Cooking for 1 (or 2 with leftovers)

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candicelyna
candicelyna Posts: 8
in Recipes
I live by myself and struggle to come up with interesting and easy meals for dinner. I'm so tired of a grilled chicken tenderloin and steamed veggies...

Any recipe suggestions for 1-2 servings? I don't want my food (or money) to go to waste making a meal for 4, when I won't eat it all.

Thanks!

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  • lt_mrcook
    lt_mrcook Posts: 389 Member
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    Well unless you don't have a fridge( you do have a fridge right?) you should be able to save the extra 3 or 4 or 5 portions for a later date. So if you find a dish you really enjoy, having it for one meal a day for 3 or 4 days isn't bad and it won't go to waste that quickly (with use of the afore mentioned fridge)
  • karmasBFF
    karmasBFF Posts: 699 Member
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    Freeze it! This is sooo great when you are short on time or you need a quick meal to stop you from binging at McDs!!!

    Also, I cook following the serving suggestions when my boys go with their dad. Then I season accordingly.

    I have pasta, lasagna (in a loaf pan instead of a cake pan), pizza, chicken strips, pizza (homemade dough and sauce), shrimp...whatever I want! just by following the serving size suggestion!

    Good luck!
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
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    eating repeats can really get old.

    here is a recipe for cheese enchiladas that you could half - http://everythingisbetterwithcheese.blogspot.com/2010/01/cheese-enchiladas.html

    here is a pasta recipe for 2 - http://everythingisbetterwithcheese.blogspot.com/2010/01/easy-cheesy-tomato-and-pasta-sauce-for.html

    here is a singular panini sandwich - http://everythingisbetterwithcheese.blogspot.com/2010/02/four-cheese-and-tomato-panini.html

    good luck!
    dawn
  • emilyfh
    emilyfh Posts: 291 Member
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    when I make chicken, I make 3-5 portions, using it for different ideas; pizza, omelet, taco, cordon bleu, casseroles, sandwich or what ever I have a taste for. I also live alone and am on a budget. There are lots of recipes here at mfp or online. I suggest making a menu for the week, try something new every week. hungrygirl.com or sparkrecipes.com or tasteofhome.com busycooks there are lots of recipes out there try something new. Emily :bigsmile:
  • SherryLynn82
    SherryLynn82 Posts: 69 Member
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    You should look at http://www.hungry-girl.com. It's a fantastic website for low fat/low cal recipes. They also have a couple of cookbooks, and most of the recipes in them are 1-2 servings!
  • canroadrunner
    canroadrunner Posts: 203 Member
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    Try this website. http://www.dlife.com/diabetes/diabetic-recipes/

    The recipes are very healtful and you can adjust the number of servings on the page and it will give you the amount of ingredients needed just for that amount of servings.
  • candicelyna
    candicelyna Posts: 8
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    Thanks, everyone.

    (And yes, I do have a fridge, but no one enjoys eating the same casserole once a day for a week!)

    I'll check out the websites, too.
  • codykitty
    codykitty Posts: 729
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    Well unless you don't have a fridge( you do have a fridge right?) you should be able to save the extra 3 or 4 or 5 portions for a later date. So if you find a dish you really enjoy, having it for one meal a day for 3 or 4 days isn't bad and it won't go to waste that quickly (with use of the afore mentioned fridge)

    I think she has the afore mentioned fridge...her point is she doesn't want to eat the same thing 5 days in a row...that was kind of a sarcastic response.

    I live by myself too, and I like to make things like lentil soup, chili, lasanga(healthy version) and then I freeze individual portions to eat through out the next couple months.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
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    It's usually pretty easy to cut a recipe down to size. If it serves 4, cut everything in half.

    If you Google "meals for one", you'll find some sites that have recipes for one or two people.

    Here's one:

    http://www.soscuisine.com/meal_plan_directory.php?meal_plan_category_code=SINGLE&sos_l=en
  • cattiemac
    cattiemac Posts: 251 Member
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    I also live alone so I have become an expert at cooking for myself. If I'm making something that is freezable I make the entire recipe and freeze the leftovers. But if I'm making something that I only want 1 or 2 servings of I looking at the servings a recipe makes and divide the ingredients to come up with 1 or 2 servings. This doesn't work for baking but it works very nice for cooking.
  • rinren84
    rinren84 Posts: 82 Member
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    As far as chicken goes, I love using the steamer bags with a piece of frozen chicken. I like to shake on some seasoning and steam in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Then I pour on some pasta sauce or add some garlic or onion and little wine or parmesan, etc and microwave about 2 more minutes. Yum! You can do this with frozen fish too. I would not recommend it with red meat or pork.

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