The simple benefits of batch cooking

At Platinum Skies, our residents can enjoy first-class cuisine and beverages with friends and family in the bistro. Our dishes are healthy, nutritionally balanced and we provide options for those with special dietary requirements such vegetarian, vegan and coeliac.

If you are at home and find yourself constantly reaching for the treats and sweets you were saving for the weekend… We want to share with you the benefits to batch cooking – that you may not know about! Batch cooking can help you save time, stay healthy and can save you money. You can remove the stress from deciding what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks by using some of the hidden ingredients that are at the back of your cupboard.

Here are five benefits of batch cooking that you may not know about:

1. It’s cheap

A ready meal can be quite costly. Making your own food and portioning it up is way, way cheaper! Having a freezer full of batch-cooked food also means you won’t be tempted to call for a takeaway (well, maybe one) during your time at home, which saves vital cash as well.

2. It’s healthy

If you’re at home trying to ward off a virus, you need vitamins and a batch-cooked chilli, for example, can be packed with veg.

The same goes for home-made soup – you can whizz up a lot of seasonal root vegetables into soup, adding ingredients like immuno-friendly ginger and garlic, too.

Grate and freeze garlic and ginger into ice cube trays – then they’re ready to add to something else if you need them, too. If you’re making some sauces (a pasta sauce can be whipped up and frozen easily), then put them in freezer bags, seal and lie flat in the freezer, so you can get more into the space.

Tomatoes, peppers, onions and courgettes make a great pasta sauce – add some chilli if you like a kick.

3. It’s fun

Batch cooking is an activity you can get the kids involved with – it’s a win-win as you choose the recipe and then portion it up together. Get them to write the labels with a marker, so they’re involved that way, too.

4. Batch cooking is good for the environment

The impact of coronavirus on the environment remains to be seen. Indeed, the amount of disposable wipes and bottles of hand sanitiser are yet to be counted. And stockpiling adds to that, too. Every ready meal in non-recyclable packaging or wrapped in plastic is a no-no, if you can help it.

By contrast, batch cooking reuses containers you already have and can utilise fresh fruit and veg from the greengrocer that isn’t wrapped in plastic.

5. Cooking means you’re in control

Staying at home for two weeks with little to no exercise and fresh air means you will be feeling confined and helpless. Relying on meals from the supermarket could add to that, while batch cooking means you’re in control of what you eat. And if you do fall ill, cooking might be the last thing on your mind.

You can make things as spicy as you like, add in the veg you really like, and at least your food will be something you are in charge of during this difficult time.