This Is What You Should Be Batch Cooking, According To Giada De Laurentiis

Meal prepping - specifically, making a week's worth of meals in a day – has been trending for quite a few years now. At some point, you've probably heard someone enumerate all of the reasons why you should hop on the bandwagon. Whether you are looking for ease of serving up dinner in the evening for your hungry and over-scheduled family, controlling food portions to control your waistline, or saving money by preparing and eating the foods you actually buy, there are lots of reasons why meal prepping might make sense. However, some people find meal prepping to be too restrictive and stressful. One writer for The Kitchn notes that meal prepping limits the opportunity for unplanned Monday night drinks to spontaneously turn into dinner with friends.  

Well, if you want to eat healthily and save time and a little money but still want to have some flexibility, Giada De Laurentiis may have the best advice yet. The celebrity chef and cookbook author recently revealed to Mind, Body, Green that while she is in favor of meal prepping, she is also a batch cooker. What's the difference? Per Mostly Green, batch cooking doesn't require you to prepare full meals and place them into individual containers. Rather, with batch cooking, you are preparing elements of meals. De Laurentiis is a fan of this approach as well and is sharing the foods you should be batch cooking to make your life a little less stressful and more healthful.

De Laurentiis's love of batch cooking is part of a journey that she has been on and shares in her new cookbook, Eat better; Feel better. The co-star of Bobby and Giada in Italy recently shared with Mind, Body, Green that while meal planning is key to eating healthy, and meal prepping plays an important part in that planning, it doesn't have to be so rigid. De Laurentiis told the blog that's why she like batch cooking. What does she recommend you batch cook if you want to free your mind? 

De Laurentiis said, "I also highly recommend batch cooking things like brown rice, chicken, roasted veggies, homemade chicken broth, lentils, or pesto so you always have something healthy to grab for when you're hungry." The Italian cook with California style went on to reveal different ways you can use these basic ingredients to create many variations and unique dishes that are healthy, delicious, and good for you. However, De Laurentiis also noted that "eating better is just one part of the larger picture to feel better."