Single and shopping

eschaton

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

Well, full time job, new business starting up, volunteered over 400 hours since Sept. Yeah, pretty lazy really.

Thought so.

Saint_Chris

Everybody is different, and the time they have to spend on cooking can vary.

We are pretty simple eaters, we eat a lot of salad, and always have steamed fish, pork chop, lamb chop etc with it.

but when i do make a curry, spag bol, chilli i always make more, then i can freeze it, and on a morning take it out to defrost for when we get home from work. Just do a bit of rice and tea is sorted.

I always supermarket shopped, but not anymore, we go the butchers, or greengrocers, i do sometimes nip the supermarket for some stuff, but I've ended up getting half of it from home bargain.

also i plan a weeks meals, and buy for that week, then i put on the notice board a list of 7 meals for the week, the night before i ask hubby to tell me what he fancies for tea, and he looks tells me and i take whatever we need out of the freezer.

love lidl as well

krlyr

OP, check out the "Old Style" subforum, it's a real treasuretrove of threads to save money on shopping, best buys for singletons, building up a freezer of homemade "ready meals", etc.

I was never that fussed on cooking when I lived on my own - when I first moved out, I practically lived on bolognese, I'd make a big batch once a fortnight and freeze in single portions. Bolognese on pasta, on rice, on a jacket potato, made into a lasagne, etc. Over time, I discovered my next favourite bulk cooking meal, then another, then another. You can make enough of a stash to rotate so you don't get bored, but still require minimal cooking because you're making it all in one go.

A freezer is essential, IMO. A microwave is very useful, but not a total necessity. For example, you could just defrost your bolognese portion overnight then reheat in a pan on the hob, and cook your pasta fresh - easy 10-12 minute meal. Frozen mashed potato could be defrosted alongside your cooked mince, and then they could be assembled into an oven-proof dish and warmed through for 20 mins in the oven. Frozen rice (don't pay for rice fusion stuff..make your own! The secret of keeping rice safe to eat is to cool it down very quickly, so cook your rice and put in a seive, and run cold water over it to cool it immediately) could be frosted and heated in a wok, much like you'd cook egg-fried rice. I use my microwave a lot, but I could probably survive without it if I remembered to defrost things the night before.