meals for one

[Deleted User]

missbiggles1 wrote: »

There are lots of good recipes for one here.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/books/delias-one-is-fun

What's her definition of cooking for one? I've just looked a half a dozen of her recipes and every one of them uses perishable ingredients that are not available in the quantity needed.

I cook quite a lot of batch recipes but they're all liquids like curry, spaghetti bolognese etc. which will thaw & reheat in the microwave. What I need are single-portion recipes for drier/solid meals that don't reheat so easily.

missbiggles1

jack_pott wrote: »

What's her definition of cooking for one? I've just looked a half a dozen of her recipes and every one of them uses perishable ingredients that are not available in the quantity needed.

I cook quite a lot of batch recipes but they're all liquids like curry, spaghetti bolognese etc. which will thaw & reheat in the microwave. What I need are single-portion recipes for drier/solid meals that don't reheat so easily.

If you want to buy things in small quantities you need to be careful where you shop, buy frozen and defrost what you need or make larger amounts to freeze or eat another day.

I've been cooking for one since my husband died last year and I haven't found that aspect of things to be a problem.

[Deleted User]

Miss b, the sort of ingredients I have in mind are things like tomato puree, yoghurt, cream, lemon juice etc.

Take this recipe for example, it uses 10g of yoghurt, but yoghurt comes in 500g tubs and keeps for only 3 days. So in order to be able use up the yoghurt without waste you would have to find another 50 similar recipes that also use yoghurt, and cook 16 of them each day. If any of those recipes contain another ingredient that needs using up in a hurry then you just compounded the problem instead of solving it.

Similar problem here with cream, and here with capers, and if I'm busy using up all the meals that have yoghurt in I can't be eating the ones that contain cream and capers at the same time.

missbiggles1

jack_pott wrote: »

Miss b, the sort of ingredients I have in mind are things like tomato puree, yoghurt, cream, lemon juice etc.

Take this recipe for example, it uses 10g of yoghurt, but yoghurt comes in 500g tubs and keeps for only 3 days. So in order to be able use up the yoghurt without waste you would have to find another 50 similar recipes that also use yoghurt, and cook 16 of them each day. If any of those recipes contain another ingredient that needs using up in a hurry then you just compounded the problem instead of solving it.

Similar problem here with cream, and here with capers, and if I'm busy using up all the meals that have yoghurt in I can't be eating the ones that contain cream and capers at the same time.

Well, for me, tomato puree (in tubes) and lemon juice (in squeezy bottles) are store cupboard staples that get used regularly and are rarely wasted, capers less often but an open jar lasts for ages in the fridge.

Personally, I'd buy yogurt in smaller pots because then I can use one and freeze the others - that's if I don't have them as a pudding or a snack. My waistline shows that I don't have a problem with leftover cream:o but, at 55p for a small pot, it's hardly an unaffordable treat just to have it in your coffee for a couple of days.:)

jackel

thankyou to you all. your hints and tips (and links) are all very helpful.it all takes a lot of getting use to and coupled with the stress of losing my best friend and partner meals just seem unimportant.i appreciate all your ideas. Thanks again. jac.xx Can anyone please tell me how long it takes to start feeling anything like normal again and when you smile inside and not just with your mouth ?

missbiggles1

jackel wrote: »

thankyou to you all. your hints and tips (and links) are all very helpful.it all takes a lot of getting use to and coupled with the stress of losing my best friend and partner meals just seem unimportant.i appreciate all your ideas. Thanks again. jac.xx Can anyone please tell me how long it takes to start feeling anything like normal again and when you smile inside and not just with your mouth ?

Different for everybody and not the same all of the time.

Best wishes.:)

suki1964

jackel wrote: »

thankyou to you all. your hints and tips (and links) are all very helpful.it all takes a lot of getting use to and coupled with the stress of losing my best friend and partner meals just seem unimportant.i appreciate all your ideas. Thanks again. jac.xx Can anyone please tell me how long it takes to start feeling anything like normal again and when you smile inside and not just with your mouth ?

Jackel, sorry for your loss

Have you seen the widowed and getting on with it thread? It's on the over 50's board. You might want to join there for support. A few of the members who post here are on it, some very recently widowed, some longer. It is very supportive

Pollycat

suki1964 wrote: »

Jackel, sorry for your loss

Have you seen the widowed and getting on with it thread? It's on the over 50's board. You might want to join there for support. A few of the members who post here are on it, some very recently widowed, some longer. It is very supportive

I thought the same, Suki.

I put the link to Kittie's thread in my post #5.

suki1964

Pollycat wrote: »

I thought the same, Suki.

I put the link to Kittie's thread in my post #5.

Oh my, so bad That's what happens when skimming through on the phone and not reading every post :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Well, for me, tomato puree (in tubes) and lemon juice (in squeezy bottles) are store cupboard staples that get used regularly and are rarely wasted, capers less often but an open jar lasts for ages in the fridge.

I'm still having difficulty imagining what you cook that uses a whole tube of puree in a month.

My waistline shows that I don't have a problem with leftover cream:o but, at 55p for a small pot, it's hardly an unaffordable treat just to have it in your coffee for a couple of days.:)

But if you're eating something you don't need just to use up a surplus you didn't want, that's waste. Especially if it's making you overweight.