A Cooking Idiot

bertietheblue

Hi all

Well, I've managed to get the best deals I could find on most things - from mortgage to mobile, car insurance to credit cards - without making any major sacrifices. But food - that's the one big expense that remains. Problem is, I cook for one and am not very experienced. Anyway, I was looking for some ideas or pointers to get the cost down.


Ideally, I guess I'd want "a day by day step by step guide to idiot-proof, tasty, cheap and healthy recipes for one from ingredients that can be obtained from a regular supermarket". The key thing is there must be no or little waste so if, for example, I have a few slices of cucumber today, I must use the rest tomorrow or before it goes off - my biggest problem is the waste from cooking for one.

Thanks all!

Beccatje

I can imagine that must be hard yes. Do you have a freezer? If you do, tht makes life a whole lot easier. Then you cook a full meal, divide it into portions, label and stick in freezer.

I don't anybody can give you a day to day guide'. It's something you'll have to figure out with the kind of meals that you like and don't like.

A lot of veggies can however be used in soup. So if you eat beans today, and you have some left over... make soup tomorrow and toss in those beans.

You can try making a meal plan for the whole week, that way you can plan on finishing the food that's left over.

Skint_Catt

What sort of things do you like to eat (or would you like to eat)?

You may need to purchase some tupperware/individual sized portion dishes if you don't already have these (so you can make things like four individual fish pies/shepherds pies for example - eat one freeze three). Curries and Chilli's can be frozen in bags or tupperware (remember to label them otherwise it's surprise a la freezer!)

mouseymousey99

I'm intrigued - re the no waste, how are you defining waste? That you eat and that's it - nothing left in the fridge? Unless you eat totally packaged meals that's unrealistic (in my humble)? If you buy half of a cucumber (and I don't recommend you do by the way) you would still have some left over from a salad or a sandwich. Do you have a store cupoard with some basics? Is this another post from someone writting an article or an essay?

wigglebeena

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

I'm intrigued - re the no waste, how are you defining waste? That you eat and that's it - nothing left in the fridge? Unless you eat totally packaged meals that's unrealistic (in my humble)? If you buy half of a cucumber (and I don't recommend you do by the way) you would still have some left over from a salad or a sandwich. Do you have a store cupoard with some basics? Is this another post from someone writting an article or an essay?

What did I miss? Are we being used as free research assistants? I charge a tenner/hr, extra if I have to access the Uni library.

bertietheblue

No, no, I really am looking for advice. It's been bugging me because I go to all these efforts to cut all my other costs only to throw away ££s in the kitchen. I mean, I know that I could get my expenses down dramatically if I could just be more efficient and committed in the kitchen.

Oh, and yes I have a stand-alone freezer but because it was empty most of the time - except for frozen peas and bread - I switched it off a few months ago thinking it would be more economical.

Skint_Catt

So come on here and go to the quick questions thread and say I have 'X', 'Y' and 'Z' to use up - what can I do with it? Then we'll tell you!

Get that freezer back on (make sure it hasn't gone mildew!) and we'll give you idea's!

Would you like;
Chilli?
Curries?
Pie's (fish, beef. chicken)

What do you have in at the mo you would like to use for your first meal.

Have you checked out the receipe thread? There are LOADS on there!

Skint_Catt

Oh and frozen veg is cheap and wasteless! Pea's, beans, broccolli, carrots, mixed veg, cauli etc etc Means you can also stock up on meat offers - just freeze it all and take out bit by bit! Chicken breasts are very versatile and easy to take out the night before to have for dinner the next day.
Potato's are best bought in small quantities (unless you have them every night) but keep them in a cool dark cupboard to get them to last longer. Don't buy 'special' baking/jacket potato's either - the large ones in a bag of normal white potato's are perfectly fine!

bertietheblue

Switch on the feezer? I mean, isn't that expensive for one person? Any idea how much that costs a month?

Oh yes and thanks Skint Catt, it's a good idea to list what you've got and see if anyone can come up with a recipe - for example, I've had an almost full jar of pitted black olives in the fridge for a few weeks and I really need to use them up before it's too late - especially since they weren't cheap - but I've no ideas.

nopot2pin

I agree with SkintCatt... get the freezer back on.

The cost of running it, will be off set by the good homemade food not going to waste.

I always make at least 2 portions of curries, chilli's, pasta sauce, fish pie ect...
One gets eaten, the others gets frozen.

This cuts down on your cooking costs, as you only cook once for 2,3,4 or more portions of food.

If you cant be bothered to cook one night, or are in a rush to go out.. you have your own ding diner already in your freezer.

Also as SkintCatt says... if you buy frozen veg, there is no wastage... as you only take out what you need.

Even if you dont like frozen veg, and use fresh veg.. if you cant use all the veg you have, make soup and freeze that.

Skint_Catt

olives - make pizza toast? toast, topped with warmed chopped toms, chopped olives and cheese - put under grill until cheese melted. Hey presto - lunch!

You can always buy fresh veg if you prefer it and freeze what you won't use before it goes off!

C xx