Cooking for one !!

madge7

I live in this part of the forum and love all the recipes and ideas that everyone posts .... but loads of people seem to cook for families and I cook just for myself as live alone. Does anyone else in the same situation have any good/speedy/cheap meal ideas for just one person.

Thanks!
M x

Stephen_Leak

I live on my own too and most of the recipes I post have been scaled down to 2 servings. I usually cook for 2, eat 1 and freeze the other or freeze both.

But for "good/speedy/cheap/1 person", I reckon this one ticks all the boxes.

GARLIC & OIL PASTA (AGLIO E OLIO)

Per Person

INGREDIENTS

1 clove of garlic
125ml of water
¼ of a teaspoon of salt
100g of spaghetti
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Ground pepper to taste

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Put the oil into a frying pan on a moderate heat. Add the garlic. Fry the garlic for about 5 minutes until it is brown, stirring to stop it sticking.

Put the water and salt into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Put the pasta into the water. Stir it to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Bring back to the boil and continue to cook, stirring to stop it sticking.

Begin testing it about 2 minutes before the packet instructions say it should be done. The best way to judge if pasta is cooked is to bite it. This is tricky, because if you fish out a bit and stick in your mouth you may burn your mouth on the boiling water. Wait a bit and blow on it, then bite it. If it is hard it needs longer. If it is chewy (or al dente, Italian for "to the teeth") it is ready. If it is soft it is overcooked.

Drain the pasta in a sieve or colander. Season with the pepper.

Always "take the pasta to the sauce". Put the pasta in the pan with the sauce and stir until thoroughly coated.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use any other long thin pasta, like linguine (thin and flat), tagliolini (very thin and flat) or spaghettini (very thin and round), instead of spaghetti.

TIPS

If you use enough water, add the pasta when the water is boiling, stir the pasta and don’t wander off ("Gli spaghetti amano la compagnia" or "Spaghetti loves company") and don’t overcook it, adding olive oil to the water to stop it sticking is totally unnecessary.

* Under Italian law, dry pasta can only be made from durum wheat semolina flour. This flour has a yellow colour. Particular varieties of pasta may also use other grains and/or milling methods to make the flour. For example, pizzoccheri is made from buckwheat flour. Italian pasta is traditionally cooked al dente, Italian for "to the teeth". Elsewhere, cheap dry pasta is made from other types of flour, but this produces a softer brown pasta, which cannot be cooked al dente.

PS. I have seen this dish on a restaurant menu for £8.50!

Telute

I've got a room in a shared house but only cook for myself (nobody else here cooks at all unless you count fry ups)

Roast veg and chicken breast is easy enough to do, you can put everything in the oven together and just keep the portions down to one - or do a bit more veg and stir it into couscous for lunch the next day.

Noodle soup and risotto are favourites of mine.

Chicken noodle soup - Poach some chicken chopped into strips with some chopped leeks, some carrots, some lime juice and anything else you've got to hand to throw in. Once the chickens done add some noodles (reduce the amount of water in the pan to just enough to cover the noodles- otherwise you'll have too much) and a chunk of creamed coconut. Add more lime juice if needed and coriander if you've got some fresh. Spoon into bowls, you can adjust the quantities of everything depending on how many your feeding. If you use precooked chicken and slice everything very finely you can get this on the table in under fifteen minutes.

Risotto is also pretty easy - fry off onions and meat if you're using it. Add one portions worht of risotto rice and a bit of oil, enough to coat the rice. Pour in enough stock to cover and then about half an inch more. Give it a stir and leave until the rice is cooked. You need to keep an eye on it, traditionally you add the stock bit by bit and stir constantly. I favour a throw it all in approach, but i do check it and tend to stir it constantlly near the end. You can throw in any veg and flavourings you like. I like chicken risotto, flavoured with lime and chillis, and leek or fennel risotto with a bit of goats chesse stirredi n at the end. Again anything over can be put in the fridge for the next days lunch.

claireabelle_2

There was a great O/S singles thread running, have had a look but can't find it (bet one of the board guides will find it though! )

ifonlyitwaseasier

how about batch cooking? make up enoguh mince for four meals and freeze 3 portions and the same with most other meals, keeps the time down and the food ready for you in a jiffy, just take out in the morning and you can nuke it in the evening

Paulie'sGirl

I like on my own too (well, OH lives here sometimes, its complex lol)

My meals fall broadly into two camps, where I can be bothered, and where I can't

Things I do when I can't be bothered are:
Beans on toast
Spagetti on toast (a little childish, but ok for a one-off)
Welsh rarebit
Frozen soup, nuked and eating with bread (likely also frozen)
Ploughmans (just an assembly job, cheese or ham, bread, pickles, apple, maybe a little salad)
Baked potatoes

When I can be bothered, it depends how hungry I am:
Chicken fajitas (make double & freeze)
Chilli (with rice, tacos or tortillas) usually defrosted while i'm at work
Pasta with ragu (whatever pasta I have in)
Pasta & broccoli bake
Toad in hole
Casserole from slowcooker
Stirfry
Greek chicken kebabs (marinated overnight) quickly grilled, served with salad, tzadziki (i make my own, LOADS of garlic) and pittas
Chicken curry (make double & freeze) either an indian or a thai style

If you want any recipes just ask. I find bulk cooking on a weekend makes life easier. But sometimes I don't want to cook at a weekend, swings and roundabouts

I reckon most of those can be done in 40 mins, or just need to be left alone while I do other stuff.

Hope that helps.

PGxx

angelnikki

claireabelle wrote: »

There was a great O/S singles thread running, have had a look but can't find it )

Single moneysaver living on my own!

Nikki
x

madge7

angelnikki wrote: »

Single moneysaver living on my own!

Nikki
x

yay thanks!!

madge7

Paulie'sGirl wrote: »

I like on my own too (well, OH lives here sometimes, its complex lol)

My meals fall broadly into two camps, where I can be bothered, and where I can't

Things I do when I can't be bothered are:
Beans on toast
Spagetti on toast (a little childish, but ok for a one-off)
Welsh rarebit
Frozen soup, nuked and eating with bread (likely also frozen)
Ploughmans (just an assembly job, cheese or ham, bread, pickles, apple, maybe a little salad)
Baked potatoes

When I can be bothered, it depends how hungry I am:
Chicken fajitas (make double & freeze)
Chilli (with rice, tacos or tortillas) usually defrosted while i'm at work
Pasta with ragu (whatever pasta I have in)
Pasta & broccoli bake
Toad in hole
Casserole from slowcooker
Stirfry
Greek chicken kebabs (marinated overnight) quickly grilled, served with salad, tzadziki (i make my own, LOADS of garlic) and pittas
Chicken curry (make double & freeze) either an indian or a thai style

If you want any recipes just ask. I find bulk cooking on a weekend makes life easier. But sometimes I don't want to cook at a weekend, swings and roundabouts

I reckon most of those can be done in 40 mins, or just need to be left alone while I do other stuff.

Hope that helps.

PGxx

Thats a help, thank you! I live with a pal, but she isnt OS at all! Or even money saving full stop so she spends excessively on food - she spends in a week what I spend in a month he he!
Have never though of freezing fajita chicken but will try! When you make toad in hole do you just use small dish and a couple of sausages? Also,never think to have chilli with tacos, always just have rice. Thanks for the great suggestions!
M x

claireabelle_2

Found it!
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=659091

madge7

Telute wrote: »

Risotto is also pretty easy - fry off onions and meat if you're using it. Add one portions worht of risotto rice and a bit of oil, enough to coat the rice. Pour in enough stock to cover and then about half an inch more. Give it a stir and leave until the rice is cooked. You need to keep an eye on it, traditionally you add the stock bit by bit and stir constantly. I favour a throw it all in approach, but i do check it and tend to stir it constantlly near the end. You can throw in any veg and flavourings you like. I like chicken risotto, flavoured with lime and chillis, and leek or fennel risotto with a bit of goats chesse stirredi n at the end. Again anything over can be put in the fridge for the next days lunch.

Cool thanks, made mushroom risotto once but it wasnt that great, apparantly the mushrooms should be good quality more flavoursome ones. Goats cheese sounds good! I massively struggle for nice lunch things for work so love having leftovers!