Am I the only one who thinks the whole 'cook once eat all week' thing is overrated for saving money

I ran the numbers after trying it for 3 weeks straight and realized I was throwing out about $45 worth of leftovers every week because nobody wanted to eat the same chicken and rice 4 days in a row, where did you find that stat about meal prepping actually wasting food?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_wells5d ago

The fridge point is actually one of the few places the math can work in your favor since a full fridge uses less energy than an empty one. The thermal mass of all that cold food helps it hold temperature better, so it doesn't have to kick on as often to cool down after you open the door. Running the oven for a few hours once a week is real, but it replaces running a burner or toaster oven for smaller meals throughout the week which adds up too. I think the real hidden cost is something nobody mentions: all the plastic containers you buy because you don't have enough glass ones to hold 15 portions of soup.

the_mary5d ago

Biggest hidden cost nobody talks about is the energy bill from having the oven or stove running for hours at a time to batch cook everything. Plus the extra fridge space means your fridge works harder and uses more electricity, especially if you're running a second unit just for meal prep. When you add that to the food waste, the savings get real thin real fast.