6 Techniques to Turn a Box of Groceries into a Week’s Worth of Meals

At times, you have a short grocery list to work with, and going to the store is not an option. So what to do for the coming week? Well, you can use different techniques to meal-prep and spend less time at it. Meal prepping is the best way to have food ready to eat once the busy week starts. Sometimes, you might have a lot of work to do at home. Still, this should never dissuade you from prepping the coming week’s meals.

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Do you know there are certain advantages to having a short grocery list apart from saving time? For starters, you end up spending less each week and save money at the store. Also, you avoid having too many leftovers with no clue what to do with them. Nonetheless, only having a box of groceries is in no way a hindrance from making yummy meals to take with you to work. But wait, there’s more! You can take up certain techniques and end up with whole meals to enjoy from one box.

Techniques to Meal Prep with Few groceries

1.    Menu Creation

The good news is there is no shortage of simple recipes online that require few ingredients to create yummy meals. Start by researching online and list down all the menus you like that cover the ingredients you have. It helps to focus on foods that are recommended by experts such as the U.S. Soybean Export Council.

By planning, you end up having ample time to choose healthy and fulfilling recipes. Once you’re done, you can now start preparing your meals for the upcoming week. You’ll be surprised at how diverse the small number of groceries can be.

Additionally, you can peruse through all the recipes you’ve saved over the years to explore the best to use. You might find one or two that suit the ingredients you have at hand. Skip all simple recipes that might require a unique ingredient to add flavor that you don’t have.

2.    Use Left Overs

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Remember that steak or chicken you made last week but never finished. It’s time to transform it into brand new meals for the week. Using leftovers is a great way to meal prep on a budget. The secret is using these leftovers in small amounts on all seven meals or opting to use one or two.

Now you understand why it’s better to store them rather than throw them away, which is wasteful. With your few groceries and some creativity, you end up with plenty of food to last the week.

3.    Portion Control

It might be wet or snowing outside, meaning going to the store is out of the question. Does that mean you’ll have to buy food at work in the coming week?

No. Take the few groceries you have and make meals. After that, ration out the portions to last you for the week. It’s better to have small portions spread out than to have none at all. Portions also help you in case you’re on a diet and require you to eat less.

4.    Spice Things Up

At this point, you come to learn how vital spices are in your kitchen. Check through the pantry and see the types of spices you have at hand and use on your meal prep. These spices have a way of transforming simple meals into mouth-watering dishes that you can’t have enough of.

Also, spices enhance flavors while benefiting your body with healthy nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Check to see if you have dried herbs as well and add them into the mix.

5.    Stew Things Up

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Creating a soup or stew is one way of turning a few groceries into a complete meal. Do you have any ingredients that can make a soup or stew? Use them to create portions that can last you for the whole week.

There are plenty of stew and soup recipes that require one or two ingredients to make. It gives you the satisfaction of knowing you have a week worth of meals without needing to get more groceries.

6.    Eat Breakfast for Dinner

Do you only eat breakfast meals in the morning? Well, now is the time to switch things up and have breakfast for dinner. Check to see what breakfast ingredients you have at hand and prepare these for dinner. It might seem weird at first, but you end up enjoying the meals, not to mention that you may be full without necessarily being uncomfortable in your sleep. This will mean no waking up in the middle of the night for a snack.

Final Point

The odds are you don’t have enough money to buy more groceries or can’t leave the house. Still, that shouldn’t keep you from meal prepping for the coming week. It gets hard to eat healthy without preparing in advance. So what can you do with only a box of groceries? Use the techniques mentioned above to make enough meals to last you for the whole week or more and enjoy having the best meals with a budget.