How to Eat Healthy on a Budget: Learn to Cook in Bulk

So your mom's not there to cook for you and you're now living too far from school to sneak back into the dining hall (besides, your card doesn't work anymore, you've tried). What are you going to do now?

For a lot of kids this is one of the biggest problems they face when it comes to dealing with their new-found freedom. Often times, the solution that's chosen is not a healthy one, for the body and the wallet. Yes, the supermarket has all kinds of prepared food but the things that are good for you come at at premium and the foods that are affordable often take a toll on your health (they're loaded with sodium and preservatives). The Solution? Learn, to cook in bulk.

Cook? Doesn't that take a lot of time? Of course it takes time, anything you do takes time but if you can find one free hour on a weekend, you can cook in bulk. You'll find you actually end up saving yourself a lot of time and money in the long run.

Cook? I can't cook!?! If you made it to college and especially if you graduated, you've proven that you can read, follow directions, and tell time. If you've got those down, you can cook. Granted, you might not be the next Top Chef but that shouldn't stop you from having a little fun in the kitchen.

Moving on to the shopping... I'm sure that by now most of you are aware of the benefits and discounts involved with buying in bulk (Thanks Costco). These same principles are involved with cooking in bulk. The first thing you need to do is develop some dietary staples, or foods and dishes that you don't mind eating frequently. Two or three will suffice and its even better when it comes to reheating if the dishes include a sauce. To be most efficient the dishes should have some ingredients in common.

For our purposes, we'll use simple sweet and sour chicken and chicken parmesan. It can save a good deal of money if you buy a meat that overlaps the dishes. In this example your shopping list would include the following:

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Your Favorite Pasta
• White Rice
• Your Favorite Marinara Sauce
• Sweet and Sour Sauce
• Mozzarella or Parmesan Cheese (Not the kind in the can)
  

You'll note while you're shopping how inexpensive large quantities of these particular items can be. This is a key criteria when it comes to choosing your ingredients.

The other purchase you'll need to make, if you haven't already, is food storage containers (Glad Disposable, Tupperware, and similar products are all fine). Once you start cooking in bulk, you'll become friends with your refrigerator and not just because that's where you keep your beer. Which reminds me, add some beer to your shopping list because well, why not?

Now that you've done some quick planning and have picked up the items you need at the store, you've reached the surprisingly easy part. To start, follow the directions on the package or cook the chicken like this:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
• Brush the chicken lightly with your choice of melted butter or olive oil
• Cook the chicken for 30-35 minutes
• **Always cook chicken until well done, not medium or rare. For chicken breasts, cook to an internal temperature of 170°F. When the chicken is completely cooked, the juices should run clear.
• Presto! The chicken is done.

While the chicken is baking (because that's far healthier than frying it in the skillet), get out three pots. Start cooking the rice and the pasta according to the directions on the box and start warming the marinara sauce. Then, as the chicken finishes baking, turn on the broiler or turn the toaster oven to broil and grab half the chicken breasts. Cover them with sauce and top with the mozzarella or parmesan cheese. Put the chicken in the broiler until the cheese melts.

Next, take the rest of the chicken and cut it up into bite-sized pieces. Mix them with the rice and then mix in the sweet and sour sauce to your liking. Finally, in separate storage containers, store the sweet and sour chicken mix, the cooked pasta, and the chicken parmesan pieces. Put them in the fridge and congratulations you've cooked yourself a meal or five.

In very little time on your weekend, time you probably would have otherwise wasted, you've cooked the majority of your meals for the week or even longer. When you're hungry, just dish some up and heat it in the microwave. Having this food readily available will save you from resorting to unhealthy and expensive quick-food options. The food you've made can even travel with you in small containers. Hopefully, this makes it easier to stop throwing money away on unhealthy fast food lunches at work. In the future, try experimenting with other dishes and find what you like. Making up salads in bulk is another quick and easy option.

Now, to clarify, I'm not saying you should eliminate going out to eat or buying fast food completely. That wouldn't be much fun. Instead, having some staples readily available makes it easier to stay in control of what you're eating and to have a good time when you actually do go out. You won't be worrying about being stretched thin from having wasted money on unhealthy meals all week.

There you have it, you now know all the bulk cooking secrets. Hopefully this post is the first in a series. Check back each week for cool food recipes, tips, and ideas. Have a tip or recipe? Email it to realworldbasic [at] gmail [dot] com or leave a comment.