How to Batch Cook in Season

Learn How to Batch Cook in Season to cut grocery costs and make wise choices when it comes to your grocery spending. These helpful tips will show you how.

Working to cut your grocery costs can seem like a pretty extensive activity with all the advice out there, but one of the simplest ways to do it is actually eating in season. Now, there are some things that are pretty steady as far as price goes and that is usually bulk items like rice and lentils, however, everything else has a season. Knowing how to do batch cooking in season will allow you to make wise choices when it comes to your grocery spending and since foods are only in season for a month or two most of the time, it allows for more variety as well. Here are some tips on How to Batch Cook in Season.

How to Batch Cook in Season

Do your research. Before you can start to batch cook in season, you must first know when the seasons are for items. Make sure you do your research on when your favorite foods are in season, but also look for food items you don't normally eat as well since they can be used, too, especially when the pickings are slim in the produce department during the cold season. You can find charts for what is in season to make it easy as well as seasonal produce recipes to give you ideas.

Think outside the box. Eating in season requires that you make lots of substitutions in your recipes. Be willing to make switches for your favorite ingredients. You may find that your substitution is better than the original!

Be willing to try new things. Cooking in season is like an adventure for your taste buds. You will find that since you have to make substitutions and cook with what is available for the price point you are seeking, that means you will need to be open to trying new things. Doing so will open up a whole world of recipes you can make!

Realize that other things besides produce have seasons, too. When most people think of in season cooking, they think that mostly applies to produce such as vegetables and fruits, but other things have a season as well. Meat does, for example. Pork is cheaper in the fall and winter and turkey is cheaper in the fall. When choosing your protein for your meals to batch cook, keep this in mind.

Mix up your foods with bulk items that are always reasonable in price. Use items like grains, rice and pasta, which are almost always reasonable in price (and get cheaper for Bulk Foods Month which happens in October and again for Earth month in April ) to stretch your meals and get the most for your money.