After a majority of the population left Earth in No Place Like Home, only a few people remained. The small handful of people left eradicated the need for paper money in the game, but you still need to trade for a variety of goods and blueprints.

Related: No Place Like Home: How To Get To The Lonely Hills

Rather than using money, you will obtain Prepared Meals. This currency item can be collected in a few ways, and will prove to be very useful as you explore different zones in the world. In this guide, we are going to look at everything you need to know about obtaining and using Prepared Meals.

Prepared Meals Vs. Food

As you play, you will come across Prepared Meals, as well as dishes of food. Although Prepared Meals are technically food, they will only function as currency. Dishes, such as mashed potatoes, are not considered Prepared Meals and are not treated as currency.

Making Prepared Meals

Prepared Meals can be made with the Preserving Machine. This is an item that allows you to place food inside to create Prepared Meals. The items that you place inside will create different amounts of Prepared Meals depending on their quality and rarity.

For example, potatoes are pretty simple, while truffles are not. Because of this, you will get more Prepared Meals by placing truffles in the Preserving Machine.

Once the items have been placed inside, you just need to wait until it is finished processing to collect. If you place items inside and then go to bed, the Prepared Meals will be ready the following morning.

Cooked meals can be placed inside the Preserving Machine to create Prepared Meals. For example, by placing one sunny side-up egg dish in the machine, you can earn 16 Prepared Meals. This is an efficient way of making Prepared Meals, considering the egg dish only requires two eggs. If you were to place just two eggs into the Preserving Machine, you would only get eight Prepared Meals.

Building A Preserving Machine

At the start of the game, you will already have one Preserving Machine on your farm. To build more, you need to buy the blueprint for the basic Preserving Machine from Mark, a vendor located through the gate in the northwest corner of your farm.

Building a Preserving Machine will require the following materials.

• 10x Recycled Material
• 5x Wood

After unlocking the basic Preserving Machine, you will also be able to purchase the blueprints for two upgraded versions. These are Preserving Machines that can hold more items and in turn, make more Prepared Meals.

Finding Prepared Meals

In addition to creating your own Prepared Meals, you can find them inside colored suitcases that can be found around the world. When you open a case, you have a chance to get Prepared Meals, as well as Recycled Material and recipe books.

In general, it's quicker to make your own Prepared Meals. A suitcase is not guaranteed to hold Prepared Meals, and they can often be difficult to find.

Spending Prepared Meals

The number of Prepared Meals that you are currently holding will be displayed to the left of your toolbar. These meals can be spent at vendors around the world. For example, you will need 375 Prepared Meals to purchase the second drill upgrade from Rudy. You can also trade Preserved Meals for Recycled Material, however, we don't recommend doing this unless you are in desperate need of this material.

Overall, you will need a lot of this currency to purchase buildings and upgrades, so let's go over some tips for collecting more Prepared Meals.

Tips For Obtaining Prepared Meals

As mentioned above, higher quality items will produce more Prepared Meals. A quick way to make a lot of this currency is to set up animals pens to produce items for Prepared Meals. For example, pigs produce one truffle a day if taken care of. The truffles gathered from pigs can then be placed in Preserving Machines. This is more efficient than turning grown crops into Preserved Meals because crops take several days to grow.

It's best to turn items that produce daily into Prepared Meals if you are aiming to make a lot in a short period of time.

It is also important to have more than one Preserving Machine on your farm. With multiple machines, you can produce several batches of Prepared Meals at a time. Lastly, try to always have food processing in the Preserving Machine. This ensures that you always have enough Prepared Meals to purchase blueprints and upgrades.

Achievements Involving Prepared Meals

There are currently three achievements that involve Prepared Meals, which can be found listed below.

That's all there is to know about Prepared Meals. Don't forget to swing by the vendors and purchase blueprints to help you rebuild the farm!

Next: No Place Like Home: Beginner's Tips