If you are like a lot of people trying to live on a budget, you probably make a lot of your own items yourself. For me, that means I make most of our baked goods. My husband takes two muffins for his breakfast and a couple cookies as part of his lunch every work day. I used to make these each and every week but some weeks, especially since the addition of our second child, get a bit crazy and I start to feel stressed for time. Many times this would mean my husband would stop at the grocery store on his way home and pick up muffins or cookies for the next couple days. Those expenses really started to add up. Then I discovered the wonderful world of double batches. Making double batches to save money and time really has been a life saver for me. Here’s how double batches make the difference.
Double Batches to Save Money
One of the ways that double batches save money is because you don’t have to stop at the store to get something because you don’t have it in the house already or have time to make it. I almost always try to have some muffins and cookies in my freezer. I try to do this with meals as well. When you are making a meal that would freeze well, just double the batch and put half in the freezer. This cuts down so much of picking up frozen pizza or going out to eat. Disposable pans are fairly cheap to keep on hand or you can line a regular pan with tin foil, freeze everything, then remove from the pan and wrap well in tin foil once frozen.
Double Batches to Save Time
Making double batches saves time in a couple different ways. First off, it doesn’t add hardly any time at all to make a double batch. But it does save a significant amount of time later. For example, I used to take 10 minutes to make muffins, 16 minutes to bake them, then another 10-20 to cool them and put them away…every week. That’s at least 36 minutes each week. By making a double batch, I’m only doing that every other week. That’s saving me around an hour a month. It also saves time with the prep and clean up. I don’t know about you but spending less time doing dishes is a life goal. π
Making double batches is a simple concept but one we don’t always think about. A little pre-planning so you have even ingredients on hand and double batches to save money and time is pretty easy!
Short on time and strapped for cash? Double batches can be a huge sanity saver Click To Tweet
Samantha says
I love making a double batch and freezing the extra! Comes in handy when I have a busy day.
Julie says
Definitely helps on busy days. π
Wendi@H2OBungalow says
These are good points! I love to freeze extra everything for the lazy or busy days wen I just can’t get around to cooking:) By the way… your muffins look tasty!
Julie says
Thanks! Blueberry muffin recipe from the back of the flour bag. π
Kirsten Toyne says
Yes, yes, yes. This is what I do. I don’t bake but I cook a lot. I cook in very large quantities with huge saucepans and then freeze. It saves me loads of time.
Julie says
It’s amazing how much time that saves, isn’t it? π
Jenny @Unremarkable Files says
I love this and you’re right:. It hardly takes any more time to do a double batch and get twice as much food. I do this all the time#SHINEbloghop
Leslie says
I definitely believe in double and triple batches! I actually made a triple batch of my pasta sauce last week and used some of the sauce to make a double batch of lasagna. Plus, by buying the ground beef in bulk, I used whatever meat was left to make a double batch of meatloaf. Between the sauce, lasagnas, and meatloaves, I probably got 8 meals just by taking the time to double and triple up on recipe-making.
Thanks so much for joining us again at the #happynowlinkup!
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CJ @ Morsels of Life says
I’m a fan of making double batches too, but sometimes I forget I have more in the freezer. I love how much time it can save, especially when I’m in a rush and still need to get some food on the table! π
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Julie says
I have forgotten too. That’s why I now keep a freezer inventory. π
Emily says
What are some of your favorite meals to freeze? I have frozen cookie dough and muffins, but that’s about it!
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Julie says
I freeze cookies, muffins, and quick breads often. For meals, I find things like cheeseburger macaroni casserole, lasagna, and shepherd’s pie freeze really well. You just freeze them after assembled and before cooking. I like to write the cooking instructions on the tinfoil I wrap them in so it’s easier.
Danielle says
I need to start making double batches of our dinners too. That would save me soooo much time!
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