Cooking for one - motivation needed

allat

I cook most nights for myself. I either just adapt the recipe to make two portions or I use a cook book for one person e.g. Delia Smith's One is Fun. And I do the washing up or use the dishwasher. When I was working long hours it was a problem finding the energy to cook and if I had been better organised I would have batch cooked. I have been single for a long time and I would find it depressing not to have regular home cooked meals.

[Deleted User]

suki1964 wrote: »

In this particular recipe I can't see your problem tbh

Crab - one sandwich has that used up

Rocket- omg I use rocket in everything if I have a bag. Stirred into pasta, on top of pizza, as a salad leaf - rocket gets eaten

Pine nuts - well they don't do off for ages so use them again or smash them up with the rocket and olive oil to make a pesto


Seriously all recipes can be adapted and worked on to cater for the single person. And as I previously said, meal plan, even a two week plan will stop waste

You sound to me like someone who enjoys cookery and doesn't mind all the palava that goes with it. I don't, and as I said above I don't expect to be planning meals until I walk into the kitchen to cook one.

Crab is a pretty expensive foodstuff, if you're buying more than you need and then eating a crab sandwich that you wouldn't otherwise have had, that's a recipe for letting the budget get out of hand.

I've bought bags of salad to make chicken salad sandwiches for a change, and then ended up using the remaining 90% of the bag as accompaniment for several meals that I didn't want salad with. That's another good way to waste alot of money, especially considering the price of bagged salad.

(As for using up the crème fraîche on top of your fruit dessert, one pot of that contains an entire days ration of saturated fat, all to be used within three days of opening the tub.)

suki1964

jack_pott wrote: »

You sound to me like someone who enjoys cookery and doesn't mind all the palava that goes with it. I don't, and as I said above I don't expect to be planning meals until I walk into the kitchen to cook one.

Crab is a pretty expensive foodstuff, if you're buying more than you need and then eating a crab sandwich that you wouldn't otherwise have had, that's a recipe for letting the budget get out of hand.

I've bought bags of salad to make chicken salad sandwiches for a change, and then ended up using the remaining 90% of the bag as accompaniment for several meals that I didn't want salad with. That's another good way to waste alot of money, especially considering the price of bagged salad.

(As for using up the crème fraîche on top of your fruit dessert, one pot of that contains an entire days ration of saturated fat, all to be used within three days of opening the tub.)

To be honest I don't really enjoy cooking, I cook for a living, that's hard work

I also found it easier to have a crisp sandwich after a shift in work, or when hubby working away ( which is most of the year)

Was only when I started posting on here recently I changed my diet around. Not the most exciting diet, and crab doesn't feature less its a reduced tin, but its a cooked meal most days

Balanced meals, well I tend to balance over the month

ms_london

melanzana wrote: »

Have to say cooking from scratch is a total pain when on your own. YOU have to cook. YOU have to prep. for one.

Realistically who would bother doing that after an 8 or 10 hour day or whatever working? Different for a family, some help there I think, hope!

YOU eat on your own, with NO ONE to say, "hey, that was great, thanks". And, YOU have to wash up too. So i totally empathise with OP.

I batch cook, prep, and freeze, on a day that i feel like doing it. Every few weeks on a Saturday afternoon mostly.

Then take out to defrost on the day.

Otherwise I would live on toast and beans. Which I love too.

All I can say to OP is, select the meals you like. Gt the ingredients. Have a cookout, and freeze in meal size portions. Defrost in fridge in the morning for eating that night.

It is soooooo nice, to come home from work and all you have to do is put the meal either in MW or oven. One dish, knife and fork, one plate, to wash!

Happy days.

Exactly what I do, just need to add some different recipes to my repertoire

[Deleted User]

suki1964 wrote: »

To be honest I don't really enjoy cooking, I cook for a living, that's hard work

If you cook for a living you can probably call on a wide repertoire of recipes off the top of your head. If I want to use up leftovers I have to start poring over cookbooks for first one recipe then another and another. I quickly start losing the will to live.

I just tend to stick to batch cooking stuff that reheats easily, or else processed stuff like veg burgers or quiches. My consumption of red and processed meat is little more than half the recommended maximum of 70g a day though, so I'm not doing too bad.

melanzana

ms_london wrote: »

Exactly what I do, just need to add some different recipes to my repertoire

Well these are my batch cook mainstays...

Chunky mixed veg soup (add leftover chicken or ham sometimes too.)with lots of potatoes. When reheated, sprinkle grated cheese or Parmesan on top with a spoon of Creme fraiche or cream, and a bit of crusty baguette.

Fish cakes. Just add a tin of salmon, and, or white fish, a bit of lemon juice s+p and finely chopped spring onion to soft mashed spuds. Mix together and coat in breadcrumbs. Fry off, cool down, and into freezer.

Chicken and potato pie. Slice fillets or boned out thighs. Stir fry with some veg and onions etc. cook spuds and slice. Make a white sauce as flavoursome as you like. Layer chicken, spuds, veg and white sauce, top with layer of spuds and then more white sauce. Cook for twenty mins or so. Cool down and freeze. It's nice to add breadcrumbs and a bit of grated cheese on top when reheating. That's easy!

Chicken and bacon medley.
I get my butcher to mince the chicken, and chop up off cuts of ham.
Fry off the minced chicken. Boil up the ham pieces. Make (white sauce...again!) layer the chicken, and ham, then some veg, and sauce, top with breadcrumbs.

I also do the usual things with mince too.

suki1964

jack_pott wrote: »

If you cook for a living you can probably call on a wide repertoire of recipes off the top of your head. If I want to use up leftovers I have to start poring over cookbooks for first one recipe then another and another. I quickly start losing the will to live.

I just tend to stick to batch cooking stuff that reheats easily, or else processed stuff like veg burgers or quiches. My consumption of red and processed meat is little more than half the recommended maximum of 70g a day though, so I'm not doing too bad.

I can put out for a table of 10 in 25 mins and not turn a hair.

Get me in a supermarket with a trolley and I'm just the same as you and everyone else, maybe worse cos sometimes the thought of food turns me so much I can't put anything in my trolley and go home, have a wine and a packet of crisp

We are no different. Cooking for one, which I do for most the year is for me, tedious , ESP as I don't like healthy veggie thingies and happy enough to eat pasta with butter and parmassan straight from the saucepan

I have to come on here and get inspiration as well and in the past few months I'm doing a lot better

I don't do processed food ( ready meals) as they make me feel so ill after. But happy with tinned fish. Quiche I make , takes half an hour and can be cut and frozen in portions, I make fish cakes with tinned salmon when on special, they freeze really well. But a fav standby is sardine on toast, with the rest of the rocket from the pack

I know what you mean about bags of leaves, I throw more away then I eat, so I try to buy the little gems, last for ages in the fridge( make sure the bottom are clean cut and not already brown)

*niptuckfan*

OP - I live on my own and have liked lots of pages on facebook that are healthy eating inspired -i have found this has really helped in keeping me focused as well as lots of ideas for new snacks/meals

aliama

jack_pott wrote: »

If you cook for a living you can probably call on a wide repertoire of recipes off the top of your head. If I want to use up leftovers I have to start poring over cookbooks for first one recipe then another and another. I quickly start losing the will to live.

The more you cook to a plan the easier it gets. It may not seem simple at first, but you start to build up a list of go-to recipes for leftover chicken, veggies, etc. and you learn how to adapt meals to the ingredients you've got in. It's something you pick up with practice, as well as an understanding of what ingredients to buy.

Admittedly planning meals is a balancing act, and it can be really tricky sometimes, particularly if you're concerned about the saturated fat content as you seem to be. Personally I'm not convinced that sat fat is as bad as the prevailing wisdom would have us believe, but the point is that you don't have to have creme fraiche every day. You might have it three days one week, and then not at all the next. That's all part of the art of meal-planning -- has this week been particularly heavy? Okay then, make the next one lighter and focus on fish, vegetables, pulses etc.

sandraroffey

i live alone since my divorce 8 years ago. im 65 so i wont be looking for another!!!!! and yes i cook almost every day for myself. he only days i dont cook are when i go to my sons or daughters for dinner, or i have made enouh for 2 days: today i have chicken fried rice, left over yesterdays chinese that i made for chinese new year. i make my own soups and ice cream...everything. wouldnt have it any other way. but then ive always been a cook, and without it, i think i would get very bored. i still get ahuge thrill from making a meal from nothing (well, nearly nothing). and ready meals are full of salt and other stuff that is VERY bad for you.