Does the never-ending question “What’s for dinner tonight?” put you on edge? That’s because you haven’t yet heard of Batch Cooking, which consists of preparing your meals in advance! In this article, we explain how you can easily prep all your meals for the week and why it’s a great anti-waste solution!
The benefits of Batch Cooking
Remember our article on the 10 commandments of responsible consumption? We talked about ugly fruit, local sourcing, seasonal products and… Batch Cooking! The reason why it is mentioned so much is because it has many advantages.
Anti-waste and zero waste consumption
Food waste averages to about 34 grams per meal per person. That may not sound like much, but over the course of a year it amounts to about 29 kilos of food!
How do you get to that point? It can actually happen very quickly when you don’t know these zero waste tips – by just throwing away a few peelings when cooking and leftovers you’ll hit this figure. So we all have a role to play in our kitchens, and the good news is that it’s really fun and simple!
In fact, many food products allow us to use all of its parts. This is good for the planet, but also for our wallet. We’ll give you some examples below with our anti-waste recipe ideas.
Save time in the kitchen
Cooking all your meals for the week in a single day takes time and can seem tedious. However, when you consider how much time it takes to think about each meal, this organisation is invaluable!
Here’s a simple example:
You cook a squash gratin on Monday for two meals. On Tuesday evening, you don’t know what to eat and you take a look at the leftovers in your fridge. Great, you have half a squash left! What to do with it? You scour the internet for the perfect recipe, before deciding to make a soup out of it.
With Batch Cooking, you could have cooked your squash in one go for both meals prepared in advance. This saves you time, less washing up and no panicking after a busy day at work!
Eat healthy, home-made food and save money
Even with all the best resolutions in the world, it’s easy to crack in front of an empty fridge! If it’s still early, we might take the car for some last-minute shopping and make some unforeseen purchases, or we opt for fast food.
When all the week’s meals are already prepared, you have no reason to crumble. Since you prepare your menus in advance, you follow healthier, home-made recipes. It’s better for you and you save by not wasting gas money or splurging on expensive meals.
Batch Cooking tips and recipe ideas
Finally convinced? Now it’s time to put it into practice! To help you take the leap, we’ll give you some tips on how to prepare your weekly meals easily, as well as some simple recipe ideas that are ideal for Batch Cooking. The best thing is to find your own rhythm!
Order themed baskets on Phenix
On our Phenix application,you can order themed surprise baskets of unsold products such as fruit and vegetables, bread and pastries or meat and charcuterie. The goal? To cook these baskets quickly so as not to waste anything, an aim that fits perfectly with Batch Cooking!
With a fruit basket you can cook compotes, cakes, pies, yoghurts or even a fruit salad for dessert. It’s a great opportunity to try out bold combinations and new spices (star anise, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves…)!
For vegetables, think of ratatouille and pan-fried dishes that require the use of several of these ingredients. Many peelings can be cooked, don’t throw them away! Potato peelings, for example, can be used to make tasty chips for the aperitif, after being put in the oven with a little oil and a dash of salt and paprika, for example. Radish, beetroot and turnip tops are delicious in cakes, pesto, or simply sautéed!
Have you got some asparagus? Perhaps some steamed asparagus on Monday, a velvety soup on Tuesday and that’s it.
The bread and pastry basket at your local bakery is also useful, as most of those ingredients can be frozen. By the way, on our blog we have some great tips for cooking with hard bread, you should check it out!
For a final example on the meat side, did you know that you can reuse a chicken carcass? It can be used to flavour a soup or to make your stock cubes, combined with vegetable peelings.
Plan your meals on paper, the old-fashioned way!
To get properly organised, we advise you to sit down in front of a notepad with a pencil and start by writing down all the food you have left in the fridge and cupboards. Simple, but effective.
Having a list in front of you will allow you to organise your menus with what you have and determine what you are missing. If you take it with you when you go shopping, you won’t get lost! This is one of our top tips for eating better and shopping well.
Set a shopping and cooking day
And to keep this organisation going in the long term, the best thing to do is to find a rhythm for yourself by defining a day for shopping and another for cooking. For example, plan to buy your ingredients on Saturday and reserve your Sunday afternoon for the preparation of your weekly dishes.
