Potatoes
I peel and cook all my potatoes on a Sunday evening, mash them and put them into freezer bags for each day. Every morning I take out a bag and thaw at room temperature for dinner that night. This uses just as much power to cook ALL the potatoes as it would to cook one pot full and only a minute in the microwave to reheat the precooked mash. Much better than 30 minutes of cooking in the pot every night. Best of all, it saves time cooking and energy. It's much easier to peel and cook them all at once than having to do it every day.
Plus, a freezer that has more in it is actually more energy efficient than one without much in it, so the more you can put in there, the more energy efficient it is.
Submitted by catchlight
Mon, 06/30/2008 - 13:02
CATEGORY: Kitchen
Fair enough :) I don't have them every night either, but I do have them ready in the freezer any time I do decide to have them, they'll last ages. It just means you've cooked a bunch ahead when you do want them. The thing I like most is those nights when I really don't feel like cooking, I can pull out a bag of mashed pototoes, another of casserole I'd frozen (do those all at once as well) and there's dinner. Definitely healthier than running out for takeaway on a night you're tired.
That'd be fine if you can afford it, but I've bought those ready made potatoes before and they sure don't taste as nice as my home made and are a very expensive alternative. Of course if it's strictly power you're saving and don't mind spending 4 dollars for not quite enough potatoes for one meal then I guess they're a good plan :)
At least just cooking one big pot of potatoes for the whole week is a huge saving on power compared to cooking them each night :)
That might be alright if you like having the same meal every night. Why not buy ready made mashed potato and save yourself the time of peeling spuds and save on the power used to cook them.
Well, I still like to give my family a varied diet, not the same thing every night.