label.

Then I started on the waffles and pancakes, and in between cooking those I made up a batch of muffins. The mess is has begun!

That is ok though, because look what gets to go in my freezer and it will last us for 2-3 weeks!

My children all help me (great for some training time in the kitchen!) but on this day I had two children feeling a little under the weather, so I was down to one helper. Not to be deterred, I got her started on making the meatballs.

I like to put these on a cookie sheet and freeze them, then place in freezer bags. It helps them not to stick together or get crushed.

While my daughter rolled out the meatballs, I made up the meatloaf mixes and put them into the pans. Since the oven was already heated up for the muffins, I put them right in while the muffins came out to cool.

I fried up some hamburger to make Pepperoni Pizza Bake and since I already had the pan out, I made fried some ground chicken that I got a great deal on and made a chicken dish real quick. That was kind of a random recipe to throw in there, but I wanted to use that chicken up.

Don’t forget to save all those vegetable clippings to make yummy vegetable broth! I keep adding to a freezer bag until I have about 4 cups and then I will make up some broth during one of my cooking sessions.

By then, the spaghetti sauce has simmered long enough, so I began to portion it out and let it cool off so I could freeze it.

Time to clean up! A day well spent, and we still had time to go do some ice skating and then come home for a muffin and some tea.

I am always tired after a lot of cooking, but it is so worth it when I go to make dinner for the next few weeks!

So, do you do any batch cooking like this? Got any tips for me? Should I take the once a month cooking plunge? I am always trying to simplify and streamline this process, so any advice is gladly taken!

Tagged as: batch cooking, freezer meals, Recipes