Batch Lunches

Thu, 06 Dec 2018 00:48:06 GMT

Posted by: kay_mulan

http://foodipino.com

the roll call are the authors.

so many goodies! fun recipes to try

comments

Chicken Brunswick Stew

Sun, 01 May 2016 21:44:29 GMT

Posted by: cereta

Inspired by getting to eat at Smokey Bones for the first time in years, I have this bubbling in my crockpot:

*Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs or both.
*One bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce.
*Approximately one cup chicken stock/broth
*Chopped onion to taste
*One diced tomato
*Frozen corn (as much or as little as you want)

(Note the First: you could of course do this with pork shoulder or brisket.)

(Note the Second: some recipes call for lima beans, but they are my nemesis. However, if you like lima beans, by all means, add them!)

Put diced onion, chicken, sauce, and stock in your crockpot (or in an oven-safe pot in your oven, probably on 325ish). Cook until chicken is shredable, then remove and shred. Add back to the crockpot and cook for...a while, to infuse flavor and/or kill time. Add corn at the last minute: nuking it later will warm the corn.

Divide, and eat at lunch with a hunk of tasty bread.

comments

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 23:28:42 GMT

Posted by: kay_mulan

hi guys. hope everyone is doing well.

I just started a tag called 'my recipes' so I thought I'd share.

they are actually all severely modified from a couple of magazine articles.

I mostly just cook for myself and my mom.

hope you like. god bless.

~kay briar

http://kay-mulan.dreamwidth.org/tag/my+recipes

also are links to blogs for Filipino cuisine, yum.

comments

pokepoke anyone here?

Sun, 26 Jul 2015 03:32:13 GMT

Posted by: alexseanchai

I am moving out of my parents' place in about two months, I hope, and consequently will be spending entirely my own food budget rather than raiding the parental pantry. I think a reasonable price per meal-sized portion of basically anything (bar special treats) I eat after I move is $1.00–$1.50. (USD.) What I figure I will do is make family-sized meals on the weekends and batch-lunch those for the week (that way meals at and right after work are stick in microwave et voila). I am trying to plan two months' worth of that, with the second month gluten-free for reasons.

I have also just read The Happiness Diet, by Tyler Graham and Drew Ramsey, MD. Gist of the book is, there are a dozen key nutrients linked to mood, energy, and cognitive function, and the modern American diet scants its consumers on all of them. The book's also a paean to low-carbohydrate diets consisting of not-highly-processed organic food. I am not sure I buy that low-carb is better than high-carb, but I'm thoroughly sick of low-mood low-energy low-cognitive-function and I'm willing to [attempt to] cut carbs way down and see if that helps. (No, that's not why I plan to go gluten-free for a month.)

Now, the problem: The authors of The Happiness Diet do not seem to think their audience contains people on a fairly limited food budget. I direct your attention to the recipe in THD for Mexican Squid. Yeah, my knee-jerk reaction was "ew" too, but that's not my point. My point is, Google tells me we're talking $6+ a pound, and the recipe tells me a half a pound of squid plus assorted other ingredients is a single meal-sized portion, and never mind the other ingredients, the squid alone blows my budget.

So. Below the cut are two lists: one is the foods THD highlights as containing large quantities of the nutrient that heads each section of the list, and the other is the foods THD highlights as foods to focus on. My question for y'all is: Do you happen to have handy any batch-lunch recipes that star at least one food somewhere on either list and that you figure cost at most $10 the sixish-meal batch? Bonus points if the recipe is either inherently gluten-free or can be easily made so by (for instance) swapping a tablespoon of wheat all-purpose flour for a tablespoon of GF all-purpose flour. (I do not want to play the "Ewww this isn't real pasta/bread/whatnot" game with GF pasta/bread/whatnot, though. So if the way to make a dish GF is for example to swap in GF macaroni, no thank you.)

Thanks!

( the lists )

comments

Chicken crockpot casserole

Sat, 31 Aug 2013 16:03:52 GMT

Posted by: killing_rose

So, last night, katarik informs me that Thursday's dinner tasted even better on day two, and therefore it was a batch lunch recipe that we needed to keep.

I raised an eyebrow, and senmut went, "Too late."

"It was probably too late at 6:25 yesterday morning," said an I, as I'd actually prepped dinner Wednesday night and just shoved the crock into the plugged in crockpot on our way out the door. If you don't get me to write it down immediately... well, hell, like I'm going to remember what I did.

But I am making the best guess as to what I did. (Actually, after writing it down, I am pretty certain I remembered everything I did. Go me!)

Chicken-bacon-casserole in the crockpot:
( Here there be recipe )

comments

Spiced Lentils

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 20:42:56 GMT

Posted by: to_love_a_rose

This is a batch lunch that I made last weekend. It's based off of rushthatspeaks' recipe for chana dal, modified for my own tastes and what I had in the house. Possibly the end result bears little resemblance to the original, but I liked it.

Note: This isn't the easiest recipe in the world only because you have to pay attention to the lentil pot and the caramelizing onions at the same time. I don't recommend it for absolute beginner cooks, unless of course you're highly motivated, in which case go for it. Can easily be made vegan by using oil instead of butter.

2 cups brown or green lentils, rinsed
4-5 cups water (check the back of your package of lentils for guidance if necessary)
2 thin slices of fresh ginger (can sub 1 tsp of powdered ginger, but it won't taste as good)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garam masala*
1 shallot or medium onion
3 Tbsp butter or mild oil (I used a mix of both)
4 Tbsp tomato paste

*To avoid a trip to the store, I made my own version of this based off of recipes I found online: 1 Tbsp ground cumin, 1.5 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg.

1. Toss lentils, water, ginger, one whole (peeled, natch) garlic clove, and turmeric into a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, lid on but slightly ajar until the lentils are soft but not mushy, about a half hour. You can go read a book while you wait for the lentils to cook. Once they're cooked to your taste, remove the lid and continue cooking. At this point, you're trying to boil off the remaining water, so adjust the heat accordingly.

2. Finely chop onion and cook in butter/oil on low heat, stirring frequently until they turn a nice golden color, about ten to fifteen minutes. Dice remaining clove of garlic and toss in with the onions. Keep stirring. You want the garlic to turn the same color as the onion, about 4 minutes.

3. While you're cooking the onions, keep an eye on your lentils. Once the water is boiled off, remove from the heat. Fish out the ginger. If the garlic clove hasn't disintegrated on its own, press it against the side of the pot with a fork. It will fall apart and you can stir it into the lentils. Add the salt and garam masala.

4. Stir the tomato paste into the onion mixture and cook until warmed through. Then add the tomato/onion mix to the lentils and stir well to combine.

I ate this by itself for lunch last week, but you may want to take pita bread or another carb on the side.

comments

When it all goes terribly wrong

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:32:21 GMT

Posted by: zvi

What do you do if you try a new recipe for your batch lunches and it's terrible?

I have a "polenta and black bean casserole" from a Weight Watchers recipe; it is not particularly edible, and I'm facing 3.5 more lunches of this junk. Today I added more corn, which is marginally better than yesterday, and I've given some thought to rice, but I am not looking forward to it. (The problem is that I didn't have enough polenta to form a crust and create the sort of cohesion I expect from a casserole, and I foolishly followed the directions for a tablespoon of chili powder, and now there's heat w/o any particular flavor.)

comments

Trojie's chicken soup, liberally adapted by Highly

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 02:40:55 GMT

Posted by: highlyeccentric

All due credit to trojie for the original recipe. I changed the cut of chicken, the vegetables, and the method of cooking.

( Accessibility, dietary notes, preparation, and storage )

( Ingredients and method )

comments

Fun with Spaghetti!

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:44:41 GMT

Posted by: angel_negra

One of my favourite lunches to make up is spaghetti. It's tasty, versatile and most importantly, easy. Generally, I'll top it simply with grated parmesan cheese or shredded cheese and it keeps pretty well as is.

Now, if you want a bit more to that, some of the basic toppings - along with the cheese - I've liked are: canned pasta sauce, salsa (I go for the hottest one, personally), or even some mayo.

Meaty pasta sauces work nice, including chili. I've also used a vegetarian sauce that I rather liked. It's an approximate recipe though, so feel free to add or remove to your preference.

( Going by how I made it last week )

comments

Taco Chicken Bowls in a slow cooker

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:00:12 GMT

Posted by: kayloulee

This recipe is slightly modified from the same recipe at Budget Bytes.

It makes eight servings, freezes well, is easily modified, and requires only that you open cans and jars. There's about ten minutes of prep altogether. You can also use the taco chicken mixture for actual taco, burrito, enchilada or quesadilla filling.

( Accessibility notes )

( ingredients )

comments

Chicken and bean soup

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:54:44 GMT

Posted by: highlyeccentric

I know what I'm having for lunch this week!

With due thanks to agenttrojie for describing her chicken soup, and kayloulee's ham and split pea soup for weight ratios.

( Chicken and stuff soup for slow cooker )

comments

Umm...Mexican Mac and Cheese Casserole

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:38:52 GMT

Posted by: senmut

Not vegetarian or lactose friendly.

1 pound ground meat of choice (used venison this time, but a mild sausage or hamburger would work)
1 pound block of Velveeta (or the pasteurized melty-cheese of choice; I use Great Value brand)
1 packet of taco seasoning mix (I prefer McCormick's)
1 pound pasta of choice (I used radiatore; it's my new favorite dense/small pasta)
1 large/family can of corn, or small bag of frozen corn (my can was nearly 30 oz)
1 regular can of rotel tomatoes (diced tomatoes with chilis, about 14-15 oz usually)

Start your water boiling for the pasta. Brown the meat. Cube the cheese and start melting over medium low heat.
Add the juice from the rotel to the meat as it browns, and put the rotel into the cheese. If the cheese is too thick add a couple tablespoons of milk. (I did this, but is not necessary)
Add the pasta to the water when it boils. Cook only long enough to get to desired tenderness.
Drain the browned meat, add taco seasoning and prepare according to package mostly. I recommend not cooking it dry; leave it a little liquid.

Drain pasta, put in very large bowl. Add corn. Add meat mixture. Pour rotel/cheese over it all (if there are still lumps of cheese, no problem, as long as it is close to melted). Mix thoroughly.

I made 10 full portions out of this.

comments

Chickpea-Kale Salad

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 02:46:59 GMT

Posted by: green_grrl

I've been trying to eat more dark leafy greens, but I'm not usually a fan of any other than spinach. The local co-op was handing out samples of this salad, and, oh! Yum! A kale recipe I like!

Pardon the camera-phone blurriness.

The big bowl I mixed up filled three Pyrex storage containers ("1 7/8 cups/440 ml") completely, with a bowl left over for tonight (nom). With smaller amounts in or different containers this can easily be a side dish for five days. (I think this would be dee-lish paired with baked tofu!)

There are very few ingredients, it mostly requires a little chopping and light mixing, and it gets those dark leafy greens in! Plus fiber; protein; iron; vitamins A, C, B6, E and K; and carotenes.

( Ingredients )

( Directions )

comments

Taco Casserole... thing.

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 22:16:06 GMT

Posted by: ilyena_sylph

I've been meaning to post this for two weeks.

( ingredients list )

( spice list )

Directions:

( simple, maybe? )

This made lunches for two people for 5 days, and it was as good the last day as the first. You could do a third layer of chips if you wanted, but we didn't think it was necessary.

comments

Peruvian chicken soup

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:44:41 GMT

Posted by: ellen_fremedon

That's [[Peruvian chicken] soup], not [[Peruvian] chicken soup]-- I made this with a chicken from my local Peruvian chicken take-out place, but any rotisserie chicken would work (though possibly with some adjustment of seasonings.)

( Peruvian Chicken Soup )

comments

Beefy Spanish Rice

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:59:14 GMT

Posted by: katarik

Modified (mostly in seasonings) from this recipe.
( Read more... )

comments

Broccoli pesto!

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:49:36 GMT

Posted by: aj

Adapted (to be less fancy) from this recipe from 101 Cookbooks. Which, if you want vegetarian/GF stuff, hit this website like the fist of an angry god.

( Brown rice broccoli pesto. )

comments

Hamburger Casserole

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:32:41 GMT

Posted by: ilyena_sylph

Wow, I've been gone a long time. Sorry, y'all.

I had ground beef, potatoes, and peppers that needed to be used last Sunday, so I hunted up a casserole recipe that would let me do so.

( Ingredients )

( Preparation )

( Opinions )

comments

Spicy Cabbage Salad

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:50:44 GMT

Posted by: jadey

Spicy Cabbage Salad

Cheap, refreshing, and stores for ages. Also good for dealing with geriatric veggies that have languished in the crisper a bit too long. Requires chopping and possibly a bit of heavy lifting (depending on what container you store it in - I prefer glass, but you can get away with plastic). I've written it up the way that I make it, but it's flexible - you can easily change the amount and type of veggies (except cabbage, maybe - it sort of revolves around cabbage), as well as the seasonings, including making it less hot. The major drawback is that you must let it stand for at least 24 hours before eating - the seasonings and flavour release slowly, and it gets better the longer you let it sit. It's usually 2 or 3 days before I'm perfectly happy with it.

( Spicy Cabbage Salad recipe )

I'm pretty sure it's vegan, but I am not 100% familiar with all vegan requirements so if I've mistakenly identified it, please let me know. Same re: gluten-free.

comments

Recently-invented spaghetti thing!

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:28:41 GMT

Posted by: highlyeccentric

So I came home tonight, and I was tired and cranky and had not much in the way of ingredients in the fridge. And yet I made a surprisingly tasty meal which divides up nicely into portions and will serve as a staggered dinner for tonight (everyone drifts in at different hours), and maybe tomorrow's lunch as well.

( Accessibility/common dietary notes )

( Chicken, spinach, cashews, pesto, spaghetti, et voila )

comments

Pear and Ginger Muffins

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:46:06 GMT

Posted by: kayloulee

I copied this recipe out of Nigella Express at the beginning of the year, when I had it out from the library, and first made it right at the start of my university semester (March), when I was having a particularly traumatic time of it. I was so stressed out from moving house and a really epic gastritis episode that there was very little I could eat happily and relatively quickly. These muffins saved my breakfasts for about two weeks straight.

They keep very well in the fridge, not so well outside it, I'd say a day at most outside the fridge in hot humid weather, probably stretched to two-ish in cooler weather. I've never tried freezing them but it would probably work all right.
( Recipe and accessibility notes right this way! )

comments

Corn, Bacon, and Potato Chowder

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:45:58 GMT

Posted by: kayloulee

This only really works as a batch lunch if you have a thermos to take it with you, or if you're eating in batches at home. But it's very quick to make, and keeps for a couple of days. I doubt you'd have any left after a couple of days anyway! I got it from Epicurious.com, if you want to find it there search for "corn and potato chowder". I've added some things and universalised the measurements.

Accessibility notes:
- there's a fair amount of chopping of hard vegetables and of bacon, but if you bought diced bacon that step would disappear.
- it's very fast, as soups go, and doesn't require a lot of watching and hovering if you keep the stove temperature low.
- it does contain milk, so it's not dairy-free, but if you don't have wheat toast with it it's gluten-free. You may also wish to check what thickening agent, if any, is in your creamed corn: in mine it was made from tapioca, but YMMV.
- I cook it in a stockpot, which is quite heavy, but you could certainly cook it in any size pot large enough to fit.

( To the recipe! )

comments

Batch breakfast? Or something?

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:54:19 GMT

Posted by: aj

Not exactly a lunch, but extremely handy as an on-the-go breakfast. Basically, I got this tip out of a book called "Basic Baking" where the writer mentioned baking a batch of scones on Sunday and freezing the rest so that they stay fresh for the rest of the week. I separated them out into individual baggies and it works like gangbusters. I'm including a cinnamon scone recipe that I made earlier this week. Still, scone recipes are pretty versatile, so it's pretty easy to substitute the cinnamon with ginger and add candied ginger, or half a bag of chocolate chips.

( Cinnamon Scones )

comments

Curried Potato, Spinach and Bean Soup

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:17:49 GMT

Posted by: highlyeccentric

Curried Spinach, Potato & Cannellini Bean Soup

Accessibility notes:
* Ingredients: contains dairy; is vegetarian; contains no tomatoes; can be gluten-free if you use the right stock and curry paste
* Preparation: involves a fair bit of chopping, but, if you use a slow cooker, no hot pots or boiling liquids
* Time: about twenty minutes preparation, and 40-60 min on a stove or all day in a slow cooker
* Serves: 4-6. Doesn't freeze well but reheats wonderfully.

( ingredients and instructions below )

Credit: modified from a Coles supermarket recipe card.

comments

Morrocan Harira

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:00:51 GMT

Posted by: highlyeccentric

This is a slight variation on the Harira recipe in Debra Mayhew's Soups, Chowders, Consomés and Broths: apparently Harira is traditionally eaten as the evening meal during Ramadan, so it's about as far from a lunch recipe as you can get. BUT it's big and hearty and makes a great batch meal at any time.

( Accessibility Notes: This recipe requires... )

Recipe is lactose free. Could be gluten free if you found suitable noodles or forwent noodles altogether.

( Recipe below! )

comments