Batch Cooking Saves

It’s hard to find the time to cook healthy meals when you’re balancing a household full of activities. For me to survive this 28-day challenge, I going to start the week by batch cooking and storing in grab-to-go containers. It will save me precious time and money.

When you have already prepared meals in your freezer, getting dinner ready is as simple as throwing something in the slow-cooker in the morning before work, or popping it in the oven or microwave when you get home.

Preparing food in bulk is extremely efficient. If it takes 15 minutes to prepare one meal, it only takes about 17 minutes to prepare eight meals of the same recipe. You’ll save money when you always have prepared meals on-hand because you’ll be less tempted to get take-out or go to a restaurant.

Here are some tips to prepare for your batch cooking session:

• Shop the day before you batch cook. Call your meat order in ahead of time and see if the butcher will divide your meat into the exact portions you need.
• Use a weigh scale. They’re inexpensive and handy to have around when working with a lot of ingredients.
• Try to prepare at least three or four portions of the same dish, and freeze the rest for later. For smaller families, pick four recipes and prepare them on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. It only takes a few hours and you’ll have 16 meals prepared for when you need them.