It’s no secret that batch-cooking gained its notoriety due to its multiple and vast benefits such as saving time, effort and food waste but is normally attributed to more of the hearty comforting dishes, or for the fitness fuelled- but batch-cooking is for life and for everyone. Niki Webster, the award-winning blogger at Rebel Recipes and two times cookbook author wants to encourage everyone to batch-cook all year round, and here’s why.
Rebel Recipes
It Saves Money
By batch-cooking your meals you are able to utilise, cook and store produce that is going out of date, so you don’t have to throw money away at the end of the week. Having delicious meals already cooked and ready to eat within a few minutes helps you from ordering and spending money on take-out, too. You are also able to bulk buy ingredients and cut the cost on your favourite base products.
It Saves Effort
By just spending an hour or so a week on batch-cooking a week’s worth (or more) of dishes, means you will have more time during the week to do the things you want to do – and know you will still get a delicious and nutritious meal with barely any effort – the perfect way to end a long day.
It Helps Reduce Food Waste
By batch-cooking with ingredients that are looking a little sorry for themselves or are due to go out of date soon, you can prolong their life and ensure that you are eating them before they do, helping to combat your food waste (which saves you money, too!). By cooking and prepping and then storing in the fridge or freezer you can control and emit any food waste. Just make sure to label everything properly!
It Keeps Your Meals Varied
Knowing what you are going to cook and eat a few days or weeks in advance means you can get a little creative, and swap things up. You can use a base meal such as a rice or pasta dish and then add multiple toppings, sauces or spices and herbs to different portions and you have a variety of different dishes all made from one without any effort or thought.
It Helps You Enjoy Your Favourite Seasonal Produce All Year Round Without Air-Miles
Craving something that is short-lived in season and don’t want to add additional air or carbon emissions? Make sure to stock up when things are in season (when they are at a yield and very often cheaper) and create some delicious meals that can be stocked up in your freezer so you can enjoy them all year round.
It Helps Keep Your Meals Healthy and Delicious
Store bought ready meals are normally packed with salt, sugar, fat and additives, by creating your own batch cooked meals you can have them as quickly as it takes to cook a ready meal version but know exactly what is inside. You can add extra protein, fibre or veggies based on your needs and requirements and limit the nasties.
It Can Help You Fall Back in Love With Food
Cooking should be fun – but after a long day at work, or a long week it can become a bit tiresome and a bit of a chore. But by taking some time out in your week to really dedicate time to cooking, which will save you money, time and effort in the week (as well as all the other benefits) it can help you fall back in love with food again. It’s amazing how therapeutic and rewarding cooking can be when you really set yourself time to make home cooked nutritious and delicious meals, both on the day of cooking, and on the day of eating, further down the line.
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Having launched this project with our own grandmothers, Rajni was our first ‘unknown’ granny. We drove to Leicester to cook with her, trusting the insistence of her granddaughter that she was a culinary legend. It was true. We went straight into the kitchen, already filled with the scents of popping mustard seeds and curry leaves. She casually made three curries, lassis and dessert in a sort of narrated performance, wearing a beautiful turmeric-coloured sari. We asked how on earth she kept her skin so silken. She stopped, pointed at us with a hard stare and said ‘yoghurt, yoghurt, yoghurt’...
