Here in Florida it's been "feels like" well over 100 degrees F (38+) every single day for weeks, making us supremely conscious of not using the oven, etc. I have slow cookers of every size and use them all the time. One of my favorite things to cook is whole potatoes. It's so easy to wash them and stick them into the cooker whole, with or without foil, and just turn them on low. Yes, they come out great in the air fryer, but I can fill my crock pot with them, and eat some, save some, or freeze them. They are so versatile and even though I'm 74, it's only been this year that I've really been cooking them this way consistently. Hubby loves them too.
Line cupcake/bun tins with bacon before putting your eggy mix in. Add chopped veggies and cook until set. Lovely with salad and they freeze if you make too many.
I buy the bags of frozen sausages and stick the whole lot in the oven, fill up any spare space with potatoes (spuds will need a bit longer), when cooled, into Tupperware and into the fridge. Can be warmed in the microwave or used cold in salads
I do variations on the meatloaf, cook up some rice, mix it into the meatloaf mixture and fill peppers with that, top with tomato sauce....or put shredded cabbage on the bottom of a deep casserole dish, meatloaf mix in the middle and more cabbage on top (with tomato sauce on top again). But my absolute favourite for all year round is sausages. I make Lorne sausage from scratch, season it with a bit more spice because my husband prefers that, and stuff it into casings and then freeze it. We can put it in the smoker and then use it to add flavour to lentil soup, or a root vegetable soup.
I batch cook pulled pork or fajitas mix so chicken or whatever meat you like, onions, peppers and spices ( or fajitas spice packet). If it's hot we put out the mixture in wraps but it's great on pasta with some cheese on top too. We also like a curry so works well even in the heat, I batch make coleslaw, you could make jacket potatoes in the slow cooker and then crisp them in the air fryer. Have boiled eggs, salad, quiche, garlic bread etc in the fridge for quick teas..
For the week's sandwhiches- gammon ( i like smoked ham. Bay leaves in bottom of the cooker. Cloves pushed into the ham ( only about 4) 2hrs per kg on low. Also does a ham egg and chips ( chips in air fryer). Or chicken (last week breast cheaper per kg??) Cooked with strips of zest of the lemon and garlic cloves pierced with a knife floating in the cooking liquid. Have you folks seen yhe price per kg of sliced meat?
Pulled pork sandwichs, mac and cheese are popular with my extended family. For myself. I batch cook eggs or the chicken main meat and they eat veggies in season around that
If tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, garlic and some olive oil are affordable where you are, make raratouille. It freezes well, is light and goes well with rice and meat. You could mix the minced meat and the rice. Trying to think of more recipes for batch-cooking, it seems most if what we cook covers 2 or 3 days max and doesn't go in the freezer. Tomatoes stuffed with fried minced meat/onions and a bit of parmigiano in a casserole on butter, more diced onions, with either rice or on mashed potatoes. Stuffed peppers, same treatment on rice. Stuffed courgettes, in the oven, topped with grated cheese. Plenty of steamed broccoli and cauliflower with a bite left to turn into salad with a vinaigrette and some thinly sliced cold roast. Not sure any of this is frugal, batch-cookable, but they used to work for summer.
I've just had all my Courgettes and Aubergines delivered tonight to add to my other ingredients to do a big batch of ratatouille which I will cook in my biggest slow cooker. It's a great suggestion, as it can be a side dish with some gammon or fish, or mixed in with some pasta or rice etc.
I batch cook every second nite. We eat for two nites and freeze the rest. We do slower cooker chili all yr. stuffed peppers in slow cooker can be frozen. Colleen
Made a no-cook Mexican bean and corn soup. All made using mostly pantry ingredients other than the fresh coriander/cilantro. Garnish with sour cream. Last week I made a large rice salad with diced/grated raw veg. It keeps a good 4-5 days. Have also made the same salad swapping out the rice for barley. If we can get below 30C will make a meatloaf, courgette/zucchini fritters and possibly meatballs done in the slow cooker.
Karen - slow cooker - chopped up chicken thighs browned off, Mushrooms, onions if you fancy, cooked in thick gravy (I use bisto granules) then when you are about ready for it, stir in a tbsp or two of creme fraiche . Serve with boiled rice.
I'm not a great one for batch cooking due to fridge-freezer space, but have started bottling (waterbath canning) and plan to continue. So far I've done pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce and salsa. I also regularly make jam 😊
Noodles might dissolve in a slow cooker. I would just make the soup base,and boil the noodles at the time. What about pork pies to eat with salad,quiche,chicken to eat cold,prawns are a good standby as they defrost quickly and can jazz up an omlette,or in white sauce with diced veg and pasta,or atop a salad.
Chicken, peppers onion mushroom on skewers add a sauce you like, you can partially cook them freeze then grill them on the bbq. Mini pies and pastries.
I'm not cooking much of anything I did do a pork roast and made pulled pork in the crock pot.recently My mom has a high level of dementia and is in a nursing home since May because I'vist her most lunch and suppers to feed her they let me have a meal so whatever they're having. Lunch was ham and beans fried potatoes cornbread and green beans supper was brats not something I care for so I passed on the meal. They sometimes send leftovers home with me instead of throwing away so I know a couple semi homeless guys I give that food to
As we have loads of tomatoes coming in ours tend to be tomato based. I guess tomatoes and tinned toms are at their cheapest for the year? So, Karen, what about Fasolada? Its the Greek version of ministrone and uses potatoes instead of pasta so it freezes well. Any beans will do. I didnt take to the butter beans I once used but surprisingly soy beans go well as they soak up the flavours. I alway make up batches of cooked soy for the freezer so they have less affect on my digestion and are supposed to have less of a spike on blood sugar.
I batch cook lasagna (great with a salad in summer) use some of your bolognese and make a white sauce. They freeze fantastic but you have to remember to take them out the freeze the night before. I batch cook curry all year around. 😊
Meat that can be eaten cold like a meatloaf or a turkey breast ( slice it thin once cooked) . Quiches. Bolognese sauce for an easy pasta meal. Gazpacho which is a cold tomato and pepper soup. Sausages as I slice them and add to salads. Slow cooker pulled pork I then make pulled pork sandwiches or don’t use bread and eat as is with a side of coleslaw. What about using air fryer for some chicken breast . U can eat the chicken cold with a salad.
I guess what's in season and therefore cheaper. Veggies and fruits. Having watched your actual video, I'll add boild eggs, rice, pasta. Basically anything you're cooking do more and put it by for another meal. If you are suffering in the heat to make one batch, why not squeeze another in !?
In summer i prep all my bread, rolls, etc put their tins and trays in the fridge, pull them out at sunrise- 4am ish, they're risen by 7am, in the oven and done by 8 along with mini quiches, cookies and muffins... one batch for the week. Oven is off by 9am. I do a lot of outdoor cooking in summer- crab pot on the wok burner, flat grill does the stirfry, i can slow roast a beef roast, jacket potatoes etc all on the bbq and then meal portion up all the offerings. i also do a lot of saurkraut, coleslaw in a jar, salads in jars, potato salads, boiled eggs... living in the subtropics baking is done early inside and the rest- roasting cooking etc is done outside.
How about burritos you can put anything in them I do a breakfast one bacon sausage and scrambled eggs. Individually wrapped and freeze. Lentil or sweetcorn fritters.
Cold salads. 1 package jello, over fruit, or graged carrots, or grated celery and finely chopped onions. Cold butternut squash soup. Macaroni salad, with all types of broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, olives black, green both. The mac salad, big amount. Last 3 to 4 days. So good so easy. Cheese slice with tomato slice with fresh herbs. Lasts few days. Drizzle with olive oil :-) lime jello over cottage cheese made in a cake pan oh my goodness. Easy to make :-) last for days :-) you can get in the fridge get a big Square out. Delicious :-):-):-):-)
Do you make your own bread? Ive been watching people make flourless high protein bread. I wasteca lot of eggs, something like you mentionned would be good to try. 👍 I've never made soup in a slow cooker. What are the benefits, please?
Here in Florida it's been "feels like" well over 100 degrees F (38+) every single day for weeks, making us supremely conscious of not using the oven, etc. I have slow cookers of every size and use them all the time. One of my favorite things to cook is whole potatoes. It's so easy to wash them and stick them into the cooker whole, with or without foil, and just turn them on low. Yes, they come out great in the air fryer, but I can fill my crock pot with them, and eat some, save some, or freeze them. They are so versatile and even though I'm 74, it's only been this year that I've really been cooking them this way consistently. Hubby loves them too.
Just wonder do you add water to the slow cooker?
@@colga100 No.
I've slow cooked a pork shoulder and shredded it for pulled pork. Froze in portions to use for tacos, burrito bowls, etc
And barbecue sandwiches
Line cupcake/bun tins with bacon before putting your eggy mix in. Add chopped veggies and cook until set. Lovely with salad and they freeze if you make too many.
I buy the bags of frozen sausages and stick the whole lot in the oven, fill up any spare space with potatoes (spuds will need a bit longer), when cooled, into Tupperware and into the fridge.
Can be warmed in the microwave or used cold in salads
I precook my meat for the week. That way I don't have to spend time during the week.
I do variations on the meatloaf, cook up some rice, mix it into the meatloaf mixture and fill peppers with that, top with tomato sauce....or put shredded cabbage on the bottom of a deep casserole dish, meatloaf mix in the middle and more cabbage on top (with tomato sauce on top again). But my absolute favourite for all year round is sausages. I make Lorne sausage from scratch, season it with a bit more spice because my husband prefers that, and stuff it into casings and then freeze it. We can put it in the smoker and then use it to add flavour to lentil soup, or a root vegetable soup.
Sounds delicious!
I make my meat loaf mix when I come home from the store. I freeze it in muffin tins. Hen I can take out as many as I need
I batch cook all year long. The foods change each season. Now I prepare 4-5 lettuce based salads at a time. Depends on what cheapest at the stores.
I batch cook pulled pork or fajitas mix so chicken or whatever meat you like, onions, peppers and spices ( or fajitas spice packet). If it's hot we put out the mixture in wraps but it's great on pasta with some cheese on top too. We also like a curry so works well even in the heat, I batch make coleslaw, you could make jacket potatoes in the slow cooker and then crisp them in the air fryer. Have boiled eggs, salad, quiche, garlic bread etc in the fridge for quick teas..
For the week's sandwhiches- gammon ( i like smoked ham. Bay leaves in bottom of the cooker. Cloves pushed into the ham ( only about 4) 2hrs per kg on low. Also does a ham egg and chips ( chips in air fryer). Or chicken (last week breast cheaper per kg??) Cooked with strips of zest of the lemon and garlic cloves pierced with a knife floating in the cooking liquid. Have you folks seen yhe price per kg of sliced meat?
Pulled pork sandwichs, mac and cheese are popular with my extended family. For myself. I batch cook eggs or the chicken main meat and they eat veggies in season around that
How long do cooked eggs last?
If tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, garlic and some olive oil are affordable where you are, make raratouille. It freezes well, is light and goes well with rice and meat. You could mix the minced meat and the rice.
Trying to think of more recipes for batch-cooking, it seems most if what we cook covers 2 or 3 days max and doesn't go in the freezer. Tomatoes stuffed with fried minced meat/onions and a bit of parmigiano in a casserole on butter, more diced onions, with either rice or on mashed potatoes. Stuffed peppers, same treatment on rice. Stuffed courgettes, in the oven, topped with grated cheese. Plenty of steamed broccoli and cauliflower with a bite left to turn into salad with a vinaigrette and some thinly sliced cold roast. Not sure any of this is frugal, batch-cookable, but they used to work for summer.
I've just had all my Courgettes and Aubergines delivered tonight to add to my other ingredients to do a big batch of ratatouille which I will cook in my biggest slow cooker. It's a great suggestion, as it can be a side dish with some gammon or fish, or mixed in with some pasta or rice etc.
I batch cook every second nite. We eat for two nites and freeze the rest. We do slower cooker chili all yr. stuffed peppers in slow cooker can be frozen.
Colleen
Stuffed peppers sounds nice in hot weather
Made a no-cook Mexican bean and corn soup. All made using mostly pantry ingredients other than the fresh coriander/cilantro. Garnish with sour cream. Last week I made a large rice salad with diced/grated raw veg. It keeps a good 4-5 days. Have also made the same salad swapping out the rice for barley. If we can get below 30C will make a meatloaf, courgette/zucchini fritters and possibly meatballs done in the slow cooker.
Karen - slow cooker - chopped up chicken thighs browned off, Mushrooms, onions if you fancy, cooked in thick gravy (I use bisto granules) then when you are about ready for it, stir in a tbsp or two of creme fraiche . Serve with boiled rice.
Ham or brisket. Either can be eaten hot or cold and last several days.
Soup: cold leek & potato soup; also gazpacho - both are great when it's hot out
I'm not a great one for batch cooking due to fridge-freezer space, but have started bottling (waterbath canning) and plan to continue. So far I've done pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce and salsa. I also regularly make jam 😊
Noodles might dissolve in a slow cooker. I would just make the soup base,and boil the noodles at the time.
What about pork pies to eat with salad,quiche,chicken to eat cold,prawns are a good standby as they defrost quickly and can jazz up an omlette,or in white sauce with diced veg and pasta,or atop a salad.
In the heat I cook in the crockpot or air Fryer but I plug them in outside. Doesn't heat the house up.
Chicken, peppers onion mushroom on skewers add a sauce you like, you can partially cook them freeze then grill them on the bbq.
Mini pies and pastries.
I'm not cooking much of anything I did do a pork roast and made pulled pork in the crock pot.recently
My mom has a high level of dementia and is in a nursing home since May because I'vist her most lunch and suppers to feed her they let me have a meal so whatever they're having. Lunch was ham and beans fried potatoes cornbread and green beans supper was brats not something I care for so I passed on the meal. They sometimes send leftovers home with me instead of throwing away so I know a couple semi homeless guys I give that food to
As we have loads of tomatoes coming in ours tend to be tomato based. I guess tomatoes and tinned toms are at their cheapest for the year?
So, Karen, what about Fasolada? Its the Greek version of ministrone and uses potatoes instead of pasta so it freezes well. Any beans will do. I didnt take to the butter beans I once used but surprisingly soy beans go well as they soak up the flavours. I alway make up batches of cooked soy for the freezer so they have less affect on my digestion and are supposed to have less of a spike on blood sugar.
Pasta salad with different additions.
I batch cook lasagna (great with a salad in summer) use some of your bolognese and make a white sauce. They freeze fantastic but you have to remember to take them out the freeze the night before. I batch cook curry all year around. 😊
Meat that can be eaten cold like a meatloaf or a turkey breast ( slice it thin once cooked) . Quiches. Bolognese sauce for an easy pasta meal. Gazpacho which is a cold tomato and pepper soup. Sausages as I slice them and add to salads. Slow cooker pulled pork I then make pulled pork sandwiches or don’t use bread and eat as is with a side of coleslaw. What about using air fryer for some chicken breast . U can eat the chicken cold with a salad.
Curry's, the go wel with rice. Beef rendang. Packet of spices for that bought in supermarket
I guess what's in season and therefore cheaper. Veggies and fruits. Having watched your actual video, I'll add boild eggs, rice, pasta. Basically anything you're cooking do more and put it by for another meal. If you are suffering in the heat to make one batch, why not squeeze another in !?
In summer i prep all my bread, rolls, etc put their tins and trays in the fridge, pull them out at sunrise- 4am ish, they're risen by 7am, in the oven and done by 8 along with mini quiches, cookies and muffins... one batch for the week. Oven is off by 9am.
I do a lot of outdoor cooking in summer- crab pot on the wok burner, flat grill does the stirfry, i can slow roast a beef roast, jacket potatoes etc all on the bbq and then meal portion up all the offerings.
i also do a lot of saurkraut, coleslaw in a jar, salads in jars, potato salads, boiled eggs...
living in the subtropics baking is done early inside and the rest- roasting cooking etc is done outside.
That makes a lot of sense for the hot weather
How about burritos you can put anything in them I do a breakfast one bacon sausage and scrambled eggs. Individually wrapped and freeze. Lentil or sweetcorn fritters.
Cold salads. 1 package jello, over fruit, or graged carrots, or grated celery and finely chopped onions. Cold butternut squash soup. Macaroni salad, with all types of broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, olives black, green both. The mac salad, big amount. Last 3 to 4 days. So good so easy. Cheese slice with tomato slice with fresh herbs. Lasts few days. Drizzle with olive oil :-) lime jello over cottage cheese made in a cake pan oh my goodness. Easy to make :-) last for days :-) you can get in the fridge get a big Square out. Delicious :-):-):-):-)
Do you make your own bread? Ive been watching people make flourless high protein bread. I wasteca lot of eggs, something like you mentionned would be good to try. 👍 I've never made soup in a slow cooker. What are the benefits, please?