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How Cooking Ahead Can Help You

© Kerri Bazzell

Are you a busy mom, wishing that you could spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family, yet you don't want to buy prepackaged meals at the grocery store? Or are you living alone and don't know how you can cook a variety of meals just for yourself and still save money? Many families and individuals are turning to cooking ahead in order to save time and money, and reap the benefits of cooking at home. Cooking ahead can be defined as preparing meals in advance and storing them for use at a later time. There are many ways that cooking ahead can help you.

One of the biggest advantages to cooking ahead is saving money. In most cases, buying food in bulk is cheaper than buying small amounts every week. By preparing meals ahead, you can take advantage of the lower cost of bulk purchases. For example, buying a large bag of potatoes is often less expensive than buying a small amount of potatoes from the produce aisle. The bag of potatoes can be made into several dishes to be frozen for later use.

Many grocery stores advertise weekly specials known as "loss-leaders." They are often items that are priced at a loss to the grocery store, but they are designed to bring customers in to the store for that week's groceries. You can save more money on these items by purchasing more than you need for that week and preparing meals for the coming weeks. Ground beef is one example of an item that may be advertised as a loss leader. You might be able to purchase ten to fifteen pounds while it is at the low advertised price and create several of your favorite dishes from it, freezing them for later on in the month. Cooking from scratch almost always saves money over purchasing convenience foods. If you calculate the price per serving of a home-cooked meal and compare that cost to a purchased frozen dinner, it is easy to see that you can save a great deal of money by cooking meals in your own kitchen.

Cooking ahead can often be a more frugal alternative for couples and single people. Buy cooking larger meals and dividing them into smaller portions for later, waste can be avoided. Those living alone can relate to the problem of too many unappetizing leftovers. Even the best deals on loss leader or bulk-purchased items can be unsavory if eaten for three or more meals in a row. Cooking ahead can assure a small family or single of more variety on a day-to-day basis.