Cooking for one

maddiemay

Really interesting discussion on buying/cooking for one. When I lived on my own I did not often cook casserole/stew types things, just sometimes in the Winter in a 1.5l slow cooker. I ate chops, chicken breast, risotto, pasta, microwave at work meant I could take leftovers for lunch. I had a good appetite then, but now weigh 7st 3lbs and eat teeny portions so it would be much harder.

I often cook different meals for OH as I have an ultra sensitive digestive system:( I live in a very small town and can buy just 1 or 2 boned chicken thighs, 3 or 4 rashers of bacon, a single carrot, courgette, onion, couple of potatoes, single bread roll etc. none of the shopkeepers turn a hair:D

sitesafe

PasturesNew wrote: »

Whilst reading this, I am tucking into a cheese/onion pasty, mash and baked beans.

The thing with cooking for one is ingredients management. Take my spuds. I bought them early/mid December and used a green bag to keep them - and they're pretty intact still, only just starting to sprout a little. But I fished out 5 spuds and peeled them.

I then opened a can of beans.

So .... I have spuds and beans to be used up in the next 2 days because I bought them/opened them, and/or didn't get round to eating them sooner.

That then dictates, in part, what I eat for the next 2-3 days. I have to eat a lot of spuds ... to finally get rid of them. The beans are good for a couple of days and they can always be slid in somewhere.

Without having a big appetite, you end up "chasing your 4rse" with using things up all the time, unless you're careful. And even when you're careful it still happens sometimes.

I've no eggs. I have not bought eggs because I've spent the last 3 weeks getting through the existing leftovers - I didn't want to add eggs into the equation of "things that you have to eat before they go off".

Cooking for more people you can buy ingredients, use them up entirely, without having leftovers or to freeze anything.

e.g. take a pie/mash/beans. A pie in a family can be eaten, a bag of potatoes mashed, a tin or even two of beans opened. At the end of the meal there is no trace of any of that food.

In a single household you've eaten pie/mash/beans and you've now got three slices of pie to use up in the next 2-3 days or find freezer space for; you've still got most of a bag of potatoes to get through; you've still got half a can of beans that need using up.

While the family are tucking into a nice chicken curry, rice with poppadums the following night, they are also doing so knowing there will be no trace of the ingredients they used to get that meal onto the table.

If the single decides to have that curry the next night they've then got a shed load of curry that needs using up, shedload of rice - and most of the poppadoms.

Now the freezer's full, the fridge is full and you're fed up with looking at the pie and curries in the fridge/freezer and really fancy having a pizza.... but you can't.

Meanwhile, the family are having pizza tonight, knowing that at the end of the meal there'll be no trace of the ingredients they used.....

The single is now wishing to eat pizza, yet shovelling pie/mash/beans down their neck again .... and wondering whether to have pie again tomorrow, or one of the curries .... and they can't choose another meal in the foreseeable future as the freezer's full of pie and rice and curry.



Yes, the single could make just a single portion of chicken curry - by only cooking 1/4 of it.... but then the 3/4-pack of raw chicken is sitting in the fridge, waiting to be used up or frozen. And it's easy enough to cook a single portion of rice (I do it all the time).... but I was using this as an illustration.

The "answer" given is often "Oh freeze it".... you can only really do that for 2-3 days, then you've got food overload in the freezer and it's full and you don't fancy that lot. For most things it's easier to cook more.

Then you eye up the bread bin and it's sandwich time, or toast. I've not actually bought any bread since December as I've already too much food to use up. I miss it ... but I can't buy bread as it'll be yet another thing that needs using up and I've no freezer space.

Food You Like/Eat
Then of course there's this.... if you're somebody who lives on stir fries it's easier as you can lob anything at that. Personally, I've never liked/rated them - and they are horribly mucky, with fat spraying everywhere and clinging all round the kitchen as it's lifted with the fumes, settling everywhere and leaving a greasy residue after time.

If you don't like certain foods, then you can't stick to eating those choices.

We all eat/like different things..... which has to also be taken into account. You have to enjoy your food, you can't eat things just because somebody else likes them.

Quantities:

This is another issue. For a family, it doesn't matter how much food you make, somebody will always gladly scoop up the last of it.

I'm small and have a small appetite. I push myself to use 1/2 a can of beans on toast as 1/3rd of a can is ample, but I do it just so I get through the open can in 2 meals instead of 3.

Those who are larger will be able to, more easily, eat up the food they buy in.

I bought a 2.5Kg bag of spuds. I wanted some mash with my Xmas dinner. I made mash from 4-5 potatoes, but ended up only using 1 tablespoon of mash on the plate.

I bought a swede.... whole s0ddin' swede... one spoonful on the plate.

I bought a bag of carrots, cooked one large carrot, used 1/3rd of one carrot on the plate.

I bought one parsnip, put three rings on the plate, which left two long strips still to be eaten.

It's taken me 2-3 weeks to finish those veggies!

I so get what you are saying other than I have a larger appetite but I'm sick to death of repetitive meals!! I have no freezer - not even a compartment, no microwave (it's not my house) and live very rurally (nearest (expensive and runs out of thing quickly) local shop is 3 miles away, nearest supermarket 11 miles away)...so it's a big challenge and what you are saying is so my life right now!!

sitesafe

Glad I noticed this thread as I'll be following and contributing if that's okay. I'm in the same boat but a bit restricted as i mentioned in a previous reply, no microwave and no freezer (not even compartment); live very rurally (nearest local shop (that runs out of things) 3 miles away, nearest supermarket 11 miles away). I've joined the grocery challenge and it's really that - but it is making me cook for myself. If i make a curry or a bolognese I know that I will be having curry and bolognese for at least 2 nights each that week - so not much of varied diet. Im steering towards vegetarian and using lentils and chickpeas for protein as meat is too expensive unless ys and I can't store it for long as no freezer plus fridge isn't that cold because it's full of th veg I'm trying to keep from going off quickly as I don't go to the supermarket that often...my meals plans for this week are meatballs for 2 days, chick pea curry for one day (leftover from the other day), lentil bolognese for another 2 days, sweet potatoe chips and fried egg another day and veggie fritatta another day....maybe a chilli but i'm getting bored of 'wet' meals - everything seems to revolve around a can of tomatoes, garlic and onion! Still it's an interesting journey and great to hear recommendations from others on here.

iammumtoone

PN - Great post it really made me laugh reading but it is so true. You have summed it up perfectly I don't think familys/non singles understand the issues.

The 'freeze extra' comment like you point out is not that easy as the freezer is already full from what you froze yesterday and the day before plus all the frozen veg you need to keep for months on end before it takes to use up the whole dam bag!

I have said it before I honestly believe for one it is cheaper to buy ready meals as there are always offers on.

Having said the above I do enjoy cooking so try to make homemade where possible and not feel too guilty about the waste, when you are trying to eat healthy it can't be helped. I think there is too much pressure on people these days to avoid food 'waste'. With a family I agree cutting down on it is a good thing (where one/two days and leftovers are gone) but as a singleton its not easy. leftovers linger for weeks

Redlady.....

Tried a search but couldn't find anything about microwave Mug Menu's in this thread, apologies if they've been mentioned already. Both the savoury and sweet dishes look amazing but I have only tried the sticky toffee pudding myself, which was really nice.

This lady is Irish but lives in America so some ingredients like bicarb are referred to as baking soda.....etc..

Hope this gives you some ideas....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eslIRo9als&list=PL3N53o3RIxHLdZl_ccRBHD0nvosfOx_G5

[Deleted User]

I myself would never eat a FB pie as I'm not keen on pies unless I made them myself ,but when they are on the offer in the supermarket at a quid a tin I get some and put into my 'Ben box' for my DGS as they are used when he is at Uni for his sunday lunch . He loves them and will happily scoff one down when he is up in Norwich instead of cooking a decent meal,probably why he eats us all out of house and home when he comes home in the vacation
My late OH loved them as well,but I just couldn't eat them as the innards never seem to match the picture on the tin.They certainly see a great deal smaller than they used to be.My OH liked those brains faggots as well ,but I could never fancy eating them at all.I think he got the taste when he was in the RAF doing his national service as he said they were on the menu regularly in the Naffi :0

Still its a good job we are all different I guess. I have parsnip and apple soup for lunch today which I made last week and froze in soup bags .This way I do get a variety of soups during the week.

JackieO xx

moneyistooshorttomention

Another one that can resonate with PN's comment about having more repetitive eating because of being single.

I do a lot of halving recipes and then having the item two days in a row. But, even with that, and a freezer that's taller than I am - I do have problems on the "repetitive eating" front. Wouldnt mind so much - but I'm someone that likes a lot of variety in their diet and is frequently on the lookout for something new to try out.

It's a mixed blessing now that I've recently been able to start growing some food for myself - as I can take just a few leaves off these greens and a few leaves off those greens etc and that helps. On the other hand - my freezer still has rather a lot of apple and rhubarb from last years crop in there.

Nelski

JackieO wrote: »

I myself would never eat a FB pie as I'm not keen on pies unless I made them myself ,but when they are on the offer in the supermarket at a quid a tin I get some and put into my 'Ben box' for my DGS as they are used when he is at Uni for his sunday lunch . He loves them and will happily scoff one down when he is up in Norwich instead of cooking a decent meal,probably why he eats us all out of house and home when he comes home in the vacation
My late OH loved them as well,but I just couldn't eat them as the innards never seem to match the picture on the tin.They certainly see a great deal smaller than they used to be.My OH liked those brains faggots as well ,but I could never fancy eating them at all.I think he got the taste when he was in the RAF doing his national service as he said they were on the menu regularly in the Naffi :0

Still its a good job we are all different I guess. I have parsnip and apple soup for lunch today which I made last week and froze in soup bags .This way I do get a variety of soups during the week.

JackieO xx

Muuuuuuummmmm :D:D So love reading your posts and Ben is a lucky lad to have you as a granny.

Have to say I know I shouldn't but I do love a FB pie...its the sloppy bit under the pastry that I like :rotfl: I dont buy them though as I know I will eat them. I am in a PN situation today with a bag of "new" potatoes to cook before they officially die (another great purchase over Christmas ...seemed like a good idea at the time)

Not sure what will be accompanying one of the portion of the potatoes today but I do know that there will be stock for the freezer again which is frustrating but its that or waste.
Also need to make some cucumber and onion pickle at some point to use up the on the turn cucumber in the fridge.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I live on my own and have an annoyingly small freezer (three drawers), but only eat the same evening meal twice in a week through my own choice. Perhaps the key to this is careful freezer management and monitoring how much you use it. I realised I eat far fewer veggie burgers/sausages than before I started cooking from scratch, so ignore the supermarket offers and only have one box in at a time. I have one emergency pizza, up to half a sliced loaf and a bag of peas; everything else is single portions of a range of batch cooked soups, stews, chillis and curries.

There are some wondrous, magical food products like baked beans, eggs and pizza that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and tea (I LOVE cold leftover pizza for breakfast). I never worry about using these up.

I always used to overestimate pasta and rice quantities until someone gave me some measuring cups, now I know a third of a cup of rice is plenty for me. I also think half a tin of beans is a bit much, so I use a third of a tin with toast.

LameWolf

meg72 wrote: »

Can sympathise with painful hands. I had given up trying to grate anything because of the pain but found a kenwood food processor with different disks for grating and slicing for £5 on a carboot and its been a godsend.

I wouldn't be without the food processor - I use it a lot, for batter (we have veggie toad-in-the-hole most Sundays), pastry, and - I dare say I shall get told off for this - for mash (I make veggie Shepherd Spy sometimes), also for prepping carrot'n'orange for the eponymous cake.
But it's a pain to clean afterwards (I'm not allowed to clean what Mr LW terms the "lethal blade" for fear of cutting myself, he does that) so if Mr LW is around and I just need a parsnip chopped or a bit of cheese grated, he gets to do it.

suki1964 wrote: »

I'm giving up forcing myself to eat them just because they are healthy.

I so agree! There is no way on this earth I would ever, ever eat meat or fish. My body simply doesn't recognise them as food._pale_ And neither Mr LW nor I care for leafy greens, so we don't have them. So there! As for beetroot......_pale__pale__pale_ Vile stuff!

I'm debating whether to do potato'n'pasta soup with HM bread or veggie sausages with roasted root veg for dins tonight. :think: I can't decide, and Mr LW's "do whichever you feel up to doing" comment was as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike! :rotfl:

Re repetitive meals - one advantage of lupus-induced brainfog: you tend to forget what you had last night, so having the same thing again is fine. :rotfl: Although there's two of us, things like the Shepherd Spy do four helpings, so we have it two nights running - Mr LW is happy with this, and I couldn't care less, so it works for us.