Meals For One

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juliabelle47
juliabelle47 Posts: 2 Member
in Recipes
Having hard time coming up with things to eat for one person. My daughter off in college now and husband passed away about 4 yrs ago. I keep eating same things over and over when I find sometjing easy and simple I like...just because it kind of stinks cooking just for myself sighs

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  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,467 Member
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    I still cook a whole turkey at Thanksgiving. Slice the breast, freeze for salads, legs for turkey salad,soup,etc in small packs. Use the carcass to make turkey and dumplings or turkey tetrazzini, freeze individual servings. Make rice and keep in fridge, open a can of beans one day for beans and rice, add an egg and chopped scallion next day for fried rice, serve as side with pork chop next day, leftover soup poured over it one day, etc.
    Soup keeps for several days. Freeze meat in individual portions and grill it while steam frozen veggies in microwave.
    Read a suggestion somewhere to buy a good cookbook for two, eat one portion, freeze one. Thought it sounded good, but havent done it yet.
    Oh, yeah, and I always have hard cooked eggs in the fridge, for a quick snack, quick egg salad or for tuna salad, or just green salad.
  • grinning_chick
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    edited November 2017
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    You cook like you did/would for three. Or two, even. Or six like I do routinely. Then you eat leftovers. Or make new meals from the leftovers. If you don't like either, you are in for an uphill battle if you don't learn to.

    Maybe I'm biased because I have cooked for no one but myself (and only occasionally others) for 26 years now. Even when I have had roommates, we did/do not do "family style" meals except maybe 1-2/year, if even that. And yet, somehow, I have managed to eat a varied diet my entire life. I only have a few food hangups, and they revolve mostly around "exotic" foods like balut. Or :warning: split green pea soup :warning:. Sure, there's been times where I eat easy & simple like prepared meals, hot dog/hamburgers, sandwiches, etc. But I've also cooked, like others have written, entire holiday meals just for myself. Six pound turkeys are a thing as well as 2-4 pound hams.

    And perhaps look at the positive; eating the same menu for a week (or even two) at a time makes tracking calories and macros supah easy. Many people find a limited diet during weight loss helps more than hinders.

    Also now is the time to venture into those culinary adventures you've always thought about but your family resisted or even flat out vetoed. ;)

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I cook for two. Well, I’ve learned to cook for four, and manage the leftovers.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    Rotisserie chicken. Eat some of it warm with your favorite veg, then pick the rest of the meat off the bones. Use for salad, tacos, ramen noodles, sitr fry, sandwiches...

    Get some tortillas. Make breakfast tacos, chicken tacos, various kinds of quesadillas, beans and tortillas, enchiladas.


  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited November 2017
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    Make a quarter of a recipe for four. Or free yourself from recipes and just make simple meals. An acceptable dinner is protein, starch, veg. I think eating the same over and over is what stinks, not cooking for one. Have themes for each day of the week to ensure structure and variety.
  • RunnerWoman83
    RunnerWoman83 Posts: 6 Member
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    I am excited to break out the crock pot this Winter! Healthy crock pot meals ! And easy to freeze and reheat later .
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,137 Member
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    I have some kind of meat, either chicken, pork chop, small steak, fish, then have a bag of steam-in-bag vegetables. Easy and quick and no leftovers. When I buy meat, I usually have them package them 1 or 2 in a package. Cook one or both at the same time and save the 2nd one for another meal, or freeze if you don't want it within 3 days or so.
  • stacyhyoung1
    stacyhyoung1 Posts: 25 Member
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    I was alone this summer, so I understand. It was very hard to cook for just one. Sometimes I wasn't even in the mood to cook. I found though that if I cooked a "meal" (such as a casserole) on Sunday it could last me for the week. I would sometimes take 1/2 of it and freeze them so that I could use them as lunches at another time at work. I will be back in the same situation this coming summer.
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
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    I've been so for for a long ti.e. I too cook a meal for 4. Or 6. I don't mind eating the same thing for a few days. I buy a ham all the time and freeze a few meals worth separately. I have a small chicken in my fridge that will be eaten over the next few days and then it's soup time. There's nothing better than opening the freezer to a container of chili or soup.

    But if you must cook for one do as others have suggested. Scrambled eggs with vegetables is super easy. Roast a few sweet potatoes and eat them with a protein or add to a pot of chili.

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