Easy Dinner ideas for a single/two person house hold

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amandaruff13
amandaruff13 Posts: 19 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am newly single & only cook dinner for me and Monster Man who is 6 years old. He isn't a super picky eater thank the lord but cutting down to cooking for just two on a tight budget & be healthy has been a little stumbling block for me.

I am use to the easy stuff like Mac N Cheese, hamburgers and fries and stuff kids eat......NONE of that is really healthy though....

So does any one have any ideas or recipes to share? I am game to try most things these days. I am tired of the same thing different day routine......

Replies

  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Since Monster Man is 6, you can ease him off the less healthy foods and convert him to healthier eating as you change your own diet. You can make healthy food just as much fun. For example, teach him to make radish mice and carrot curls and then make a game of eating them. Since it's just you and he, involve him in cooking dinner with you. With his help, make Bento boxes for the two of you. You don't need a real bento box. rectangular plastic containers do the same thing. Look at the images googling "healthy kid food" pulls up. A lot of it you can both eat.

    I cook for two but I do a lot for the freezer in meal-sized portions that can then be quickly microwaved for supper. For example, buy a family-sized pack of chicken, cook it all, take it off the bone and freeze it in 6 oz. portions in zip bags. That's enough for a meal for two.

    Feel free to friend me or to message me about food and cooking. It's my hobby and it's great fun.
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,676 Member
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    Fire up your BBQ and grill up a bunch of hotdogs (I get mine at Trader Joes) and hamburger patties. Then put on a cross-rib roast. and a beer-can chicken. Put all this meat, seasoned, in the freezer, and you will have some delicious meats ready for however you want to use them.
    Soak some pinto beans overnight, then cook them up with a few cloves of garlic, salt and a couple of jalepenos(leave these whole and they will impart flavor without making them spicy). Freeze some if needed, but put it into a large yogurt container in your fridge.
    Cook up a batch of rice. I personally prefer white rice, but you could do brown if you choose.
    With those staples in the fridge/freezer, you can make many types of meals, depending on what seasonings you use, you could go Mexican, Asian, etc. Use tortillas (I keep flour and corn on hand), cheeses.
    And whatever vegetable is in season. Right now, my children (I have 5) LOVE zucchini steamed with seasoning and cheddar cheese. We eat it almost daily. It is simply amazing sliced into slabs, coated with olive oil and grilled/seasoned. Squeeze a bit of lemon on them before you eat them, yum.
    Whatever fruit is in season, keep some on hand. Plus the standard of apples and bananas
    Speaking of bananas, your grocer will often end up with ripe bananas which they sell super cheap....get a bag of them, slice them and freeze.....they make awesome "ice cream" in the food processor.
    Must have tomatoes and avocado in the house.
    We do very little eating of boxed snacks, frankly I find that type of eating expensive (crackers, cookies), plus doesn't hit the spot like these other foods.
    Little one tend to like ranch dressing on veggies/salads, also Italian.
    Canned tuna, mixed with a bit of mayonnaise and jack cheese, spread on bread and put under the broiler until bubbly/golden Mmmm. Serve with some fruit.
  • engakwasdky
    engakwasdky Posts: 19 Member
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    I'm really interested to see the response you get... I am single, work a crazy job with crazy hours, and struggle at times with getting creative in the food I eat. The result? Lots of prepackaged meals, oatmeal done up fifty different ways, canned soup (my current kick right now - condensed chicken noodle soup... clearly the healthiest thing out there!), and slim fast shakes. It seems like I eat the same thing all the time, and while I'm not complaining it is sometimes nice to change it up.

    Not sure if this will help, but here's my input... When I do have time and feel creative, I LOVE getting fish or chicken and baking it with different types of herbs and spices. I pair it up with veggies from the farmer's market or a bag of frozen veggies (not as healthy as the fresh, but not horrible). Roasted green beans are my favorite right now :) I find that this meal is a lot easier to prepare than I think it is, and really doesn't take much time.

    I also recently made some tuna with celery, bell pepper, and a touch of light miracle whip, and stuffed it in an Italian pita pocket... with half a cup of grapes the total for my lunch was 203 calories. It was pretty filling, and may appeal to your kiddo!

    Otherwise, good luck! Hopefully you get some good responses to help you out :)
  • lyndausvi
    lyndausvi Posts: 156 Member
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    DH and I cook pretty simply at home. Most of our dinners are cooked under 30 minutes. Most nights include a protein (fish, chicken, pork or beef), a starch (rice, couscous, potatoes or pasta) and veggies. Tonight we had stir fry with tilapia, snow peas, rice, egg and mushrooms with a teriyaki sauce . Last night we had grilled salmon (DH) and tuna (me), potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini. I also topped my tuna with an avocado/mango salsa. Another night we had pasta, shrimp and some sort of veggies.

    Dinners do not have to be complicated. Simple things like grilling (we often just use our indoor grill) and steaming or roasting vegetables add in some spices are often easy and do not take long.
  • luckyladybug24
    luckyladybug24 Posts: 32 Member
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    Hi, I cook only for me and my hubby so all the recipes I post on my blog http://angelasbestbites.blogspot.com/ are for two people if you want to go check them out. They are all low calorie recipes and I put the calories at the bottom of each one so it's easy peesy. No worries...I ain't selling nothing...I'm just a Fat girl on the same journey. =)
  • splashwags
    splashwags Posts: 262 Member
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    Check out some of the recipes at graciouspantry.com. She also references her son (mini-chef) with things that children can help with....She has some really good ideas.
  • TheLongRunner
    TheLongRunner Posts: 688 Member
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    Bump!!!!!!!
  • 77tes
    77tes Posts: 7,972 Member
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    Hi, I cook only for me and my hubby so all the recipes I post on my blog http://angelasbestbites.blogspot.com/ are for two people if you want to go check them out. They are all low calorie recipes and I put the calories at the bottom of each one so it's easy peesy. No worries...I ain't selling nothing...I'm just a Fat girl on the same journey. =)

    I checked out your blog - interesting! Bumping for all the great ideas.

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