Help for feeding just me?!

brighthair

I live alone and work shifts and need some inspiration on food. I love cooking and baking but get put off recipes when they have loads of ingredients that I think I'll never use up! I work day and night shifts so cooking can be a pain - when I am on days I leave the house at 6.45am and get home at 8pm
On nights I tend not to eat "proper" meals, more toast, cereal etc

I take my own food to work - usually beans on toast, sandwiches, left over pasta etc
I'm lucky enough to be ok for money BUT I don't like spending more on food than I need to! I'm doing a challenge of my own at the moment which is to replace a brand for a value one every time I shop. So far I am converted onto teabags, crisps, biscuits and weetabix
My freezer is heaving ATM so I can't do my usual of make 2 portions, eat one, freeze the other
I'd also love a easy recipe for prawn tom yam soup with noodles if anyone has one
so yes, recipe idea for one please! I like most things except offal and pistachios

Belisarius

I cook just for me, and am very poor right now. I usually work my week around one nice piece of meat (e.g. a chicken, half shoulder of lamb), more often than not bought on sale, & half an organic vegetable box. I cook the meat on Sunday & use the left-overs over the the next few days in lots of different ways. I eat vegetarian when the meat runs out. I guess that's a very traditional way of doing things, but it's very cost effective for one person & forces you to get creative in the kitchen. Maybe a slow cooker would help with your time limitations?

brighthair

I am v bad and have never cooked a whole chunk of meat! Any help/advice?
What meals do you make with the left overs?
As I work 12hr days, I only do 13 days a month, so I can cook but on my days off, and then use stuff up when I am working

Belisarius

My current favourite is to poach a whole chicken. You need a big pot. Put a bit of veg on the bottom (e.g. a couple of carrots, some celery & an onion), then put the chicken on top. Cover the chicken with water, and add a bit of stock powder & any other herbs / flavourings you like. Bring to the boil & skim off any scuzz. Then, you can either just leave it simmering on a very low heat on the hob or stick it in a low oven until cooked. I'm afraid I'm not too good on timing ... I guess it takes an hour or so! Once the chicken is cooked, take it out of the pot & strain the cooking liquid in the pot into a bowl. Voila! A delicious, moist chicken & a delicious bowl of stock all at once. I actually got the idea from a book called the "Frugal Cook" by Fiona Beckett, which is excellent!

One meal is usually chicken & sides (carrotts it was boiled with, potatoes). Then I make chicken soup (can use different flavours / types), chicken sandwiches, chicken curry, chicken pie, chicken fried rice ... whatever really!

brighthair

that might be an idea! I love all those meals. Do I need to do anything with the chicken or is it all prepared (don't laugh at me!!) I have to buy free range (only eat happy chickens lol)
How long does the meat last if I strip it all off the bone?

greenbee

I'm generally cooking for just me too!

I tend to batch cook, and portion up the food so that I can take something out of the freezer in the morning (or night before if i'm organised!) and use it in the evening.

One of the easiest things I do, particularly when I'm doing the same as you - 6am start and home after 8 - is chicken stock with noodles & spinach. Heat up the stock, bring to the boil, add egg or udon noodles followed by a couple of handfuls of shredded spinach (or chard or pak choi) and simmer for 3-5 minutes, then eat. You can add a handful of prawns of shredded chicken if you want.

So that I have lots of stock, I tend to boil my chickens rather than roast them. I only have about one a month - I put the chicken in the SC with celery, leek, onion, carrot, tomato, bayleaf & peppercorns, cover with water, cook on high for a bit until the water starts boiling, then leave overnight/till I get home (this doesn't take all day, so if you leave it for a long session it will start to fall apart!).

I then drain the stock & freeze, strip the meat, and put the bones back in the SC with the old veg and some new stuff, plus water and cook it up again overnight/day. This lot of stock also gets frozen - I end up with about 8 pints of good stock from an organic or free range chicken.

The meat can then be used cold in salads for work, or added to risotto, used in stir-fries etc. As I don't eat that much meat, I do cook it in things that are then frozen so I can use them a week or two later. One chicken can do 5 or 6 meals for one when eaten with lots of salad or vegetables!

Lasagnes are also easy to make in individual portions - make up the different bits (e.g. mince/bechamel or spinach & ricotta/tomato sauce) and then construct mini lasagnes in little dishes. They can be frozen without further cooking. Alternatively make & cook a large lasagne, cool, slice & freeze in portions.

Soup is also good to have made up in the freezer in individual portions, as its something nice and easy to defrost and eat at the end of a long day.

brighthair

oooh the chicken with noodles sounds good - do you reckon I could make it spicy by adding anything else to it like some chopped chilli and spring onions?
*goes to root in cupboard for large pan*

Belisarius

No - just bung it in as it is! I only buy free range, too, but have to wait for reductions & special offers for whole chicken, so have sometimes used chicken pieces instead. The meat is okay for about two days after, I reckon, but you can freeze any you don't eat. Just se the meat like you'd use any chicken product in a recipe (though obviously will need much less cooking!)

If you're looking for good, easy cooking & advice I really recommend Fiona Beckett's student cookbooks, which are a cut above most of a similar kind & good for grown-ups too - that's how I first got into her & she taught me a lot of what I know as my parents taught me nothing! Check out the website http://www.beyondbakedbeans.com/ for freebie advice (the "Quick Meals for 1 or 2" is a good section ... the chicken chili noodles sound right up your street!)

brighthair

ooh thank you - you wouldn't think I was brought up in pubs! I'm actually selling old cookbooks of a relatives ATM, and have about 100 in my spare room!
I'm fine with mince and chicken breat but whole chunks of meat make me nervous
Right tomorrows meal is chicken breast in sweet and sour with egg fried rice, plan to have one chicken breast left over, to shred and eat on sandwiches with mayo for work lunch
I am not going to be able to get a whole chicken for a bit - due to the "using up the cupboards and freezer before they overflow mission" so I could be eating some interesting meals

greenbee

brighthair wrote: »

oooh the chicken with noodles sounds good - do you reckon I could make it spicy by adding anything else to it like some chopped chilli and spring onions?
*goes to root in cupboard for large pan*

Make the stock plain, but I do sometimes add a chopped chilli to the stock as I heat it up (I do this from frozen), and it infuses as it cooks - mind you, I do find it wakes me up if I have chilli in it, so don't over-indulge if you need to sleep soon afterwards!

Stephen_Leak

When you get a bit more space in the freezer, I reckon that, using my existing recipes, you can get no less than 10 meals out of what we on here call a "rubber" chicken, 8 of which can be frozen.

Sunday: Roast the chicken, and have a leg & a wing with roast potatoes & mixed veg’.
Monday: Have the remaining leg & wing with oven chips and/or a salad.
Use one of the breasts to make 2 portions of chicken korma.
Use the other breast to make 2 x 250ml bowls of chicken & sweet corn soup.
Use the carcass to make 4 x 250ml bowls of chicken soup.