Food to heat up...

Einhard

Hey,
I'm curently in doing a coure in college combined with practical work and am generally out of the house until 8-9pm every night. I'm usually too tired/lazy to launch into preparing a proper dinner, so have been living on microwaveable stuff and takeouts til now. Obviously it's not very healthy, nor very yummy, so I've decided to cook proper food at the weekends, and then freeze/chill them until I want them midweek. I've started with lasagne and its worked well, but I don't know of anything else that I could do. So, any ideas? Recipes would be a great help. Thanks!!

Swampy

Chilli.

Mellor

anything meaty and moist
Chilli
Shepards pie, cottage pie, any pie really
Lasagne
Pasta bake

These aren't always the healthiest option either

Damokc

STEW!!! especially around this time of year. You can definitely get 2days out of it and maybe even three? even the soup can be used on its own when heated.

Fry off chunks of beef with some salt and pepper.(you can also boil it but...bleh)
Chop carrots,onions and boil them in a big pot and add peas towards the end.
Half way through boiling the veg add the meat and about a pint of water mixed with a packet of meal maker or just add two packets of oxtail soup with the water depending on how think you want the "juice".
simmer until carrots are soft enough for your liking.
Serve with good ol spuds or on its own. Make mash for two days if you want or just have it on its own out of a bowl.
Plus it ALWAYS tastes better the 2nd day!

Definitely making stew tomorrow anyway!:D

biko

Various sandwiches with proper fillings?

Catxscotch

Big massive chicken curry always freezes well..

vicwatson

Spag Bol

pwurple

Try this book....You can check out the contents on amazon.

Mary Berry -
Cook Now, Eat Later: Be One Step Ahead with Over 130 Delicious Recipes to Prepare in Advance

Big section on how to store things, and how to best reheat them afterwards.

Corsendonk

biko wrote: »

Various sandwiches with proper fillings?

But can you truely heat up a sandwhich? Never works well with coleslaw or Lettuce IMHO

biko

Aye coleslaw and lettuce shouldn't be warm. Go with tuna mixed with veggies or various meats.
Put lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes on after or use other veggies that can heat well.
I often have a brown bap for lunch with onions, peppers, swiss cheese and egg salad and heat it in the micro. Works fine.

Einhard

Damokc wrote: »

STEW!!! especially around this time of year. You can definitely get 2days out of it and maybe even three? even the soup can be used on its own when heated.

Fry off chunks of beef with some salt and pepper.(you can also boil it but...bleh)
Chop carrots,onions and boil them in a big pot and add peas towards the end.
Half way through boiling the veg add the meat and about a pint of water mixed with a packet of meal maker or just add two packets of oxtail soup with the water depending on how think you want the "juice".
simmer until carrots are soft enough for your liking.
Serve with good ol spuds or on its own. Make mash for two days if you want or just have it on its own out of a bowl.
Plus it ALWAYS tastes better the 2nd day!

Definitely making stew tomorrow anyway!:D

Great suggestion. I'll give it a whirl this weekend.

pwurple wrote: »

Try this book....You can check out the contents on amazon.

Mary Berry -
Cook Now, Eat Later: Be One Step Ahead with Over 130 Delicious Recipes to Prepare in Advance

Big section on how to store things, and how to best reheat them afterwards.

I'll check it out. Thanks.

biko wrote: »

Various sandwiches with proper fillings?

I hate cheese. Mayo. Pickles. Mustard. Every form of salad known to man. I'm really not a sandwich kinda guy!

Also, after a 12 hour day, I want to come home to something more hearty than a fricking sambo!!

the beer revolu

Einhard wrote: »

Great suggestion. I'll give it a whirl this weekend.

Just a word of warning.
I mean no offence to the poster who gave the instructions of how to make stew but that will not give you anything like a proper stew. It will give you some meat and vegetables boiled in soup. The meat won't be soft and tender as it should be in a stew. To achieve this you need long, slow cooking of tougher cuts of meat (like shin beef or rib steak or shoulder of lamb or mutton)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stew
Here's a pretty good step by step guide to making a basic beef stew.
Although I'd simmer it very slowly for at least 2 hours rather than the 1 hour stated there.

Mellor

the beer revolu wrote: »

Just a word of warning.
I mean no offence to the poster who gave the instructions of how to make stew but that will not give you anything like a proper stew. It will give you some meat and vegetables boiled in soup. The meat won't be soft and tender as it should be in a stew. To achieve this you need long, slow cooking of tougher cuts of meat (like shin beef or rib steak or shoulder of lamb or mutton)

I find Rib steak is one of the least tough cuts. A better when medium over rare so that it fallls apart when the connective tissue breaks down.
But i'd never consider it needed long slow cooker.

Did you mean a rib roast? (no exp of roasts tbh so no idea if that makes sense)

tasha200

not really answering the question but my advice would be to go to tescos and buy yourself a slow cooker, they are about 30 euro... put some veg such as carrots in the bottom, get a chicken or meat (cheaper cuts work well) on it (put the chicken breast down).. put the slow cooker on low and go do your day....

when you come home you will have chicken falling off the bone with some lovely stock for gravy at the bottom, with some nice veg.. or you will have some tender as possible meat. Also you can make huge stews in them to, soups, whatever reallt, there are infinite slow cooker recipies online. Also nothing like coming home from a hard day and the whole house smelling of roast x

The slow cooker is a revelation in my full time college mum of three life and without it we would all be eating supernoodles and waffles x hths

the beer revolu

Mellor wrote: »

I find Rib steak is one of the least tough cuts. A better when medium over rare so that it fallls apart when the connective tissue breaks down.
But i'd never consider it needed long slow cooker.

Did you mean a rib roast? (no exp of roasts tbh so no idea if that makes sense)

I think, and I'm open to correction, there's a difference between rib eye steak and rib steak. One being a prime frying/grilling steak and the other commonly used for stewing.
I'd imagine they might be different ends of the same part.

Any butchers out there?

Mellor

A quick google suggests that rib steak has the bone in, while rib eye steak is the center cut without a bone.
The only steak i've bought with a bone is t-bone. I'll keep an eye out for it next time

the beer revolu

OK, I know we're way off topic here but....



Rib Steak




Ribeye Steak

Sometimes, I find, researching butcher cuts online or in books can be confusing as different countries can have very different cuts or different names for the same cuts.
Just to confuse things further, I bought ribeys on the bone last week!

aidan24326

That picture of ribeye steak looks more like a striploin?

Anyway OP, things that you can make in bulk and that freeze well would be stuff like bolognese, chilli, stews, curries. All reasonably healthy options if done right and not expensive to make either especially when you make in bulk.

Mince is cheap enough. Make a big pot of bolognese. Have it one night with spaghetti and another night with mash just for variation.

Or add some chilli (ideally a fresh one but dried stuff will do), cumin and kidney beans the second night to turn it into a quick improvised chilli. Have with rice. Quick and simple to do and you'd have a tasty dinner in minutes.

Stews are a godsend for your needs as they freeze well and can taste even better the second night.

These are just suggestions that are not too unhealthy, are inexpensive and quite easy to do. And I would echo what the beer revolu said, damokc's recipe for beef stew isn't what you're looking for. Lots of websites online that can help you with basic recipes and you won't need to be Gordon Ramsay to pull them off.

One last tip is invest (if you can) in some dried herbs and basic spices. Can be bought cheaply enough from Aldi or any of the Asian stores and will serve you well. Ideally you'd want basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, garlic, some dried chilli, cumin, black pepper, and some dried bay leaf for stews. A few cans of chopped tomatoes are great too and cheap to buy. That's just off the top of my head. These are things you'll use time and again in stews and chillis and stuff like that and will last you a while.

the beer revolu

aidan24326 wrote: »

That picture of ribeye steak looks more like a striploin?

I agree. I'd say it's the thin end of the ribeye, it's wider than a striploin but it doesn't have the typical piece of fat in the middle of a ribeye. However, I'd trust that particular butcher - if he calls it ribeye; it's ribeye.

OP, I agree with everyone that else that stews/casseroles, mince dishes etc freeze very well and are economical, easy to make and tasty.
I also find that shepherd's pie and pies generally (even ones with pastry) freeze well as does rice and soups.
Commercial frozen veg is very handy to have in the freezer (I use sweetcorn, peas, baby broad beans, soya beans - don't like green beans, broccoli, spinach, mixed veg etc frozen, myself).
I've never found chicken casseroles to freeze very well, but won't make you sick or anything.
I find, despite what people may say to the contrary, that fresh fish freezes very well for up to a couple of months (maybe not mackerel or herring). If it goes in very fresh it and is properly wrapped, it will come out tasting fresh - thaw before cooking.
I also freeze steaks, chops, and joints of meat and whole chickens if they're going cheap or for some other reason.
Bread freezes very well.

Wrap things very well - as airtight as possible.

Hope there's some help there and sorry for dragging your thread off topic;)

babaduck

I cook a lot & would use ribeye for fast "eating" steak i.e. 3 mins each side on a scorching pan.

Rib steak however is very fatty & really benefits from very long and slow cooking. My last stew took 3.5 hours in total but produced phenomenal results. I've still to write up the recipe on my website but here's a brief "how to"

Cut up your meat into 1-inch chunks & toss in some seasoned flour. Fry briefly in a little bit of oil until brown. Remove & set to one side.

In a casserole dish, put 3 carrots & 1/2 to 3/4 of a turnip chopped into large (at least an inch) chunks - use parsnips as well if you like - I don't.

Add the beef, top up with hot water until it barely covers the veg & meat, throw in a Knorr Rich Beef stockpot & bring to the boil. Cover & put into the oven at 170/Gas 3 for 90 mins. Then add 3 onions cut into chunks, stir and cook for another 1.5-2 hours.

The end result is incredibly tender meat, veg that are well cooked & not mushy because you left them in large pieces and it freezes like a dream.

Other freezer staples I make are bolognese sauce (from scratch) & chili. Take them out the night before so all you have to do is cook the pasta or rice, reheat the sauce and dinner is ready in 15 minutes.

Aglomerado

Curries and stir-fries. Veggie, chicken, prawn, depending on my mood. When I cook I make enough for 3-4 days, they always freeze well, and taste even better on reheating than the day they were made.

rubadub

the beer revolu wrote: »

I think, and I'm open to correction, there's a difference between rib eye steak and rib steak.

In tesco rib steak is the cheapest they have, cheaper than many of the minces. It has loads of fat running through it, and says for stewing on the pack.

The amount of names for meat cuts is ridiculous, I wish they would have stuck to anatomical medical names or something, they might not sound appetising but at least you know what it is. Or they could have the names in brackets, like you would see on flowers.