After buying all your groceries, storage containers, and kitchen tools, and allotting part of your day for preparation and cooking, you may deem that freezer cooking is too expensive. Well, it’s the other way around as frozen foods aren’t only healthy for your body but are also great for your grocery budget. Whether you’re keeping frozen ingredients or preparing pre-made frozen meals, freezing food can help ensure you spend less and get the most for your buck. So, how does freezing food help save money? Let’s take a look!
1. Freezing food helps you save time
Frozen onions, pepper, and other spices are wonderful kitchen staples that serve as flavor bases for many dishes. Preparing and freezing them can help you save time instead of chopping them each time you cook a meal.
What’s great is that they’re easy to prepare. All you need to do is rinse them, cut them the way you plan to use them, and spread them on a baking sheet for 8-12 hours before transferring them to a zip-top bag for long-term storage.
While they won’t be great for dishes that need a texture of freshness like salads or salsas, they’d be great for soups, stews, chilis, or frittatas. You can also freeze veggies or fruits for more efficient meal preparation!
Alternatively, you can also prepare frozen meals for the entire week on a weekend. Rather than spending time making meals each night after you’ve consumed much of your energy the entire day, having a wide range of pre-cooked meals which you can easily grab for a fast dinner is always rewarding. With a microwave, meals are ready on the table in a breeze.
Remember, time is money as it’s priceless and precious. Sadly, many of us are time-poor. Not to mention that any time lost can’t be bought back with money. So, the more time you save from opting to freeze food, the more you can do the things you love.
2. Freezing food helps you reduce food wastage
It’s estimated that around 30-40% of the food people buy from supermarkets never gets eaten. In fact, fresh produce even generates more food waste than frozen food. That’s because food just continues to break down until it’s no longer fit or appetizing to eat, leaving you with no other option but to toss it in the garbage bin. It’s not only a spoilage of the world’s resources but it also creates an unnoticeable hole in your bank account.
That doesn’t mean that you should veer away from fresh produce like vegetables and fruits. After all, they’re still an integral part of a healthy diet. You can simply freeze them as the process ceases enzyme activity that leads to food rotting, preventing them from spoiling in your fridge and significantly reducing your food waste. Thus, also helping you save money.
3. Freezing food lets you get only as much as you need
To even ensure that you cut down your food waste, you can portion out the ingredients or meals in sizes that suit your personal or family consumption. That allows you to take only what you need and keep the rest.
For instance, only need a handful of spinach for your detox spinach smoothie? Or a cup of avocado for your guacamole? Freezing fresh produce beforehand allows you to prepare them without having to fret about prep time and wasting any leftovers. You can use what’s left for another smoothie or a different dish later in the week.
4. Freezing food helps you steer away from takeout and convenience food
Freezing food entails dedicating a day to planning out your meals. With a streamlined meal plan, you can avoid buying pre-chopped ingredients, meals-to-go, and takeout food, which are all tempting to buy when you’re incredibly hungry and short on time. These food options normally have substantially marked-up price tags as a trade-off for their convenience.
Keeping pre-cooked meals in your freezer prevents you from paying such hefty prices. Even if you have a busy lifestyle, you avoid the urge of dining out as you can always grab an indulgent, more nutritious meal stored in your freezer and get them ready in a few minutes.
5. Freezing food allows you to keep food longer
Another benefit of freezing food is that you give your food a longer shelf life. Unlike fresh food that quickly begins to break down and will eventually spoil within a week or two, freezing food can help you extend that window depending on the ingredients. You’d be surprised how many vegetables and fruits can actually stay “good” for several months when kept frozen. Preventing any unnecessary purchases that can hurt your budget whilst giving you so much more time to enjoy them.
6. Freezing food allows you to eat what you want, when you want
Let’s be honest! Each one of us has our own favorite fruits or vegetables. However, not all of them are available year-long. Should you find any, it usually costs more in their off-season. Luckily, you can simply buy them at cheaper prices in their peak season and freeze them so you can enjoy them whenever you want.
That also offers you variety as you’ll have a range of premium ingredients in your freezer. No one can stop you from preparing or consuming meals you feel like eating at the moment regardless of your chosen diet plan, whether you need vegan, vegetarian, low-sodium, keto-friendly, or gluten-free options for your health goals.
7. Freezing food lets you buy bulk food items
As you’d be preparing larger portions of meals, you can also take advantage of shopping in bulk at food shops or supermarkets. Generally speaking, purchasing food in bulk is a whole lot cheaper as you don’t have to pay for extra packaging, single-use plastics, and fancy branding. That means you’ll only pay mostly for the product itself. Plus, you also don’t need to worry as freezing food will allow you to use them all up – a win for your budget and the planet!
8. Freezing food avoids unplanned grocery shopping
Freezing food usually means you’re doubling or tripling a recipe to last for a week up to a month. That drastically cuts down the number of times you need to visit the grocery store, which saves you effort, time, and money spent on gas. As people usually tend to leave with more stuff than they only had on their grocery list due to impulse buying and sales or marketing tactics that tricks us to buy, you also avoid further unnecessary spending.
9. Freezing food ensures you enjoy optimum nutrition and flavor
Freezing food means pushing the “stop” button on the natural aging process of food. Once you freeze fruits and vegetables in their peak ripeness, you lock in their essential vitamins and minerals and preserve their nutritional value, as well as their flavor and texture as if you bought them after passing by a supermarket on your way home.
What to love more about frozen food is that they don’t need preservatives as freezing already acts as a natural form of preservation. You avoid any chemicals that some manufacturers usually add to food to keep them on the shelf longer. Frozen food doesn’t need such harmful additives to stay perfect, allowing you to eat healthier meals. And when you’re healthy, you avoid any trip to the hospital that can leave a huge dent in your budget.
10. Freezing food means less stress
After cleaning the house the whole day, weeding the garden, helping your kids with their homework, and inserting some “me time,” chances are you’re worn out and don’t have enough fuel to prepare nightly dinner. Instead of stressing yourself further, taking a day to prepare and freeze food frees you from the constant kitchen prep and cleanup.
That way, you’ll have more time for yourself and your family and keep everyone healthier and happier. And, you also avoid “stress spending” or buying something that can provide you with a sort of relief, as you have less stress in the first place.
Takeaway
Consumer tastes, behaviors, and preferences are constantly evolving. Today, people are looking for ways not only to eat healthier foods but cut down on costs as well. If you’re one of them, freezing food is your way to go as it can certainly help you save money. Just don’t be afraid to freeze all sorts of food and ingredients, and you’ll maximize the positive impact on your grocery budget.