I feel the new year starts in September once the kids are back to school. It is an exciting, busy time in our house with anticipation of a new grade, new teachers, new classrooms, classmates and activities too. I find it a wistful time as it is hard for me to let go of the summer and relaxing long weekends with family and friends, knowing that snow is just around the corner. Well…let’s not talk about that.
Inspired by this fresh start feeling floating around in our house I am thinking of how I can make better changes for our health and the environment. With growing kids and busier schedules combined with work, school, volunteering and activities, I have less time (and energy) to devote to feeding my family. I am also scrutinizing things around our home to see how we can save some money too.
Is anyone else feeling this way…or is it just me?
In some areas, we are doing fairly well. We have done a good job reducing our garbage thanks to recycling and composting. I am not doing well when it comes to packaging and unnecessary waste. I have decided to make this school year all about the ‘Big Batch’ in an attempt to avoid certain processed foods and make mealtime easy and healthier for our family.
Big batch means that whenever I cook, I make a big batch of something so I can freeze multiple meals. It allows me to buy more of certain items and reduce packaging. It also means that meal preparation is as easy as remembering to take something out the freezer to thaw in the refrigerator the night before. I am working on the remembering part! It makes after school/work time more relaxing if I am not running around cooking every single night as dinner is warming. So far, I have discovered fantastic big batch recipes for family approved soups, stews, casseroles, main dishes and muffins.
How about you? Do you do big batch cooking/baking? Any tips for saving money, packaging and avoiding processed food?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the slow cooker because it is easy to use and often makes leftovers.
We often cook enough dinner for 2-3 days of eating. We don’t mind eating leftovers though, so we will often eat the same thing two nights in a row rather than freezing the leftovers. Then we may even pack the remainders into lunches the next day. We are not fussy people! Preparing full meals from scratch every day is too much work, not to mention the kitchen mess it creates every day.
For kids lunches, making a big batch of muffins, then freezing them works really well too. We just pull out the muffins in the mornings for their lunches, and they are thawed for them by noon. Much better than pre-packaged granola bars and snacks.
I hope the first week back to school has gone well for your kids. I’m finding it hard to get used to the busy-ness and routine again!
Capital Mom – I love my slow cooker too. I need to haul it out from the back of the cupboard. Thanks for the reminder it’s a great way to accomplish big batch cooking.
Finola – Oh ya, left overs rock! My husband and I always take left overs the next day for lunch…the kids are stuck in a sandwich groove these days for lunch. Muffins are a great replacement for granola bars and other snacks. You can control the sugar, know the ingredients and save on the ridiculous packaging. Great idea to pack frozen ones too.
I am a big batch cooker and do lots of soups and stews in the slow cooker that I freeze into individual portions (mostly for my and my husband’s lunch). We do muffins as well, and sometimes if I am really ambitious I do a meatloaf to eat later in the week. I usually do this on Sundays – while listening to my favourite CBC programs – it has turned into a bit of a ritual!
I love big batch cooking, especially at this time of year when the air starts getting that chill – stews and chili are winter food, not only because they’re warming but because that lengthy cooking process dumps heat into the kitchen (which I hate in the summer).
I grew up with my parents preparing meals that always yielded leftovers for lunches and often produced freezable portions, so it seemed normal to cook in big batches. As a matter of fact, I still don’t understand why anyone would want to cook just enough every night, do it over the next day, and keep up that routine all year long! It’s exhausting!!! I mean, I enjoy cooking… but not that much.
I think if you make big batch cooking a regular thing in your household, you’ll have extra time for prep work in the kitchen. That means you can avoid packaged food like plastic bins of pre-washed (and overpriced) salad greens and the like.
Good luck transitioning back into school mode!
Definitely not just you I don’t usually batch cook because, well, my son 11 is now eating as much as his dad so making enough even for one meal for the five of us is a challenge (I’ve taken to making home made bread to fill up the corners of his appetite after dinner), and any left overs we used to have are long since a thing of the past. I do menu plan though – makes it easier.
I always start off the school year with plastic containers that I fill with yogurt etc instead of buying individual containers that always seems so wasteful, not to mention expensive. But every year I gradually get worn down.
Green goals for the year are a super idea. I think I’ll try to go vegetarian once a week and really focus on not buying stuff – I’m in the middle of decluttering again and it amazes me how much we accumulate without even realising it.
“How about you? Do you do big batch cooking/baking? Any tips for saving money, packaging and avoiding processed food?”
I think unless you spend all of your time cooking/baking, it’s pretty tough to avoid packaging and processed food completely, but I do my best. I make big lasagnas/chilis/pasta, as well as
muffins or other baked stuff for snacks instead of buying individually wrapped things at the store. There’s some recipes for homemade granola bars you can check out online. Prettty good!