Cook once, eat twice, thrice or more!

Want to save yourself time and money in the kitchen? Start by buying and cooking larger quantities to use in later meals.

I know some folks just don’t love leftovers. I get it, I really do. But when you take a moment to change ‘left overs’ to ‘meal prep’ or ‘meal planning’ things change a bit.

Consider: You pick up a family pack of chicken, cook all and portion for the freezer. By tossing that chicken into a slow cooker or your oven you’ve prepped enough chicken for enchiladas, a casserole or two, maybe a chicken soup. All from one pack of chicken and session in the cooker.

What if you pick up a larger roast than you might need for Sunday dinner? You can save what you haven’t eaten, portion it up and freeze it for later use in pulled sandwiches, use with au jus over noodles, or top nachos.

Same with ground beef. You might be considering tacos for dinner but buy purchasing more than what you need for that meal and cooking before adding the seasoning for the tacos, you have the makings for a pasta sauce, pizza topping, sloppy joes, to name but a few ideas.

You can do the same with veggies, too! Picking up a large quantity of onions could lead to tucking some away in the freezer for later cooking projects (soup, anyone?). Peppers and celery can also be prepped and tucked into the freezer without need of cooking.

We hear a lot about meal prep these days, but what I’ve suggested is a tried and true method that actually is part of meal prep. In this time of shortages and higher prices, it is important that shoppers look for ways to economize where they can – and not just in the wallet but in the time spent in the kitchen.

This works no matter how many people are in your home, too!

If this has given you, pardon the pun, food for thought, please let me know by clicking the ‘like’ button!