Time is money. While I do enjoy a home cooked meal- one made with love and labor, this does not mean it has to take up your all your time. Another frugal life hack for you all: spend less time cooking and more time with those you care about.
I also want to follow this by saying these are tips we both participate in. The kitchen does not fall to me (HerFI) in a traditional domestic sense and we both prefer to not spend our time in the kitchen. We would rather be walking our dogs or watching the sunset in our backyard.
Here are our strategies to spend less time in the kitchen.
Double Down
Make double of your dinner so that that you can bring it for lunch the next day as leftovers.
This brings me to my second tip:
Eat Leftovers
If you are still new to being frugal, this is often talked about. An astonishing number of people refuse to eat leftovers for whatever reason. Well, it is better said here by Bitches Get Riches. The point is- eat your left overs and do not waste food.
Pre-Cook
Pre- cook things like rice, beets or meat for the week. We will often pre-cook a whole batch of beets and cut them up to have in the fridge for salads etc.
Cut it Up Right Away
Whenever we buy a watermelon, pineapple or even when we used to get a rotisserie chicken at Costco; we made it a policy to cut it up right away. So buy a ripe one and cut it or shred it- stick it in the fridge. This way you will use it up and have a pre-made snack.
The Instant Life Saver:
I know this is actually a purchase, but the way we pre-cook things is with the Instant Pot. Also known as the instant time saver as I can throw in rice or potatoes and just let them cook for 10 minutes without having to stand over the hot stove. We have potato salad these days in less than 30 minutes.
Freeze It
We often will bake some breakfast breads when our bananas are going bad and I will make a double batch, throw half in the freezer already wrapped up and ready to pop in the microwave for breakfast. You can also freeze avocados when they turn ripe in order to use them later on.
Simple Eating
Keep your meals simple. Use the basics and see if you can learn to cook with 5-7 ingredients. This will cut out so much of your time and chances are you will let one or two specific flavors shine. For our Vegan Simple Eating grocery list go here.
Now it is your turn. What are your hacks to spend less time cooking?
