Tip #20 - Cook in bulk, freeze in portions

I started a crazy budget plan last week. When I first planned it out I was positive the hardest category would be the food. I mean, $35/week for food? That's not a whole lot, right? Boy was I wrong.

Though I have gone over my weekly food limit for both weeks, that was mainly due to my stocking my cupboards with staples, spices, etc. In fact, I'll probably only spend about $15 next week, and that's partly because butter is on sale and I plan to stock up.

The way I've managed this is by first buying and cooking in bulk. I'm not talking about bulk in the normal sense - there are no 5kg bags of pasta or rice in my cupboards. But for my only mouth to feed, I certainly don't need 3kg of ground beef. But it was on sale, so I bought it. And then froze it in two 1.5kg batches. I also bought a whole chicken (also on sale - see how this works?) and froze it.

The next step is to cook in bulk. I'll make portions big enough for an entire family, even though it's just me eating. I take what I want for my meal, then separate the rest into freezer containers. This way, my food stays fresh, and future preparation takes all of three minutes.

In the past two weeks I've made:

- A giant pot of pasta sauce (9 servings)
- A shepherd's pie (4 servings)
- Squash soup (5 servings)
- Carrot soup (5 servings)
- Whole chicken (1 serving + 2 pots of leftovers)
- Chicken and vegetable soup (5 servings, from various leftovers)
- 2 loaves of bread (1 frozen)
- 2L of granola (this is about what I'll eat in a week and a half; no freezing required, but is possible)

I'll also admit to the fact that I also have frozen perogies as a lazy-day meal.

My normal shopping day is Saturday (only 2 days away), yet my freezer is full, and so is my fridge. So I will likely not need to buy anything aside from my butter this week. And maybe treat myself to some pickles. I know, I'm pretty intense.

This trend may change eventually. I may find that, one day, $35 is just not enough to feed me for the week. But for now, I'm buying in bulk, cooking in bulk, and freezing in portions.


Extra added bonus time: home-cooked food has made me feel incredibly full. I'm eating less by volume than I normally would. If I had a set of scales, I'd guess I'm probably losing weight too. So I'm saving money and taking care of my body too!