Establishing a budget for meal planning and meal prep.
Grocery shopping: Understanding how to shop for groceries on a budget, identify sales and deals, compare prices, and avoid overspending.
Meal planning: Developing a plan for meals, including breakfast, lunch and dinner, for the week or month, taking into account available ingredients and resources.
Recipe selection: Learning how to choose recipes that suit one's dietary needs, preferences, and budget while keeping in mind the nutritional value of meals.
Food storage: Knowing how to store food properly to avoid spoilage, save money, and avoid wasting food.
Kitchen equipment: Understanding the tools and equipment needed to cook a variety of dishes, including basic and specialty cookware.
Meal prep: Preparing meals in advance, reducing food waste and time spent in the kitchen, while making it easier to stick to a meal plan.
Cooking techniques: Learning the basics of cooking, including sauteing, boiling, frying, grilling, and baking.
Budgeting: Planning a meal budget, considering the costs of food, and devising a strategy to keep within one's means.
Choosing ingredients: Identifying ingredients that are cheaper, in-season, and locally-produced, as well as choosing alternatives to expensive ingredients.
Health and nutrition: Understanding the importance of balanced diets and planning meals that include all essential nutrients.
Portion control: Learning how to manage serving sizes and leftovers to avoid overspending and create healthy serving sizes.
Leftovers accompaniment: Understanding how to transform leftovers into new dishes, donate to meals to-go drives, or utilize for future meals.
Time management: Creating efficient meal plans for busy schedules, learning responsible short-cuts, and reducing time spent in the kitchen.
Ethnic cuisines: Learning about and experiencing new ingredients and dishes that are budget-friendly and culturally inclusive.
Meal budget tracking: Identifying ways to track expenses, adapt to budget changes, and sticking to budget goals to ensure successful meal budgeting.
Batch cooking: Batch cooking involves preparing multiple servings of a particular meal at once and storing it for later use.
Meal prepping: Meal prepping involves preparing meals for the entire week at once. This could include making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as snacks and desserts.
Freezer cooking: Freezer cooking involves preparing meals ahead of time and storing them in the freezer for later use.
Menu planning: Menu planning involves planning out meals for a set period of time, such as a week or a month, and then shopping for the ingredients needed to prepare those meals.
Slow cooking: Slow cooking involves using a slow cooker to cook meals over several hours. This is often used for tougher cuts of meat that require longer cooking times.
One pot/one pan meals: One pot/one pan meals involve cooking an entire meal using only one pot or pan, which reduces the amount of cleanup needed after cooking.
Meal kits: Meal kits are pre-packaged meals that come with all of the ingredients needed to prepare a meal. This option is often more expensive than other meal budgeting options.
Budget meal planning: Budget meal planning involves planning out meals that are affordable and don't exceed a set budget.
Leftover meals: Leftover meals involve using leftover ingredients from previous meals to create new meals. This option reduces food waste and saves money.
Family-style meal planning: Family-style meal planning involves preparing meals that can be shared and enjoyed by multiple people, such as large casseroles or stews.