Cooking for one

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dcdickerson2
dcdickerson2 Posts: 64 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Who else is on a weight loss/better health journey with no family at home to influence your choices, but also no one else to eat the meals you fix! It is hard to cook for one. I've only been doing this since Feb, when my dear sweet husband passed away. I had cooking for two down to an art, but have found cooking for one is a challenge!
So far, I have tried cooking less, cooking with the intention of eating it or a variant of it for the week, and cooking with the intention of making one meal for now, and freezing meal size portions that I can grab for lunches or dinners. I still work full time, so I often need a lunch to bring to work.
I'm looking for tips and tricks to make cooking for one a little easier!!! And recipes that work well for one or that freeze well for future meals.

Replies

  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Look into meal prepping- a lot of it is focused on making meals for one person (or it can be varied) for a week. I will say I have never done it, but it involves bulk cooking of a variety of meals for the week, and they are refrigerated or frozen (depending on how long you plan to store certain things). I have seen plans with a variety of meals (so you are not eating the same thing every day). I like the YouTube channel Mind Over Munch or the Reddit sub MealPrepSunday- but there is a lot of information out there.

    I am sorry to hear about your loss. Good luck with your journey.
  • VlpW
    VlpW Posts: 53 Member
    edited May 2017
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    I am so sorry for your loss! I am a widow as well and my daughters flew the coop eight years ago so I cook for myself all the time (I can't afford takeout) and hate leftovers. I have become a master of separating the meats I buy, weighing and freezing them with the weight marked on the bag. I also freeze portions of things like canned beans, pizza sauce, tomatoes, etc. that I open and have too much of. I cook rice and pasta in larger amounts and freeze individual portions as well. I think it helps to have littler pans to cook in and I have a baby crock pot that I love. Check out allrecipes.com and food.com. You can change the number of portions on the recipes those sites, which helps scale things down. Good luck!
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
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    My sympathy. I like shrimp, scallops and fish for their quick to cook aspects. Also you can omlet almost anything. I don't always mean veggie starch meal like families often do and usually just do 2 at a time usually meat and veggie. Also deep dark secret of single cooking it is ok to eat antipasto or appetizers for lunch or dinner. Why yes shrimp cocktail is a delicious dinner.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
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    Oh also quick cooking grains like instant rice, farro, quinoa
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,977 Member
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    I'm home alone but I just cook whatever amount a recipe calls for and just frig or freeze the leftovers.

    I'll often eat the same thing 3-4 days in a row just to get rid of the leftovers, which can get boring, but if it wasn't any good, I wouldn't eat it, I'd throw it away.
  • PennWalker
    PennWalker Posts: 554 Member
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    I'm so very sorry about your loss.

    I'm also a widow and not crazy about cooking. My staples (I'm vegetarian but you could adapt to your lifestyle):

    -- Instant plain oatmeal with almonds and apple (add hot water and I'm done)

    -- Amy's soups (in all the grocery stores here -- I live in the USA -- plus Amazon carries them. High quality, vegetarian soups with good protein. They also have low sodium versions.

    -- Takeout salads with chickpeas or other beans for protein -- I buy two at a time in small containers for two meals

    -- I make batches of food and freeze some -- like lentils with stir fried vegetables.

    -- Silk's protein nutmilk with 10G protein per cup. I drink one with a salad or other meals and it takes the edge off my hunger.

  • JohnnyPenso
    JohnnyPenso Posts: 412 Member
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    I'm sorry for your loss. My solution is canning and freezing. I make larger batches of soups and stews, usually 3-7 litres, and then can them in 500ml jars so they are available when I need them. Other stuff I freeze in individual or double servings, pre-measured and labeled. For example, I make up a batch of quinoa with a large amount of vegetables and fish or meat, and then freeze it in single or double serving size portions. I rarely have time to cook a full meal during the week and all these options come in handy.
  • setzerfan
    setzerfan Posts: 16 Member
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    My condolences, I'm sorry for your loss.

    I find cooking for one challenging (except with eggs). Basically, I had to learn to like leftovers and I actually love leftovers now. I especially love stews and soups and they taste better after a couple days in the fridge anyway.

    It's easy to use up leftover meat and veggies in soup, omelets, and stir fry. Add different seasonings/spices and you can create a meal with a totally different flavour from what you started with, so it doesn't feel like you're eating leftovers. It's the cook-once-eat-twice idea - for example, a roast chicken can be roast chicken for one meal, the next meal add some of it to soup with veggies and curry powder, the next meal add some to stir fry with soy sauce and ginger, the next meal add some enchilada sauce and make a wrap, etc.

  • susanp57
    susanp57 Posts: 409 Member
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    OP, I cook for just me. Learn to love but modify leftovers. For example leftover beef or chicken can be incorporated into a stirfry or popped into a salad. I often buy a bigger steak when treating myself and taking part of it, slicing it thinly and put it into my mason jar salad for work.

    When I bake a sweet potato, why not bake 2 or 3 and have some for later.

    I also can soups etc.

    Thee are some cooking for one cookbooks out there too.

    HTH

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