Bulk cooking
Meal prop is pritty popular at the moment so I wanted to take a moment to show you how i do it for my little family of myself and my 4yr old. Im not the healthiest person and I'm quite lazy. I work full time so i literally have one hour between the time i get home and the time Rue is meant to be in bed so i often dont have the time or energy to cook (not to mention argue with him about actually eating it). So having an assortment of meals on hand for him to choose from is a great way to save time, sanity, and money.
I generally have all of this going at once as they each use a different element to make, 4 pans on the stove top (3 pans of mince and one for boiling potato/pasta), pressure cooker, bread maker, oven.
So, my latest cook up was this past Sunday. I cooked for 2hrs and made 6 meals which worked out to about 4 serves of each so about 30 meals.
First options:
1kg beef mince: Brown. Divide it into three.
1 st dish: add a can of cream of mushroom soup and freeze in a baking dish. When you want to eat it then add tater tops (potato gems) to the top and bake it. (2 serves)
2nd dish: Add half a can chopped tomatoes, 1 tbs tomato paste, Italian herbs and 1 cup chicken stock (i make my own). Warm it through and cook spaghetti (according to how big you want the serves) i made (4 serves) of this.
3rd dish: Add the other half of the canned tomatoes, frozen veg, about 1 tbls worcestershire sauce, 2 tbls gravox and about 1 cup water. Cook until the liquid reduces a little. Cook 2 potatoes and 1 carrot then mash with a little milk and butter. Transfer the mince mix to a baking dish and top with the mashed potato carrot mix. Cover and freeze. (will serve 4 med portions).
Second option:
I have a bread maker but you can do this by hand. Make one batch of pizza dough. Mine was 2.5cups self raising flour, 1 cup warm water, 1.5tbls yeast, 1 tbls oil, mixed herbs, 1 tsp honey. Mix and knead then leave to rise for 30mins. (there is alot of yeast because this is a very fast rising dough). Once its risen divide it into 5 small balls (or what ever size you want, i make individual ones so Rue has a go to if he doesn't want what im having). Bake for 10mins on 180. Top with tomato paste then your fave toppings. I use ham, cheese, pineapple, chicken and mushroom. Top with cheese. Wrap in tinfoil then freeze. Unwrap and bake for 10mins at 180 when ready to eat. (5 serves)
Third option:
My son calls these Burgers. I made them to replace going to mcdonalds for a sausage muffin. These are way cheaper! Basically toast 6 english muffins (i always get them half price $1.50). Get a roll of sausage mince, divide into 6 and flatten into patties then brown in a pan. Assemble muffins by placing one patty onto a muffin, add grated or sliced cheese and sauce then put the top of the muffin on and wrap in foil and freeze. Costs Less than $1 a muffin! To eat, unwrap from the foil and place in the microwave for 30seconds, flip over and cook for another 30seconds. Done! (serves 6)
Fourth option:
Massamum curry. Dice some beef chuck (or any slow cooking beef). Brown on the saute setting on the pressure cooker with 1tbls coconut oil. Remove meat and add diced onion to the pot. Add potatoes cut into quarters, return beef to the pot and add 3/4 jar of massamum curry paste (about 3/4 cup). add 600ml coconut milk, bay leaf, 1/2 cup chicken stock, 3 tbls sugar, 2 tbls fish sauce, 1 tbls tamarind paste and 1/4 cup crushed peanuts. Pressure cook for 30mins allowing pressure to release naturally.
This is an amazing tasting dish and as close to restaurant bought as iv ever tasted. It also makes alot of liquid so i actually scoop out about 2 cups worth at the end and freeze it. Next time i want to make it i just cook more beef and potatoes and put the frozen liquid in the pot before pressure cooking again.
I also recently learnt how to pressure cook perfect rice. Just add 1 cup basmati rice to the pot, add 1 and a quarter cups water and pressure cook for 3mins allowing the steam to release naturally. (serves 5 plus sauce for a second 5 dishes later)
I generally have all of this going at once as they each use a different element to make, 4 pans on the stove top (3 pans of mince and one for boiling potato/pasta), pressure cooker, bread maker, oven.
So, my latest cook up was this past Sunday. I cooked for 2hrs and made 6 meals which worked out to about 4 serves of each so about 30 meals.
First options:
1kg beef mince: Brown. Divide it into three.
1 st dish: add a can of cream of mushroom soup and freeze in a baking dish. When you want to eat it then add tater tops (potato gems) to the top and bake it. (2 serves)
2nd dish: Add half a can chopped tomatoes, 1 tbs tomato paste, Italian herbs and 1 cup chicken stock (i make my own). Warm it through and cook spaghetti (according to how big you want the serves) i made (4 serves) of this.
3rd dish: Add the other half of the canned tomatoes, frozen veg, about 1 tbls worcestershire sauce, 2 tbls gravox and about 1 cup water. Cook until the liquid reduces a little. Cook 2 potatoes and 1 carrot then mash with a little milk and butter. Transfer the mince mix to a baking dish and top with the mashed potato carrot mix. Cover and freeze. (will serve 4 med portions).
Second option:
I have a bread maker but you can do this by hand. Make one batch of pizza dough. Mine was 2.5cups self raising flour, 1 cup warm water, 1.5tbls yeast, 1 tbls oil, mixed herbs, 1 tsp honey. Mix and knead then leave to rise for 30mins. (there is alot of yeast because this is a very fast rising dough). Once its risen divide it into 5 small balls (or what ever size you want, i make individual ones so Rue has a go to if he doesn't want what im having). Bake for 10mins on 180. Top with tomato paste then your fave toppings. I use ham, cheese, pineapple, chicken and mushroom. Top with cheese. Wrap in tinfoil then freeze. Unwrap and bake for 10mins at 180 when ready to eat. (5 serves)
Third option:
My son calls these Burgers. I made them to replace going to mcdonalds for a sausage muffin. These are way cheaper! Basically toast 6 english muffins (i always get them half price $1.50). Get a roll of sausage mince, divide into 6 and flatten into patties then brown in a pan. Assemble muffins by placing one patty onto a muffin, add grated or sliced cheese and sauce then put the top of the muffin on and wrap in foil and freeze. Costs Less than $1 a muffin! To eat, unwrap from the foil and place in the microwave for 30seconds, flip over and cook for another 30seconds. Done! (serves 6)
Fourth option:
Massamum curry. Dice some beef chuck (or any slow cooking beef). Brown on the saute setting on the pressure cooker with 1tbls coconut oil. Remove meat and add diced onion to the pot. Add potatoes cut into quarters, return beef to the pot and add 3/4 jar of massamum curry paste (about 3/4 cup). add 600ml coconut milk, bay leaf, 1/2 cup chicken stock, 3 tbls sugar, 2 tbls fish sauce, 1 tbls tamarind paste and 1/4 cup crushed peanuts. Pressure cook for 30mins allowing pressure to release naturally.
This is an amazing tasting dish and as close to restaurant bought as iv ever tasted. It also makes alot of liquid so i actually scoop out about 2 cups worth at the end and freeze it. Next time i want to make it i just cook more beef and potatoes and put the frozen liquid in the pot before pressure cooking again.
I also recently learnt how to pressure cook perfect rice. Just add 1 cup basmati rice to the pot, add 1 and a quarter cups water and pressure cook for 3mins allowing the steam to release naturally. (serves 5 plus sauce for a second 5 dishes later)
