Cooking for one

irishkrissie
irishkrissie Posts: 36 Member
in Food and Nutrition
This is my most difficult challenge with weight loss- I live alone, and have no friends in the area to say "Hey come over and I'll cook for us!" to. How do you all handle preparing meals for one person? I've tried cooking for two and freezing/refrigerating leftovers for another meal, but I usually end up eating more than I want to- not so good for losing weight.

I also want to avoid things like sandwiches because I usually eat too much.

Suggestions?? =)

Replies

  • airbent
    airbent Posts: 150 Member
    I live alone too and I'm really afraid of cooking for two and freezing because I've had issues keeping my portions correct (too tempting, heh). So where possible I prepare my food meal by meal even though it takes more time.

    When I buy meat, as soon as get it home I separate it into serving sizes and put it in freezer bags until I want to use them. Then for recipes I just scale everything down to one serving, which gets annoying, but hey.

    Also, I tend to fall back on meals that are easily thrown together like a piece of fish/chicken/whatever, some rice or beans, and a salad with all my servings of veggies and stuff just tossed in. It's so easy but eventually I'm sure I'll get tired of it and want to incorporate more actual recipes in.

    lol, I'm scared of sandwiches too. Mostly because of all that bread. hard enough to keep my carbs reasonable!
  • jgic2009
    jgic2009 Posts: 531 Member
    Cook for 2, or 3 or 4, and portion out those extra servings (to go in the fridge or freezer) before you sit down to eat.
  • Zeromilediet
    Zeromilediet Posts: 787 Member
    When I lived alone, I'd cook for two or four or whatever and before putting on my plate would divide up into freezer containers or take out whatever was planned as lunch next day; do it immediately and less temptation plus easier to see what is actually a serving size.

    This also makes cooking cheaper because you can (for instance) buy a whole chicken and roast it, then whack off a chunk for lunch next day; plan to use some for another dinner (maybe cacciatore or curry or whatever), then finally do as every great chef does and throw the bones into a pot or crockpot, add water, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, herbs, and a dash of cider vinegar--simmer for a few hours and you have yourself delicious chicken broth and the base for unlimited number of soup ideas. Three to four meals from one 5 lb chicken.

    Can do same with a bone-in blade roast ... need the bone to make broth. Happy cooking!
  • irishkrissie
    irishkrissie Posts: 36 Member
    All good suggestions! Does anyone know of any recipe books that specialize in cooking for one? I tend to get my recipes from allrecipes.com.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    I went looking for recipe books for one and there just aren't many out there. You might check out "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" by Judith Jones, but I find that it was a different sort of cuisine than I was looking for.

    One of my favorite tools in singledom cooking is my ramekin set. I can make a recipe for two but cook it in separate serving sizes and then immediately pop one in the refrigerator where I'm less likely to eat it.
  • laurie0507
    laurie0507 Posts: 92 Member
    Eatingwell.com has a lot of recipes for 2 that I use!
  • firecraker05
    firecraker05 Posts: 41 Member
    Bump
  • musicgirl99
    musicgirl99 Posts: 252 Member
    All good suggestions! Does anyone know of any recipe books that specialize in cooking for one? I tend to get my recipes from allrecipes.com.

    "The Pleasures of Cooking for One". I don't own this book but it got great reviews on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Pleasures-Cooking-Judith-Jones/dp/0307270726 Hope this is helpful
  • musicgirl99
    musicgirl99 Posts: 252 Member
    Or, "Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You're on Your Own" The link is below.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1891105140/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0307270726&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=064G45D2NMXCWVDBXPJZ
  • Ralphrabbit
    Ralphrabbit Posts: 351 Member
    Stir-fry just what you need!
  • Nikki881
    Nikki881 Posts: 203
    Cook for 2, or 3 or 4, and portion out those extra servings (to go in the fridge or freezer) before you sit down to eat.

    Exactly this. I make a recipe that serves 4 or 5 meals, then when it's done cooking, I separate it right away. I usually do this on Sunday night, and that way I have supper (or lunch) for the whole week already made. It saves a lot of time!
  • Spice_4_Life
    Spice_4_Life Posts: 225
    Cook for 2, or 3 or 4, and portion out those extra servings (to go in the fridge or freezer) before you sit down to eat.

    ^^ That's what I would have said :) So...nicely said! Before you eat is definitely the way to go. Good luck hun!!!
  • itsjustdawn
    itsjustdawn Posts: 1,073 Member
    I love it. I cook just enough for me. I'd hate to cook for others lol
  • shannashannabobana
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
    Cook for 2, or 3 or 4, and portion out those extra servings (to go in the fridge or freezer) before you sit down to eat.
    This is what I do (not for freezer, but I portion out stuff to take to work).
  • cmp_denver
    cmp_denver Posts: 44 Member
    If you Google, "Cooking for One" you get tons of hits for websites that give you ideas. I live alone as well, I do prepare two portions per meal that I cool, but I immediately put one of them in the refrigerator before I eat. It took some time to get in that habit but now I find that I don't over indulge if I do that little extra step.
  • JudyL5305
    JudyL5305 Posts: 196 Member
    Cook for 2, or 3 or 4, and portion out those extra servings (to go in the fridge or freezer) before you sit down to eat.

    Exactly this. I make a recipe that serves 4 or 5 meals, then when it's done cooking, I separate it right away. I usually do this on Sunday night, and that way I have supper (or lunch) for the whole week already made. It saves a lot of time!

    This is exactly what I do. I do all the cooking and prepping on Sunday for the week and when i get home from the gym every night I just pull that nights portion out heat it in the microwave and put the rest away.
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
    I chicken breast (boneless skinless) cut in half long wa. Then I pound it flat. I take aspasagus and rollit up, put it on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 30 mins. It's so nice and juicy & tender. IIt makes two for me. One for the next day!

    Good luck
  • msudaisy28
    msudaisy28 Posts: 267 Member
    Cook for 2, or 3 or 4, and portion out those extra servings (to go in the fridge or freezer) before you sit down to eat.

    This is exactly what I did when I lived by myself. I still do this a lot since it saves tons of time on busy weeknights, and because I have some favorites that hubby doesn't care for so I just freeze the leftovers.
  • cckellympls
    cckellympls Posts: 39 Member
    I eat a lot of chicken and the chicken i buy is individually vac sealed. So, I just take one out of the freezer and open it up and put in oven and ready in 30 min. Easy........the hard part is finding the ind wrapped chicken. I hate touching chicken and cleaning it. The ones i get are skinless, boneless breasts.....pract no fat. If you have a Schwanns delivery man in your area that is my fav ind wrapped chicken breasts.
  • kindredlaugh
    kindredlaugh Posts: 14
    One suggestion I got a long time go is this:

    If you have a recipe that you like that servers too many, cook and portion freeze the excess sauce of the recipe. Then just complete the meat and vegetable part of the recipe for the portion you want.

    The extra advantage is that you have the sauce ready to go some evening when you don't feel like cooking a whole production, you just prepare another portion of meat and veg and then add a portion of the thawed sauce.
  • jsidel126
    jsidel126 Posts: 694 Member
    I cook for one most week nights. I make portion sizes to fit my hunger level. Most times if this not enough, I an not hungry enough to prepare another portion. Keeps my calories in check.

    I don't find a need for recipe books. I combine indredients that taste good to me. In combination, they still taste good. I can prepare most simple dishes without detailed instructions.

    I prepare most meals from simple, basic ingredients using a microwave. Most do not take more than 10 minutes from start to ready to eat. A similar meal to a frozen "lean cuisine" takes less time to prepare from basic ingredients than defrosting and heating the frozen one. There are very few things that I cannot use the microwave to prepare.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Stir fries are quick and easy and you can add variety by having noodles with it one night, rice another. Make up a pot of chilli and you can have it in wraps, with rice, in a jacket potato etc. Makes it feel less like having the same meal 2 nights running that way.

    Cook a chicken and have it in several different ways. Makes for a quick meal too since you're only heating it through in whatever dish you add it to.
  • beccahummel423
    beccahummel423 Posts: 72 Member
    I do a lot of the things suggested. The first thing I do when I get home from the store is separate my meat (beef, turkey, chicken) into single serving portions & freeze them in small freezer bags. Then I can just take that out & cook it. I also will make a recipe for something (casserole) and freeze the individual portions. Frozen veggies are a single person's dream - you can cook as much or as little as you want.
  • kls13la
    kls13la Posts: 380 Member
    Cooking for one is such a pain, especially when you like to cook and want to try fancier recipes. I hate having to reduce every recipe down to one, two or three portions, especially recipes that call for ingredients that I don't typically buy. Then I end up with some random amount of some random ingredient (i.e,. like 3/4 of a can of garbanzo beans or something), that I have to figure out some way to use before it goes bad, in addition to eating the meal that I just cooked over the next couple of days.

    I understand the concept of leftovers and freezing, but I hate both when it comes to dinner. While I don't mind eating the same breakfast and lunch day after day, I like variety in my dinner. I can't stand being forced to eat the same dinner night after night just because I happen to have leftovers and don't want to waste the food. Also, I hate freezing food. Blech. (Also, I don't have a huge freezer.) There is nothing more unappetizing to me than removing a block of some frozen, previously delicious meal from the freezer and going through the process of turning it back into edible food. Two nights in a row of the same thing is about my limit.

    So, I try to rely on dinners where it is easy to make one portion -- a piece of fish or chicken, a salad, a side of veggies, a sandwich. When I do cook from a recipe, I usually reduce it down to two or three servings and immediately separate out the extra servings and put them in the refrigerator. Sometimes I use my crock pot to make something on a Saturday or Sunday and try to use that for a few meals, but I get so sick of eating the same thing that I have a hard time doing that.

    It really is challenging to shop and eat food before it goes bad when you are only buying and cooking for one. I regularly overestimate how much I can eat in a week.
  • Brenda_Pancakes
    Brenda_Pancakes Posts: 288 Member
    I'm the healthy eater of our family - so I tend to make a lot of single portions... especially for lunches that I take with me to work. I LOVE the meats that you can buy at Costco/Sams Club that are vacumed in the single serving containers... Salmon... chicken breast... I use a LOT of those. Paired up with either fresh veges (I'll usually hit Trader Joe's about once a week), or frozen vege's or rice... I only cook enough for one in my Foreman grill, and it's perfect.

    There are those big meals; ie: anything you need to make in a crockpot, that aren't really adaptable to make only a portion or two... for those I agree with everyone else and say make it and freeze it in individual baggies/containers.
  • irishkrissie
    irishkrissie Posts: 36 Member
    Wow, that's a great idea about separating the sauce from the meat! Thanks, I'll have to try that out.

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