Hellobee Boards Topic: Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!

Hellobee Boards Topic: Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it! https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:36:45 +0000 gingerbebe on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353953 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 12:05:35 +0000 gingerbebe 2353953@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We've found the best way for us to cook ahead is to have individual portions of fully cooked meals in the freezer. That way you can throw a few containers on the counter to thaw and just microwave for a few minutes and you have dinner. I think I had 80-100 dinners in our chest freezer before DS was born last time and all I really did was double what I made for dinner. Typically, I'd make 3-4 more portions of what we were eating for dinner and froze it. It also ensured a good variety of meals. I started in my 3rd trimester and it saved me for 3-4 months after DS was born. Soups work great for this, anything rice or pasta based freezes well, and we did a few batches of crockpot pulled pork, chili, and spaghetti meat sauce that we froze flat in gallon freezer ziploc bags. Those meals just require boiling some pasta or getting some buns. Usually in an entree container I would put a scoop of rice, a meat portion, and a scoop of already frozen veg that would just steam when you reheated. We used big bags of frozen mixed veggies, corn, or green beans most of the time. tofuwad on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353871 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 11:35:50 +0000 tofuwad 2353871@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I do a lot of what others have suggested. But I have pre-made and frozen mashed potatoes (but not just chopped potatoes). I typically make them and then flash freeze in 1.5 cup puck-shapes (if that makes sense?) and then reheat individually in the micro and stir and add butter/milk as necessary. I also usually use waxy potatoes because I'm too lazy to peel. I'm not sure if that makes a difference. I also sometimes freeze veggies separately (especially greens) and add them to the crock pot like 10 minutes before serving. My favorite thing is buying beef on sale and making/freezing three or four meatloaves. And prepping a bunch of ingredients for salad so I can make a salad in like 2 minutes. Oh! And cooked beans and quinoa freeze really well. I make a lot of beans from scratch and then freeze them for soups and salads and chilis. And lastly I like to make a big batch of those paleo egg muffins and freeze them for breakfast. I usually use 10 eggs and can get six breakfasts out of it. Cherrybee on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353819 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 11:13:22 +0000 Cherrybee 2353819@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @blackbird: @My Only Sunshine: This one tip alone is going to be life changing!! My Only Sunshine on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353813 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 11:10:28 +0000 My Only Sunshine 2353813@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Cherrybee: No, I just put them in raw. I don't freeze potatoes because I read somewhere they can sometimes get funky. I wouldn't freeze veggies I wanted to serve raw or sauteed, but for soups, stews, and pot roast it's fine. I also do bags of frozen veggies. So I'll freeze chicken with teriyaki sauce in a freezer bag and tape it to a bag of frozen broccoli in the freezer. Then I thaw the chicken 24 hours and throw the thawed chicken and the frozen broccoli in the crock pot. blackbird on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353789 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 11:02:04 +0000 blackbird 2353789@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Cherrybee: Uh...i don't. I mean, i often use frozen veggies in meals :) Like i'd buy little round onions instead of chopping up a whole onion. And i'd just throw in bagged mini carrots. Celery gets kind of nasty but you use it for flavoring mostly. Potatoes I wouldn't freeze, they get weird. But carrots DEFINITELY do fine in the crockpot. There's a recipe out there for a beef and broccoli freezer meal that works great and i use steamer bags with that. catlady on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353776 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 10:58:59 +0000 catlady 2353776@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We do two nights worth at once, and we do it the night before we need it. So, Sunday we will cook dinner for Mon/Tues, and Tues night we cook for Wed/Th. We tend to make things like chilis, stews, and casseroles, since they stay and reheat well. We have to do it this way because LO is always ravenous as soon as we get home from daycare, and even the 3 minutes it takes to reheat something in the microwave is too long for her, so we can't really cook anything fresh except on weekends. On weekday nights when we need to cook for the next few days, we do it after she is in bed. Cherrybee on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353764 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 10:54:01 +0000 Cherrybee 2353764@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @My Only Sunshine: @blackbird: Loving the frozen crock pot ingredients idea! Do the veggies freeze ok? I always thought you had to blanche veggies before you froze them? blackbird on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353754 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 10:47:38 +0000 blackbird 2353754@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I usually make a couple things. I try to double and freeze when I can. It only takes a couple hours, typically. So...a pasta dish, maybe. Soup, chili....i'll also do meats in pans and stuff like that. Or even prep everything for a crockpot--meat, veggies, etc for pot roast. Last Sunday, I made an egg frittata for breakfasts this week, plus a pasta thing, plus a batch of potato-cauliflower soup. Mommy Finger on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353737 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 10:42:18 +0000 Mommy Finger 2353737@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It really depends on how and what you like to eat. For my family, I'll make certain baked pasta dishes that I know we like. I'll double or triple the recipe and put them in disposable aluminum pans for the freezer. Also, a grocery store nearby has a really good sale on chicken breasts every Tuesday. Every so often, I'll buy about 5 or 6 lbs of them and then grill or bake all of them. I keep the seasoning simple. Then I slice them and freeze them in portions. It's really easy to get dinner on the table since I can just add the chicken to whatever I'm making that night. We do a lot of dishes where I saute some veggies and add the chicken and some pasta. We mix up the sauces and seasonings so we don't get bored of the same thing. yoursilverlining on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353698 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 10:27:15 +0000 yoursilverlining 2353698@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I cook batches on Sunday for lunches for the week. Stuff like chili and soup are easy to cook in batches, but I’ll also do things like cook up several chicken breasts for protein for lunches during the week and then match a big quinoa or grain salad to go along with. I think it gets easier the more comfortable you get doing it, but other tips would be to prep in advance (i.e., it doesn't take much more time to chop up 2 peppers instead of 1 or 4 onions instead of 2), and use shortcuts where you can: use a food processor to chop up veggies, garlic, etc. Make batches of salsas and sauces and freeze individual servings in bags that can be easily thawed for dinners. My Only Sunshine on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353684 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 10:23:32 +0000 My Only Sunshine 2353684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I will sometimes make a double batch of soup and freeze them in individual containers for lunches. Usually my advance cooking is just making double or triple of whatever I'm already making. If we're having beef stew, I'll put one batch in the crock pot and put another batch raw in a freezer bag to thaw and dump in the crock pot later. Or I'll make three baked zitis, have one for dinner, and freeze two. Cherrybee on "Do you cook meals in batches/ advance? Tell me about it!" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-cook-meals-in-batches-advance-tell-me-about-it#post-2353621 Thu, 12 Nov 2015 10:01:29 +0000 Cherrybee 2353621@https://boards.hellobee.com/ How often do you cook them? How many do you do at once? How long does it take? Do you have any tips for me? I'm off sick from work at the moment and I felt well enough today to do some cooking. I made a beef & ale stew for tonight and a cottage pie for the freezer. It has taken all afternoon!!