Meal Prep - Jessica's Marinated Chickpeas
Jessica's Marinated Chickpeas
One of the things that we do to save money is meal prep every Sunday. We have been doing this for years now. I have friends that eat out every single day and a typical meal to eat out is anywhere from $10-$15, now let's do some math on that.
Average lunch out: $12.50
Weekdays: 5
Total each week: $62.50
Average for a year: $3,250
Now let's do some math on making this meal for the week. I probably make this meal for a week each month. It is seriously one of my favorites.
Average cost of this meal:
2 cans of 15oz Garbanzo Beans: $1.98
1 can of Artichoke hearts: $2.49
1 Garlic bulk: $.49
2 Bell Peppers: $1.98
Goat cheese: $2.99
4oz fresh basil leaves: $3.99
Everything else I already had but will add an extra $3 when allocated.
Total of recipe: Roughly $17.00, but let's round up to $20.
Recipe total for 2: $20
Weekdays: $5
Total per day per person: $2
If this is a rough estimate of my meal preps here is the math:
Total each week: $20
Average for a year for 2: $1,040
Average for a year for 1: $520
Average difference between eating out and meal prepping: $2,730.
Each week I will post our weekly lunch prep meal with the math broken out. On average we spend about $20 for our lunches, this is just one example.
This is just one of the things we do to keep our spending low. You may be thinking that eating out with your work buddies is something that you look forward to everyday and that is ok. We all have our vices, we just have to remember that if you spend heavily in one area of your life that you need to pull back in another area. This is just the area in our life that we choose to pull back on.
Maybe you're thinking that you don't have time to meal prep every Sunday. I will be honest, sometimes meal prepping can take longer than an hour but sometimes it just takes an hour. You could also grab a large premade pasta dish from Costco for about $15 and eat that for the week. Or maybe you choose a crock pot or instant pot meal where you just have to throw it all in a pot and then dish it out into containers. Easiest solution? You buy a loaf of bread, some sandwich meat, chips and viola your meal prepping is done.
This weeks meal took about 30 minutes. I roasted our red peppers whiling chopping the garlic, basil and cheese up. This recipe you can just throw everything in a bowl, mix it up and divide into your containers. I add in the artichokes and you can add in whatever you want too.
Another perk of meal prepping is it is a healthier option. You are able to decide what goes into your meal and into your body.
For us, this is a great way to cut back on spending. But for you, maybe there is another area you can cut back on.
What areas in your life do you need help on cutting back on? Do you know how much you spend on lunches each month? Leave a comment and don't forget to subscribe.
*I realize that some people can spend $5 a day on eating out for lunches or even $20 a day. This is just an average of what I see my own friends doing.
One of the things that we do to save money is meal prep every Sunday. We have been doing this for years now. I have friends that eat out every single day and a typical meal to eat out is anywhere from $10-$15, now let's do some math on that.
Average lunch out: $12.50
Weekdays: 5
Total each week: $62.50
Average for a year: $3,250
Now let's do some math on making this meal for the week. I probably make this meal for a week each month. It is seriously one of my favorites.
Average cost of this meal:
2 cans of 15oz Garbanzo Beans: $1.98
1 can of Artichoke hearts: $2.49
1 Garlic bulk: $.49
2 Bell Peppers: $1.98
Goat cheese: $2.99
4oz fresh basil leaves: $3.99
Everything else I already had but will add an extra $3 when allocated.
Total of recipe: Roughly $17.00, but let's round up to $20.
Recipe total for 2: $20
Weekdays: $5
Total per day per person: $2
If this is a rough estimate of my meal preps here is the math:
Total each week: $20
Average for a year for 2: $1,040
Average for a year for 1: $520
Average difference between eating out and meal prepping: $2,730.
Each week I will post our weekly lunch prep meal with the math broken out. On average we spend about $20 for our lunches, this is just one example.
This is just one of the things we do to keep our spending low. You may be thinking that eating out with your work buddies is something that you look forward to everyday and that is ok. We all have our vices, we just have to remember that if you spend heavily in one area of your life that you need to pull back in another area. This is just the area in our life that we choose to pull back on.
Maybe you're thinking that you don't have time to meal prep every Sunday. I will be honest, sometimes meal prepping can take longer than an hour but sometimes it just takes an hour. You could also grab a large premade pasta dish from Costco for about $15 and eat that for the week. Or maybe you choose a crock pot or instant pot meal where you just have to throw it all in a pot and then dish it out into containers. Easiest solution? You buy a loaf of bread, some sandwich meat, chips and viola your meal prepping is done.
This weeks meal took about 30 minutes. I roasted our red peppers whiling chopping the garlic, basil and cheese up. This recipe you can just throw everything in a bowl, mix it up and divide into your containers. I add in the artichokes and you can add in whatever you want too.
Another perk of meal prepping is it is a healthier option. You are able to decide what goes into your meal and into your body.
For us, this is a great way to cut back on spending. But for you, maybe there is another area you can cut back on.
What areas in your life do you need help on cutting back on? Do you know how much you spend on lunches each month? Leave a comment and don't forget to subscribe.
*I realize that some people can spend $5 a day on eating out for lunches or even $20 a day. This is just an average of what I see my own friends doing.
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