Bulk Cooking?

**Timbuk2**

Hi, before anyone asks, I have done a quick search but I only really found this, which doesn't fully explain / answer my question.

I'm a college student so trying different ways to economise to try and reduce food cost (which can vary between €20 - €30 per week depending on what I buy).

Do many people bulk cook food, and freeze it? How long can you freeze it for? Bearing in mind that I only have a freezer compartment in my fridge (as opposed to a standalone freezer), but it is very cold and I have kept raw meat in there for up to a week without any issues.
I've tried making a few cheap and quick stirfries (using shortcuts like frozen vegetables to save money and increase storage time) but they didn't turn out too nice - probably the frozen vegetables. I have a recipe for a stirfry that my mother makes which is delicious but calls for a lot of vegetables and things that you have to buy fresh. I was thinking of making enough for about 4 dinners, and freezing half of it - would it last until the next week, for example, in the freezer (bearing in mind it'll contain cooked meat [usually chicken] as well as cooked 'fresh' vegetables).

As for defrosting it - should you leave it in the fridge the night before, then microwave it the next day, or just put it straight from freezer into microwave? It might be worth noting that I don't have an oven, just a microwave and hobs.

Are there any things that you can't freeze after cooking? I'm guessing anything containing dairy products (e.g. eggs). What about if I have a packet of 8 sausages, and rather than cook about half of them at once, cook them all and put the remainder in an airtight container and either freeze or refrigerate depending on when I want to eat them?

Sorry for the silly questions, bulk cooking is just a thought that I had to save money. I've already switched from Tesco to Aldi and that has saved some money, but Aldi don't have as much of a selection of vegetables etc. as Tesco, so I can't completely avoid Tesco!

Thanks

all_smilz

from my home ec class memories i heard you shouldnt freeze food with garlic as it goes musty... but i have done this
things you can make for cheap is curry- soups, bolognese, shepherds pie, chilli, stew and you can freeze them all! also u cud make home made wedges and season them as u cook them! try and get as much fruit, veg and proteins in as possible- dried beans are great as are lentils!

ur right about dairy and eggs not freezing great...

The Hill Billy

If you have very little freezer space there's not much point in cooking in bulk as you have nowhere to store it. Have you thought of buying a small freezer? Argos had them on a 'special' a couple of weeks ago. That would enable you to cook & freeze quite a few meals in one go.

**Timbuk2**

I'm not overly worried about freezer space as I'm not doing a huge amount of 'bulk-cooking', and don't keep too much in the freezer. I'd fit about 3 of those large air-tight containers in the freezer, which is enough for my purposes, I think!

When I'm at home (not college), I often make bolognese from scratch, using vegetables - which is nice but time consuming. In college, I usually just 'fall back' on jars of bolognese, with store-bought mince! To be really honest, it's surprising how nice some of those bolognese sauce jars can be - not as nice as homemade, but not too far off!

As it turns out I made that stir-fry and made enough for 4 dinners, so ate some today, put some in the fridge for tomorrow, and some in the freezer for next week. I did this before reading your post all_smilz - I put 4 cloves of diced garlic in there :S But hopefully it will be ok, 4 cloves isn't much in a relatively large stirfry.

Thanks again!

Faith

If you're short on freezer space, try freezing things in bags rather than containers. It's way more economical space-wise. Those Pour-and-Store bags are great.

kylith

It might be worth your while going to a local butcher's and getting some of the cheaper cuts of meat. They need longer cooking but taste great. if you're happy to eat offal then things like heart or kidney can often be bought for pennies and are very tasty.