Family of Two. Suggestions?

Prep meals ahead of time on the weekend, or whatever free day you have. You can also make use of a crock pot, where you can have a meal slowly cooking all day and is hot and ready to eat when you get home.

Hi There!

I'm a family of one so I understand it sometimes feels like a waste to cook and know so much of it will go to waste. Lately, I've learned to freeze the leftover portions immediately instead of putting them in the fridge "just in case". This accomplishes the less waste purpose but also allows me to have a healthy lunch to grab if I don't have time to pack something else.

As for cooking, I'm a big crockpot fan. You can do an internet search for "easy crockpot recipes" and the options are endless. Chicken breasts & salsa = shredded chicken tacos, Pork tenderloin + diet coke= yummy pulled pork. You can even find several blogs where you can commit to 4 or so hours of cooking and come out with dozens of freezer meals to pull out and cook on demand.

Good Luck!!

I also forgot to mention when I cook supper- I cook enough for lunch (and at most another supper) for the next day as leftovers. Much more then that and we are bad about eating leftovers.

Prep meals ahead of time on the weekend, or whatever free day you have. You can also make use of a crock pot, where you can have a meal slowly cooking all day and is hot and ready to eat when you get home.

I was going to suggest this as well! I make anywhere from 3-5 dinners on Sundays, to have ready when I come home after work & the gym. Crockpot meals are always included.

Easy ideas:
1. (as suggested above) Chicken breast or pork loin in green salsa for tacos or taco salad.
2. Meatloaf. Make 3 or 4 at a time, and wrap them in the freezer ready to thaw & cook. Or, cook them in muffin tins for individual servings, then freeze for later.
3. Stuffed peppers or cabbage. Mix together a little turkey Italian sausage with brown rice (google Alton Brown's brown rice recipe - it's yummy & fool-proof, make rice 1 night as a side, then use leftovers for peppers) & marinara sauce, and stuff in a pepper, and cook all day in the crockpot. You add or top with cheese, I you have the calories for it. This is my teenagers favorite.
4. Chicken breast chili. Super easy. Couple of chicken breasts in the crockpot, topped with onions & peppers, a couple of cans of beans, a can of tomato sauce & diced tomatoes & season to taste with chili powder, cumin & oregano (or whatever you like). Cook all day in the crockpot, & the chicken shreds. Then freeze the leftovers in 2 serving portions for an easy dinner another time.

Good luck! Also, when you are bored, watch cooking shows! A lot of them teach cooking techniques.

Check out the Hungry Girl site and there is also an "Eat This, Not That" book that is dedicated to food items around 300 calories or so. I tried to start a topic: "yummy lower calorie food finds" but no one has added to that thread yet. As you discover lower calorie snacks and meals please post there--I can always use suggestions. Right now I'm happy to have found Coco Pop Cakes. I found them at Target. Like a small tortilla sized thin rice cake that doesn't taste like much except crunch, but you can put a tablespoon of Nutella or Peanut Butter and it seems like a "big" snack.

Beef jerky is something I ate as a snack when I started. Also the 100 calorie Kelloggs Pastry Crisp are good and come in different flavors. I like to put roast in a crockpot with baby carrots, onions and potatoes cut into chunks, a can of beef broth or a beer, some garlic powder , salt , pepper and some worchestershire. Sometimes I add alittle green pepper it gives it a good taste. You can add seasonings u like I vary mine.This will cook all day . Also it can be beef or pork roast. The vegetables can be fresh or frozen. The potatoes can be canned just drain first .so can the carrots , whatever you have on hand. The crockpot can be very versatile, I even made meatballs in it the other day,skinnykitchen.com recipe. I hope this helps.

I learned to cook with a Sunset book entitled "Easy Basics for Good Cooking," and there's a great newer book called "Keys to the Kitchen" which has tasty recipes, illustrations about techniques, and a very readable style.

I'm also a fan of crockpot365 and smitten kitchen blogs and recipes.

Hello Everyone,

This is my first time posting in this community. I have been lurking for a while at different times. My wife and I have used MFP on and off and have had success with it in the past, however we never stick to it. We have decided finally to do this program together and keep each other accountable. We have no kids currently and have a pretty difficult work routine which makes for long days. Our hardest problem is setting aside time to cook in the afternoon as which often leads us to getting fast food often because it is "convenient". We know that from here on out we have to set aside the time to cook. I think our other large problem is we are both young and never really had anyone to show us how to cook (so this will be a learning curve for us as well). We are planning on going grocery shopping (researching) some healthy options for us. I have two questions for you:

Do you have any suggestions of "snacks" that work for you if you are in a time crunch or on the run? Any snack bars or shakes that work best? (Any suggestion is appreciated)

Also, are there any meals that are somewhat healthy and easy? We are not necessarily looking for 100% healthy meals. Right now our main focus is to just get in the habit of cooking and then we will focus more on what we are cooking. We figure that just about anything that we cook will be better for us than fast food. The problem is we often have too much left over and sometimes find ourselves wasting food because there is just two of us. Do you have any meals that you cook that is ideal for just two people?

Once again, thanks in advance for your help! I look forward to the lifestyle change that is about to take place in my family and sharing it with all of you.

ARog;
You've received a bunch of good suggestions already of ideas that "work" for the various posters.
Unlike you, as the first born son in an Italian family I had the good fortune (or curse?) of growing up in the kitchen. My bride, OTOH, learned how to boil water and make jiffypop, that was pretty much the extent of "home cooked" in her house.
Today she approaches "world class" (if I do say so myself).
Anyway, the point is, none of us were born knowing how to cook so, like anything else, just jump in the water's fine.

Regarding your "fast food" addiction (or necessity), it's really not *devil* you've been led to believe it is. It CAN be, of course, but it need not be.
Here's an interesting video that might change your understanding of what is (in the minds of some) "myth" or "conventional wisdom".
http://tinyurl.com/cr5fx68

I'm not advocating for the fast food industry (certainly they have earned much of the shame that has been bestowed upon them), but neither am I an advocate for common knowledge - memes which take on a life of their own despite living in a "fact free" zone.

Cooking 5 or 6 meals "ahead" on the weekend works for others, it doesn't for us and while crockpotism is great once in a while, it too isn't something that will ever become daily fare in our house - to each his/her own.

Once you build up a decent set of kitchen basics (and gadgets), and get "comfortable" it's really quite easy (even on a tight schedule) to "throw" something together quite quickly and for it to be healthy, nutritious, fresh, and meet your specific dietary goals.

In addition to the basics, you will absolutely need a good, and versatile kitchen scale, set of measuring cups (pyrex, various sizes 1cp to 4) and measuring spoons.
In scales, you can spend a fortune but need not do so. We'd recommend digital, grams and ounces, and the ability to "zero out" the weight of a plate or bowl. They're available from about 10 dollars and up. Here's an example:
http://tinyurl.com/p7288ny

The other, absolute "musts" are, a good digital bathroom scale, and a good (and user friendly) tracking app/program. MFP is as good as any (better than some, others prefer different UI's), you just need to find one that works for you set aside the few minutes EVERY day to keep it current. Log food and weight daily but DO NOT "obsess" over daily weight fluctuations (takes 2-3 weeks, at least, for trends to be meaningful.)
We find that looking at our daily totals (and what's "left"), makes deciding on the dinner menu much easier. How many cals, fats, carbs are left and adjusting portion size to "hit" daily goals.

On the bathroom scale, there too one can spend a ton on the latest, greatest, 700 function, wifi enabled "cadillac" or for ~30 bucks try this:
http://tinyurl.com/pnrseot

Finally, the VERY best thing you have working in your favor is the fact that you and your wife are "in this together" - if I were to list those things responsible for our success, that we are too would be, far and away, number 1.