Grocery Shopping & Meal Planning For One
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I'm not currently living on my own, but when I was, the freezer was my best friend. I usually spent a couple of hours cooking most Sundays, and kept a couple of each dish out for that week (say, soup and two baked/casserole options), in the fridge, and froze individual portions of the rest, so that I had a wide variety of main dishes, breads (I got REALLY good at making foccacia), and small snacks (banana or carrot muffins freeze fantastically) in the freezer - I usually pulled something out to defrost for supper before I left in the morning (or took it with me to microwave, if a long day was in the offing). Bread was always sliced before freezing, and went straight from freezer to toaster, or into my bag in a ziploc bag for lunch. The freezer was also great for taking advantage of reduced or on-offer items (especially meat), and for keeping stocks of dairy items, sliced ham, butter etc on hand. That way, I did a fruit & veg shop once a week at a greengrocer or farmers' market (really not a fan of frozen veg., though I do keep frozen berries and bananas - always pre-peeled! - in the freezer for smoothies), and a supermarket visit roughly every two weeks for raw ingredients, with the occasional top-up of eggs or something un-freezable mid-week.
I really enjoy cooking, but agree that having to shop and cook for one on a daily basis gets tedious. Especially in my last few years at the Conservatoire, I was often in college 9am-9pm or later, up to six days/week, so the weekly, or bi-weekly in particularly frantic periods, freezer-stocking session made a huge difference. I guess that's my best suggestion - get into the habit of cooking a couple of main dishes each weekend - cook enough for 4-6 people, and freeze the portions you're not going to eat straightaway - you'll quickly build up a supply of meal options, and have variety. Big plus, it's always cheaper to cook in bulk, rather than for one - much less ingredient wastage, for starters.
Some favourites:
Chilli con carne - the meat and bean bit. Cooking a bit of rice/couscous to go with it isn't taxing. Meat sauce for pasta, spiced and fruited persian mince etc.
Chicken cacciatore/green thai chicken curry (usually made with drumsticks or chicken thighs) and other variations on the casserole theme - lamb/beef/chickpea and chorizo/sausage plus whatever vegetables you prefer (note. venison casserole is divine, but goes really dry when microwaved - too good to waste by reheating)
Risotto - freezes brilliantly. Pasta bakes/lasagne is fine too. Potatoes - not good, defrosted. Mashed is least damaged by freezing, if you want to.
Soups - those with lots of 'body' work better - butternut squash & chilli, panzanella, canellini bean and roasted garlic, curried parsnip, leek & potato (if pureed into a vichysoisse first), roast pumpkin
Bread dough - especially those intended for flatbreads etc. Breads in general - just slice it first!
Banana pecan/carrot/spiced apple muffins - roughly 100-120 cals each, made at home, in a normal, rather than king-sized muffin tin. Hits the spot if you've a sweet tooth.
Stewed fruits - spiced apple/rhubarb & strawberry/ mixed berries/pears with ginger or cardamom
I haven't experimented much with freezing fish dishes (except things like prawn risotto, which is great), but my guess is that anything in a sauce or liquid base would be fine.
There are some great cookbooks 'for one', but I'd be more inclined to take recipes you like for a group and just portion it out - saves time and money in the end.0 -
^ can I move in with you and you'll cook for me?0
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That's half your problem, the more variety you have in your meals the more food you're going to waste. Also the healthier you eat, the more food you will likely waste. Why? Because you're buying mostly perishables instead of frozen pizzas which have no waste.Some of the other single guys in here have more simple tastes than I do. I need to mix up my meals to keep it interesting. I can't eat the same meal day in, day out.
It takes a lot of planning, but if you figure out your recipes and shopping list ahead of time you can make different recipes that use the same ingredients. Like if you buy a loaf of bread you can make a sandwich, then french toast, regular toast, something with bread crumbs, etc. But you'd likely end up eating the same thing every week or so instead of the same thing multiple days in a row.
Also, when you cook, make more than you need and either eat the leftovers the next day or freeze them and eat them later.0 -
That's half your problem, the more variety you have in your meals the more food you're going to waste. Also the healthier you eat, the more food you will likely waste. Why? Because you're buying mostly perishables instead of frozen pizzas which have no waste.Some of the other single guys in here have more simple tastes than I do. I need to mix up my meals to keep it interesting. I can't eat the same meal day in, day out.
It takes a lot of planning, but if you figure out your recipes and shopping list ahead of time you can make different recipes that use the same ingredients. Like if you buy a loaf of bread you can make a sandwich, then french toast, regular toast, something with bread crumbs, etc. But you'd likely end up eating the same thing every week or so instead of the same thing multiple days in a row.
Also, when you cook, make more than you need and either eat the leftovers the next day or freeze them and eat them later.
I'm pretty good at limiting waste.
I do mix things up with recipes. Sometimes I'll phase my eating, eating the same things during a grocery cycle, and then not eat those types of things for a while.
I do use leftovers. I made some stuffing last night, so stuffing is going to be a side dish with some meals for a bit.
The planning can be exhausting at times, so I may need to simplify.0 -
I've done a lot better lately with not letting things go bad as quickly - as if I toss it out one week I don't buy it again until I know I'm for sure going to use it.
I stick to cereal and oatmeal for breakfast which is simple... lunch is fruit with a frozen meal usually (I buy about 5-10 each time I go depending on whats on sale - this is usually my main sodium consumption for the day)... dinner is either a salad, breakfast for dinner (i.e. eggs and veggies etc) or some type of sandwhich... and snacks scattered throughout the day...
grocery bills have gone down big time now that I'm more conscious about not making 10 portions of something of which half won't get eaten...0
