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Welcome to our second installment of Batch Cooking 101, the 'What's Your Style' edition. My first lesson can be found here:Batch Cooking 101- What You'll Need. Haven't read it yet? Go ahead, I'll wait.

Okay, we're back!

Now, when I tell people about my batch cooking obsession I often get one of these responses:

"Ohhhh, so you basically have homemade t.v. meals for dinner every night? Huh..." OR "Gosh, I tried that once, but I kept forgetting to thaw the giant casserole in time for dinner. It was finally ready to reheat at 9pm when we were full of delivery pizza because we got tired of waiting."

And my answer is... well, there are several ways to batch cook! Not every cook will take to every style, and in my case I find that different styles lend themselves to different occasions. So, let's take a quick look at what I consider to be the three basic batch cooking styles: Family Style, T.V. Dinner and Protein Ready.

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Family Style:

I think Family Style batch cooking is what most people conjure up in their minds when I first tell them I make dinner ahead and then freeze it. Family style is when you make a complete one-dish meal, enough for the whole family, and freeze it as-is without portioning. A large casserole, for example. Family Style batch cooking is challenging for several reasons: it takes up a lot of space in your freezer, it takes a long time to defrost, it takes a significant amount of time to reheat and it doesn't allow much flexibility with the final meal. We don't do a lot of this type of batch cooking in our house, and I absolutely understand why if you try this style first you may never want to batch cook again. That being said, there is a time and a place for this style!

If you're great at remembering to defrost in the fridge in advance, and have the forty-five or so minutes to cook, then this may be perfect for you. In my case, not so much. But I do find it wonderful for large get-togethers. Baby showers, poker night, family reunions; Family Style is my very good friend for this type of occasion. I like to cook up a big batch of soup, along with a hearty casserole and serve it buffet style. The only thing I need to make the day-of is a great big salad and some warm bread. Easy-peasy and everyone is happy.

T.V. Dinner:

This is my husband's favorite incarnation of batch cooking. It's exactly how it sounds. You cook a full meal and then portion it out into individual servings. Freeze, then thaw a single-size complete meal at a time. It's perfect for families with picky eaters or staggered meal times. It's also great for taking healthy, delicious meals to work.

Protein Ready:

Now we've reached my favorite type of batch cooking. This is where you prepare your proteins in advance, so you can put together a mostly fresh meal but without the hassle of cooking meat. This allows for incredible flexibility in your meals, while cutting out the majority of your cooking time. At any given point, I generally have shredded pork, pork loin, cooked ground beef, shredded chicken and shredded turkey ready in the freezer. I portion them so I'll have enough for one finished meal that will serve my family of five and when I'm ready to cook, we thaw and then incorporate into nearly anything! Some of our favorite meals to make with precooked meat are stir fry, tacos, spaghetti with meat sauce and lettuce wraps. SO TELL ME! What type of batch cooker are you? I'm a Protein Ready gal, but my husband is a T.V. Dinner kind of guy and, since we have frequent guests, Family Style is familiar territory around here too!