Meal Planning Benefits

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I am a busy woman on a tight budget. I work, go to school, and take care of my rambunctious family of five. I save myself several crucial hours a month by planning out my meals in advance. It also helps my budgets spread further. Another benefit of meal planning is the ease of making healthy meals. Meal planning saves time, money, and makes healthy cooking easy. I set aside a couple of hours every two weeks. I use this time for planning the meals and food I need to prepare for the upcoming weeks. First, I start by checking all the local grocery store ads so I can see what is on sale. Next, I think about recipes that will work with what I have found in the ad. If I need some inspiration I turn to the internet. When I have all the recipes I need I write out my grocery list and go shopping. …show more content…
Then I cut, season, and cook some of the meat in the crockpot and some in the oven. While those are cooking, I fill my sink up with cold water and a cup of apple cider vinegar to make a produce bath. Produce starts to lose nutrients as soon as it is picked; the apple cider vinegar naturally adds nutrients back into the produce while cleaning it. While the produce is soaking, I put a couple pots of water on the stove to boil and a couple of big bowls full of ice and water on the counter. I chop and separate my produce once it is clean. Next, I take each separate produce and boil them for a few minutes. I strain and immediately place them into the bowls of ice water. This process is known as blanching. The cooking helps to preserve the produce. While the ice bath helps the food to stop cooking, yielding crisper produce. After the ice bath, I lay them out on towels to dry a bit before I freeze them. Drying them out will help prevent freezer bite. Once the kitchen is bursting with blissful aroma and the food has been cooked and cooled, I move on to the bagging

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