I've always wanted to prepare meals with my friends. I love sharing food and trying out the dishes other people make. Life has gotten busy lately, and I sometimes forget to eat well. Not to forget lack of social settings to find people to eat. I've been trying to cook more efficiently to eat healthy meals every day. However, as a single household, I end up with too much food. I struggle to finish even the most delicious food when I have to eat it every day. Luckily, I found friends who also dealth with same issues as I. They loved the idea of having to share meals and were also tinkering along the same lines. I took the initiative to see this through. We kicked off group meal prep and share few weeks ago. It surely had few challenges but we have worked our way through and have found a balance. I now dont have to worry about cooking for the rest of the week. And when I do, I also get to hang with the people I like.
I thought I will write down how we actually do this. Maybe someday I will share about my feelings around it.
Why group meal prep and share ?
- It saves time. We just have to cook 1 meal to share.
- It provides an opportunity to hang out with friends.
- It has helped me and others learn new cooking tricks and try different flavors.
- It stops veggies from going bad in your fridge. I mean, who hasn’t found a sad, wilted veggie at the back of their fridge, right?
How do we cook as a group?
- We have a set a group goal to cook whole-foods plant-based meals.
- Each of us cook a dish each
- Make the meal close to when you'll eat it so it stays fresh
- We prepare food beforehand at home and share it potluck-style at one of the host's place.
Batch Cooking Tips from my own learnings
- Use less salt so each person can adjust their meal's taste.
- Make dishes like curries and stir-fries without rice or bread. It's easier to share, and each person can customize their meal.
- For dishes like fried rice, prep veggies and spices without rice. Keep spice levels in check for when rice is added.
- Use canned beans to save cooking time.
- Roast veggies in the oven and add them to your dish. It avoids using large cooking containers.
- Cooking too much leads to leftovers, and too little may not be enough. To avoid this, cook one portion of food per person per meal, including the cook. This way, everyone gets one portion.
Storing Meal Prep
- I personally us refrigerator-safe glass containers. I store each dish separately. I pop them out of the refrigerator when I need to it out for lunch
IMAGE : Meal prep with a group of 5 people.
- Store soups and broth-based foods in the freezer. Like a silicon mould.
- If you are investing in buying new container consider dishwasher safe containers so you can clean it easily and be ready for the upcoming week.