Meal Prepping and the Art of Saving
By Mariam Khawer
Meal prepping is simply preparing a variety of meals at once. These meals are stored in your fridge until you are ready to eat any of them.
As more number of food delivery apps such as Zomato and Deliveroo are offering discounts regularly, it has become easier for people to have all their meals delivered. In comparison, meal prepping might seem quite complicated. But in the long run, you will be glad you did it because of the time and money that it can save.
With just a little bit of effort and planning, coming up with simple yet delicious meal ideas can easily keep your budget in check without disturbing your daily life. Below are some meal prep hacks that will not only save your time but save your money and keep you healthy:
Plan Your Meals 🥘
Meal prepping can save you a lot of time and money, however, it requires forming a regular and careful plan along with investing a little bit of time each week. Do not wait until the last minute to start prepping your meals. It helps if you select a convenient time during the weekend to make all the meals you will eat the following week.
Generally, people in the UAE get Fridays and Saturdays off work and university lectures. These days lend a perfect opportunity to set aside a few hours to plan and cook your meals for the upcoming week. Even if you do not cook them fully, you can make as much as you can. This way, you are under no pressure, and you get to take your time to make delicious meals.
Also, this puts you in a relaxed state because you know that there is a good meal waiting for you when you get home. And even if your friends want to go home with you, there will be enough food for all because meal prepping also help you serve a bigger crowd with a minimal budget and less time.
Understandably meal prep will seem like a complicated job to get used to at first, but once you include it into your weekly routine, it becomes an easy task which can save you a lot of time and money.
Grocery Budget 🛒
The most practical place to begin when trying to drive down your spending is to cut down on excessive shopping habits. This is true for shopping for food as well. If you find yourself making numerous trips to the baqalas and racking up a high grocery bill, meal prepping can help you bring that down to a more reasonable number. Not only will you cut down on your trips to the supermarket you will also ensure you have ingredients at your disposal even on the busiest of days.
Planning your meals in advance ensures you shop with a purpose and only buy items that are absolutely needed. Before making an excursion to your local grocery store, it is a good idea to do a stocktake of your refrigerator or pantry to make sure you do not end up purchasing ingredients you already have.
Make a Shopping List 📝
Making a shopping list is one overlooked advantage of meal prepping. A simple list can save you a lot of money at the grocery store. It is also important to learn a little about portion sizes to make sure you’re buying sufficient amount of food. Following this approach guarantees when you go to the store, you are well aware of exactly what is needed and there is no scope for an impulse or extra purchase.
It helps because when you go to the grocery store, you have a clear description of
the things you need and if you follow this strictly, you will not be tempted to
buy any other items.
Freezing Food 🥫
It is always recommended to consume fresh produce but the cost of constantly buying fresh ingredients can add up quite rapidly. A good way around this is to look out for discounts or bundle offers on seasonal ingredients and stock up on them.
For example, you can buy a carton of mangoes during the summer. You can either cut these up and freeze them in zip lock bags or freeze them whole. This way you have a delicious ingredient at your hands for months which can easily be incorporated into smoothies or added to yogurts for an easy and quick snack.
Use Clear Storage Plastic Containers 👝
Storage containers are quite useful because it makes your meals easily visible. You save time on opening each container. Another advantage of this is that you start to limit the way you eat. You can limit the portions of the food you intake because, with these containers, you can see the amount of food that you are consuming.
Keep Your Fridge Organised ✅
It helps a great deal to know what you have available in your fridge. It assists you to organise your plans for the next meal. It also helps in boosting your fridge hygiene because you will tend to clear out expired food and ingredients that are going bad.
An organised fridge enables you to prepare for healthy meal options. Remember with this tip, you win twice because you get to eat healthily and save money that would have been otherwise used to get overpriced meals or junk.
Leftovers 🍲
If you choose to freeze your food, make sure to conduct a weekly survey of your freezer before prepping for your meals. It is very easy to forget about the frozen food you have especially if it has been up there for a long time. It is also advisable to label your frozen food packages for convenience.
If you plan on going out for a meal, make sure to always bring the leftovers home. These can be immediately used as a part of your next meal of the day or frozen to be used later in the week.
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Sales 😍
Sale is our favorite four-letter word, after the food of course. Always keep an eye out for deals or discount coupons. Be sure to acquire a savings or loyalty card if your local grocery store offers one to earn redeemable points. Install apps or sign up to newsletters that inform consumers of weekly or monthly sales.
A good idea would be to go through the app to find discounted items and plan your meals around these items instead of buying ingredients for a pre-prepared meal plan. It is also recommended to buy things like condiments or canned goods from generic brands instead of well-known brands. Generic brands are often equally as good as well-known brands and are usually offered at considerably lower prices.
Buy Food Items in Bulk:
Buying food items in bulk helps to buy food items that don’t expire quickly in bulk. It is no news that purchase items in bulk are quite cheaper than coming back to buy them individually. Not only is it more affordable, but also time-saving because you get to have the majority of the stuff you need at home and you won’t frequently have to visit the grocery store. You could also buy paper products and some household cleaning supplies in bulk.
Meal prepping works so effectively because the most time-consuming tasks such as cutting vegetables and portioning meat, are performed well ahead of time and on the day of cooking the actual meal you have all your ingredients ready to go. Alternatively, you can prepare full meals in advance and grab meals on the go before work or classes.
This article is part of the bite-size bundle ‘Muching & Prepping’ on the Finllect app. Find the Finllect app on Appstore today! 💁
