1. Time saving
One of the main reasons why I enjoy meal-prepping is because it is efficient. By cooking only once a week, we save a lot of time by doing everything only once a week, e.g. clean pots and pans, wipe down the kitchen. For the rest of the week, it takes less than 5 minutes to enjoy a hot home-cooked meal, very convenient. 


2. Reduce waste
After years of 'training', I know exactly how much food we need for a week and cook just the right amount. We always finish everything I make and the fridge is emptied out at the end of the week. We only buy food that we will cook and eat, no food go expired or wasted in our household. We use only glass containers to store our meal-prepped meals to minimize the use of plastic. ​​


3. Low grocery bill
When I first moved to the US, I made a list to compare the prices of grocery items at 3 different stores. After few months of 'research', we established a 'system' for our grocery shopping that we still stick to until today. We only do grocery shopping once a week at 2 supermarkets close to our house - Walmart and Publix. We get our perishable foods such as milk, egg, bread and veggies from Walmart. For non-perishable items, including snacks, we'd shop based on what's on the Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale at Publix for that week. As for meat, we used to get organic chicken at Earth Fare, especially their $5 rotisserie chicken every Monday but unfortunately they went out of business in February 2020. Besides, we always do our grocery shopping with a shopping list and buy only what we have on the list.


4. Simple and healthy staple ingredients
We are both pretty consistent and are not foodies. We eat to live, not live to eat. In terms of cooking, I tend to keep things simple and stick to a limited number of staple healthy ingredients. The following items are pretty much everything we have in our pantry and fridge: 
  • Perishables: Broccoli, carrots, celery,  cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, milk, egg, bread, butter, meat (chicken/pork/beef/sausage)
  • Non-perishables: Rice, pasta, pasta sauce, cereal, peanut butter, crackers, canned mushrooms, canned tuna, instant coffee/tea, ramen
  • Frozen items: Frozen pizza, meatballs, mussels, microwavable meals, ice-cream
  • Seasonings/condiments: Chicken stock powder, olive oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, cooking wine, ketchup, mustard, mayo
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~ One Year of Meal-Prepping ~