Cooking for one

martinnathalie9 wrote: »

I think the most cost effective way to cook for one is to actually cook as if you there was a group of you, I like to then freeze any leftovers for another time. Cooking in bulk means you don't always have to cook nice things from fresh constantly, we all need a quick and easy dinner solution at times!

That works the first time - and maybe the second.... but then the freezer is full of all this extra food you don't fancy.

Families rarely put leftovers in - and can easily use them up. A single would put 5-6 portions into the freezer and then it'd take 5-6x of eating that meal to get through it.

If I make a pie and put 5 portions in the freezer, a family makes a pie and eats it all and their freezer is empty. Next day I make a curry and put 5 portions in the freezer, a family makes a curry and eats it all and their freezer is empty. Two days down and my freezer is half full and the family freezer is entirely empty.
It's best to eat as much food as you can without freezing more than 1-2 portions MAX.

Singles' freezers also tend to be smaller than others due to more limited options/space (unless they're now cooking for one in what used to be a family home).

In short "freeze it" isn't a solution.

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

You could put a large board (worktop offcut or wooden chopping board) over the existing gas hob and rest the halogen one on there when using it. If you have no socket nearby you can use a fused extension lead.

You have no idea how many new fears all of the above introduced

I don't like being in the same room as the gas hob to be honest - and am OCD at checking I didn't accidentally touch/turn the gas on....

It's also "quite high" and there are many opportunities/fears to catch oneself, or a sleeve, or a boob on the knobs, hob, etc. Being short means I don't have the reach or line of sight of taller people, for starters.

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

The halogen hobs take up very little space as they are slim and very portable. It doesn't need to stay out all the time but you might be surprised how much use you could get out of it.

I've never seen one - I'd have new fears. Don't they need different pans? I'd not cope with "different pans".

That's why I just leave it .... it's all too complex.

You can't "fix" fears/phobias/autism with solutions .... they have to come from the person that's weird

ariarnia wrote: »

If it worries you, have you considered taking it out/having it disconnected and replacing it with a cupboard/increasing your counter space?

No, I like to believe that one day I'll "get over it" .... one day ... and it'd cost money to take it out (and put it back if I wanted to sell the house), so there's no real point.

ariarnia wrote: »

Truthfully, I rarely use our oven. We have a countertop remoska and I try to avoid making cakes

I don't make cakes. The toaster oven does most things. The things it doesn't do then I don't "need". I can work around most things. I managed Xmas dinner OK

The fact is there's a lot of food in the UK, there are many options. If I can't cook something the way I'd like due to not using an oven/hob then I need to either "get over it", or go without. Going without doesn't mean I curl up in a corner and die of starvation, it simply means I have to choose a different food to eat

I was VERY lucky to have a year's experience of cooking with a toaster oven, which enabled me to bite the bullet and buy one. Yes, I have fears, but I can "get over it" as I know it's all going to be OK .... being able to oven cook a pie, or a pizza, or reheat some sausage rolls was a major part of my food enjoyment ... so I'm happy I can do these.

There are people in the world, and this country, with bigger problems than my weird phobias/problems.

I should say - I've been using a microwave to cook most meals for over 30 years, so I know how to do most things I want/need and am really good at it as I have more microwave experience than any other method of cooking

30 years, 300 days/year, is about 9000+ microwave meals cooked to date.

ariarnia wrote: »

So share some recipes!

When I'm home for lunch with the babies I can't really 'cook' and at work I've only got a microwave.

Always grateful for more suggestions that aren't 'ping' meals.

I can't as I don't eat the sort of food modern people eat. My food likes are stuck way back in the 1960s and 1970s for the most part.

I cook food I like, without "modern ingredients", so they only suit my palate.

If that makes sense.....

I also only cook for one, so most of it's done in a 1 litre jug
I have a steamer, an egg boiler, omelette maker (going to bin that as I can do them better without). I re-use lots of little pots/dishes from ready meals.

I eat far too many carbs by a lot of people's standards....

I do a mean toasted cheese sandwich in the nuker... and fish finger toasties.
I cook oven chips and fish fingers in it. I'm quite happy to take a supermarket bought breaded fish fillet and chuck it in and open a tin of peas. In short, it's "food", not "recipes" as such that'd benefit anybody else.

All I do is work out what I want to eat, then I cook it in the nuker instead of by some other method.... if that makes sense. You can cook most things in them, so that's not recipes, it's just cooking food in a nuker instead of a saucepan/whatever.

I've also worked out ways round issues. e.g. you can't nuke raw sausages because you don't get "that look" .... but you can buy ready cooked ones, which you can nuke (hence me eating cooked cocktail sausages quite often). Yes, you can buy packs of cooked sausages, but they're a LOT pricier.... so 5 cocktail sausages = 1 regular sized sausage, for portion size.

I'm "not bothered" about eating meat, so if I want to cook mince I'll use quorn as I don't have to worry about colour/fat coming out (and all the faff of nuking it with a colourant then straining off fat).