Yes, love this. I also like to batch cook things that can be easily adapted into something vaguely different (like turning a lentil ragu into a chilli).
Melissa, this kind of thinking is so much up my alley - especially freeze ingredients. I advocate for advanced ingredients as we call them in my podcast, they are ingredients that have some work done upon them on the road to the final recipe. For example, dal is cooked and tucked away nicely in the fridge. On the day of you can make spinach dal or onion & tomato dal or just have plain dal with tadka.
Meal planning doesn’t work for my brain and lifestyle either. As long as I have the pantry well stocked I can throw together a dal, spaghetti with olives, herbs, tomato and feta, fried rice if there’s little time. I also keep chopped onion and chopped celery in bags in the freezer just in case.
This is great Melissa. I can’t seem to get into strict meal planning / prep either. With 2 littles I don’t have oodles of time to meal prepnon weekends and, like you, I often change my mind re what I want to eat on a given day. So I follow an approach similar to yours - batch cook when I can so I have meal components in the freezer, some quick to cook bits like fresh pasta/gnocchi or freezer dumplings etc.
It depends but I like keeping frozen dumplings around and bags of fresh pasta. I batchcook pasta sauces - including one of my favourites, ragu finto - and keep those in my freezer. I also batchcook beans and other pulses so I always have some to hand. And when I make things like hummus and other dips or dressings I make enough to last 5-7 days so I can use them for multiple meals. Also, pre-washing and cutting vegetables is game changer in simplifying meal prep after a long day.
Yes, love this. I also like to batch cook things that can be easily adapted into something vaguely different (like turning a lentil ragu into a chilli).
That works really well and I bet saves you time too.
so sensible and motivating!!! when in doubt, I cook greens & noodles, asian or Italian. ideally, some tofu or tempeh or beans.
That sounds like a good idea
Melissa, this kind of thinking is so much up my alley - especially freeze ingredients. I advocate for advanced ingredients as we call them in my podcast, they are ingredients that have some work done upon them on the road to the final recipe. For example, dal is cooked and tucked away nicely in the fridge. On the day of you can make spinach dal or onion & tomato dal or just have plain dal with tadka.
Love that - advanced ingredients!
Meal planning doesn’t work for my brain and lifestyle either. As long as I have the pantry well stocked I can throw together a dal, spaghetti with olives, herbs, tomato and feta, fried rice if there’s little time. I also keep chopped onion and chopped celery in bags in the freezer just in case.
Thats a great idea.
So smart to freeze ingredients and not just meals!
Thanks Betty
This is great Melissa. I can’t seem to get into strict meal planning / prep either. With 2 littles I don’t have oodles of time to meal prepnon weekends and, like you, I often change my mind re what I want to eat on a given day. So I follow an approach similar to yours - batch cook when I can so I have meal components in the freezer, some quick to cook bits like fresh pasta/gnocchi or freezer dumplings etc.
Thanks Sophia - what are your favourite batch recipes and meal components?
It depends but I like keeping frozen dumplings around and bags of fresh pasta. I batchcook pasta sauces - including one of my favourites, ragu finto - and keep those in my freezer. I also batchcook beans and other pulses so I always have some to hand. And when I make things like hummus and other dips or dressings I make enough to last 5-7 days so I can use them for multiple meals. Also, pre-washing and cutting vegetables is game changer in simplifying meal prep after a long day.
Totally agree re prewashing and cutting. Ragu finto is one of my favs too.