Following on from reading this article in the Daily Mail I was prompted to write this week about freezing food and batch cooking. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4486286/the-unpalatable-truth-ready-meals.html
Time is always the biggest problem but looking at labels on these microwave meals and reading this article it really does frighten you to question what is in these meals we are serving to our family and ourselves?
I know you cannot believe everything you read, particularly, in the Daily Mail but ‘from scratch’ is the way to go. We all know that…but how to achieve it is the issue.
Thermomix is an advanced kitchen assistant that does pretty much everything for you in food prep apart from roast and eat it! This is one way to cook from scratch, all your favourite recipes and maybe a few more complex ones that you can then pop in the freezer ready to pull out! Hugely time saving and if you haven’t seen one in action, you really need too. Get in touch if you want to know more.
I don’t have a Thermomix but my answer is to ‘batch cook’ the old fashioned way, by hand. My time in the week is limited like most of us and I don’t have time to whip up family favourites likes lasagna, shepherds pie or curry. So I try to put a Sunday afternoon to one side or get a group of friends round midweek and do some serious ‘batch cooking’ together over a glass of wine! Much more achievable and more fun.
Also the traditional recipes are fine but in my freezer workshops I try to break the mould with a few new ideas: Thai Peanut Satay Chicken, Aussie Lamb Cutlets and Chicken Pad Thai puts some variety in the freezer when I get caught out, even at the weekends. For more information on my freezer workshops please drop me an email as they are normally advertised privately for small groups.
Most food freezes well. Read my blog here on Frozen Food.
Keeping food simple… this week stuffed tomatoes (I know stuffed peppers are delicious too) fish parcels served with spiralised vegetables and a Chinese ginger and soya style marinade and our latest family favourite portobello mushroom burgers, with goats cheese… loaded with salad and some caramelised onions!
My motto ‘fuss free’ cooking… more inspiration next week!