Easy Meal Prep: Top 3 Things I Buy in Bulk

The main and most important step I find to easy meal planning is… buying in bulk.

It involves some research and buying before you actually plan specific meals but saves SO much time when you actually take that final step of deciding upon a certain meal. This is all about stocking up on good quality food at good prices. If you buy in bulk you can really save money and afford better quality food. I have just a few items that I find helps tremendously in saving money, saving time and simplifying meal planning.

Where to buy in bulk??

Since buying in bulk involves large quantities of food, you really want to make sure you are getting great quality food and great prices. It is a lot more important than if you just bought a small quantity because you will be eating a lot of it!

Azure Standard is the best place I have found for quality and cost. They have a great variety of organic products at some of the best prices around. I order about once every few months. Great products at great prices! 

Butcherbox is my go-to for meat. They always have a great deal for signing up. This month you get a FREE $179 box of organic meat and free ground beef for life in every future box. This is the best deal I have seen from them! We also scope out some local sources for certain items. Read on for more detailed tips!

And good old Amazon is another place I can find most of what I need.

Here’s what I buy in bulk:

Grains

Wheat berries (hard white, hard red, soft white), Spelt, Rye, Rice, Popcorn

Despite what some “health experts” say grains, in their whole form, are the most nutrient-dense food available. The health benefits of grinding your own grains are enormous! I have experienced the greatest improvement in my health by simply including food made from freshly milled grains in my daily diet. Lasting energy, massive decrease in inflammation, and increased immunity. Therefore we stock up on grains and grind our own. We have also found that cooking with nutrient-dense grains is the most delicious and satisfying.

We also stock up on a few other grains that we do not grind such as rice and popcorn. Popcorn has become a regular snack for my family since buying it in bulk. There are so many ways to eat it – plain, salted, buttered, or sweetened with a drizzle of pure maple syrup 🍁. It is gluten-free, low in calories and good for gut health! We often eat it in the evenings instead of dessert, cooking on the stovetop with olive oil to make it as healthy as possible.

Storage Containers

You want storage to be functional but also nice looking for things on your kitchen counter. For the big bulk that I keep hidden away in the pantry or basement, I use 5 gallon food-grade buckets as shown below. For display areas like the pantry open shelving or kitchen countertop (see picture at top of this post), I use these pretty 1 or 2 gallon glass jars. They are so nice looking that they are decoration with a function. It’s really fun to have the jars filled with healthy, homemade treats!

Sugars

Local, raw honey, sucanat, pure maple syrup, pure cane sugar

We really limit sugar but some things need a little to make it tolerable such as unsweetened yogurt and cookies. So I buy the healthiest, most unrefined sugars to use in these cases. Azure Standard sells many varieties of natural and raw sugars. I have also found good prices for pure maple syrup at Sam’s Club.

Our main sugar is raw, local honey, which has so many health benefits including allergy cure, antioxidants, and antibacterial properties. For the past year we have been taking a daily spoonful instead of allergy medicine and it REALLY helped! This was the first year I didn’t have any spring allergies. Now we are headed into fall and I’ll see how that goes. To find a local honey supplier, I went to farmer’s markets and local stores selling honey and found their source. Then I went directly to the source to get the best price possible. Search out a local honey supplier near you to reap your local benefits as well!

Meat and Fish

We found investing in a chest freezer was well worth it so we can stock up without worrying about freezer space. Because this is the foundation of my dinners, I initially invested time researching to find the cheapest way to stock up on the healthiest meat. I primarily look for grass-fed, organic meat. Now that I found a few sources, the routine is in place and this step is almost effortless!

There are several good options on where to stock up on meat. This may take a little research initially but once you figure it out, it is so easy to keep the routine going. Here are good options I suggest:

• A local farm – Scouting out local beef or chicken farms can be the most valuable step to take in meal planning. You can look for the freshest and healthiest meat available. Fortunately, I live near many farms. We buy from a local beef farmer who we trust raises organic, grass-fed healthy animals. The taste and texture are also the best I’ve ever eaten. It’s like eating at a 5-star restaurant at home! We order twice/year so it saves me a lot of time throughout the rest of the year not having to go to the grocery store. Buying in bulk not only saves money but time!

• Butcherbox – “MEAT AND SEAFOOD DONE THE RIGHT WAY High-quality. Humanely raised. Amazing taste. Delivered to your door.” This is an awesome meat delivery service of healthy, organic, grass-fed meats (beef, chicken, pork) seafood and more. It keeps my freezer full of healthy protein to choose from for planning meals easily. You set up a schedule delivering every 1-3 months. You can pause, cancel or change your subscription easily.
  
  Also, they have lots of recipes and cooking tips on their site for the specific cut of meats or fish you receive. Weekly deals are offered constantly which is where I can really save money. With these deals, I can get prices comparable to local deals at my warehouse club. You choose the type of meat you want from beef, chicken, and/or pork then add any deals or specials (including seafood, precooked meats, bone broth, smoothies, …) up to the date you choose to buy your box.
  
  We don’t eat much pork but if we do, it is only Butcherbox pork. Their farming practices are very clean and this is the healthiest pork I can find. (Their bacon is great!) I have been buying from them for years and the meat almost always arrives frozen and in good condition.
  
  On the rare occasion a box was damaged during delivery, their customer service was outstanding giving quick refunds for anything damaged. They have many seafood deals too! I have a good supply of wild salmon filets and burgers bought at sale prices and ready to grill whenever we get the inkling.
  
  Periodically, they offer a free meat for a year or similar. I currently am getting an extra pack of bacon and 3 lbs of organic chicken breasts in every box. The bacon is totally free and the chicken was a deal I bought last Christmas where I paid a set amount for 3 lbs. of chicken to be added to every box I order. I decided to get monthly boxes this year so the free-range, organic chicken breasts end up costing just $2.64/lb. in every one of my boxes! As grocery prices have increased in recent years, I have found that Butcherbox prices have not increased nearly as much.
  
  All that to say, Butcherbox has become an extremely easy and healthy way to keep my freezer filled with fabulous meats to cook with. If you sign up with my referral code , you get a great special deal.

• Local grocery store/wholesale club – With the convenient availability of pick-up services we now have, local grocery shopping can be much easier than in years past. I have two local stores I frequent using their free curbside pick-up often. This is a very quick way to shop and allows you to easily see all sales online. I used to do regular shopping and combined coupons with sales and got some great deals. It can be enjoyable if you have the time, but it took a lot of time. I saw it as my part-time job. However you do it, your local grocery store can be a good way to stock up on sale meats to form the foundation of meals.

Buying in bulk takes a little more time up front, but saves a lot more time during busy weeks. I used to make A lot more freezer meals but find I don’t need to as much since buying in bulk. Having the bulk of meal ingredients at home already is the most important step in saving time and money on a weekly basis! Share in the comments what bulk foods you find helpful to keep on hand!