
Batch cooking is an English word that means to cook in batches, which has been done all my life, take advantage of the weekend to prepare food for the following week. “Spending the weekend cooking… what I was missing!” But the philosophy of Batch Cooking is the opposite, it is not a matter of monopolizing Sunday, but of saving time in the kitchen, to dedicate it to other chores with which you enjoy more.
You can do it in a single day or do ‘minibatch cooking’ What is this now? Yes, it is as easy as when you are preparing the meal of the day, cook double portions and save it for another day. You will take the same time to prepare a serving as two or three. If you are in it, take advantage of the moment, prepare more quantity and save for another day.
Give me a chance to convince you.
Advantages of practicing Batch Cooking at home
1Reduce the stress of the week
Although on many occasions cooking makes us disconnect, in the rhythm of day to day it is often complicated and we do not have enough time. So if we want to eat healthy on many occasions the lack of time prevents us and ends up generating more stress. Coming home and having a healthy option prepared is always welcome.
2Save time
Arrive and food ready to drink! Very easy. Do not waste time every day before eating to cook the vegetables that will accompany your dish. Do more in a day and breathe in the week! Just dedicating a couple of hours a week to cook all the bases will be very helpful. The first week will cost you more than the rest, but once you get hold of freezer reserves, you’ve won!
3You eat healthier
If you plan the week and cook your dishes in advance, you will eat as you would like to do and prevent you from hesitating before the fridge thinking about what to do to eat to finally go quickly, usually less healthy.
4You save money
Eating in a planned way also means planning your list of necessary foods and your purchase. Weekly planning will allow you to see what you need, based on what you have in your pantry and buy what you really need for the week. You will not buy too much or waste food because it spoils without having been able to prepare it.
You will eat more varied and more complete if you make a good planning without forgetting that the function of food is also to nourish us well and enjoy it.
Tips to plan better
+Design a plan with a weekly view, Monday through Friday or Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday, if you have the chance, you can play improvisation.
+Mark in the week what you have to do, that way you will see the free gaps and manage your time in an organized and efficient way. Mark important appointments, training days, meals at home or in the office with your week ahead, set the day to do your personal batch cooking.
+Based on the days you know you’ll eat at home or have to eat out, design your menu for the week and make the list of what you need to buy to make it. If you buy healthy, you will eat healthy!
+In your planning include foods that you can cook and that serve for several dishes. For example: broccoli to make a cream, to garnish a fish and to make broccoli nugget. Totally different dishes, with the same food cooked in a moment.
Tricks to preserve your meals
+Good containers. The containers in which you will store the food are important that they are of quality, so that the meals are kept in perfect condition. Make an initial investment and you’re good to go. The preparations, especially fresh, will last more days. Preferably glass tupperware and that close well That’s important! Yes they can be stacked, much better!
+Save for rations of use, so as not to waste food.
+You can keep in refrigeration, those preparations that you can not freeze, such as salads, sauce and mayonnaise … Most meals freeze well (creams, soups, stews, pasta, rice …) depending on whether you are going to use it soon or you are going to save it for another week, use one conservation technique or another.
+Label frozen foods. The preparations that you freeze, you can put a label with the name and date of freezing, consume it before 4 weeks is the most recommended.
+Defrost and give it the last touch to consume. To use it you will only have to take it out of the freezer in advance, defrost in the refrigerator and heat (in some dishes, give them a touch to homogenize it, such as creams that are separated into two phases)
Different proposals for an efficient Bacth Cooking
+Take advantage of the oven and fill it with vegetables/potato/sweet potato/meat/baked fish. The oven is self-sufficient. While you are with another preparation, you can keep an eye on it and it works on its own.
+Boil vegetables to make broth. In addition to super purifying vegetable broth, you can take from the same preparation, boiled vegetables to dress garnish and another part to crush and make cream.
+Cook double servings of rice/wholemeal pasta/quinoa/bulgur/millet/legumes. Prepare and freeze if you are not going to use it soon. Use the steam that comes off cooking to make vegetables with a simple steaming applicator. Save time and energy!
+Prepare double serving of a stew prepared and freeze.
+Cook a couple of hard-boiled eggs for salads and vegetable side dishes.
+Prepare meats, homemade burgers and freeze.
+Prepare salad in jars ready to tip over to the plate. They are called vertical salads. They are prepared in a glass jar and for this you must use the following order: vinaigrette, hard and moist vegetables, hydrates (pasta, rice, potato, bulgur, quinoa …), protein (chicken, tuna, salmon, egg), green leaves, seeds, nuts and a touch of salt. If you prepare 5 bottles, you will have salad ready for 5 days.