Single Cooking

[Dargon]

Because of time constraints, I typically will cook enough of something to last a few days. Because I am rather broke, this typically consists of a lot of rice and pasta. I have also taken to baking my own bread because it is cheaper.

[LonelySaint]

eat with others sometimes...?

[LonelySaint]

I'm curious how other adults that live ALONE manage their cooking and buying of food.

like, I'm so totally a Ramen noodle gormet chef... anything that can be nuked or ordered out or called out for and be delivered... yeah... if i cook, meaning, use the stove or oven... it is a rare event and if it takes more than three things - bowls, pans, pots - combined to make... forget it... I have a big bowl... I nuke in it, eat out of it, wash it and repeat the next time...

[Trolley Girl]

Although I do not live alone as of yet, I think this input will be worty of note. I already know how to cook a number of different things. I can cook my own pasta, burgers, meatballs, steak, eggs, steam vegetables such as green beans, broccoli, asparagus, and corn-on-the-cob, as well as chili and baked beans. On days when I don't feel like doing too much work, I can always heat up frozen pizza, chicken cutlets, microwave hot dogs, or just the good old PB & J! So, I guess I'm all set! :)

[NamTar]

so single and broke I shopped fresh everyday..cool

I did the same for a long time, I lived 1 block away from 2 grocery stores, so I could easily find something to eat at one or the other. One was 24 hour, too, which was nice.

usually though, I eat the same thing all the time, several meals in a row, or I use the same ingredients to make different things (like hamburgers, then hamburger helper, then tacos). I freeze stuff and have leftovers all the time though, I don't really mind all that.

I always had trouble keeping bread so I usually just don't eat bread. I get bagels because they keep better and I don't throw them away so quickly. I know you can freeze bread, my mom does it all the time, but I just prefer not to take up the freezer space. I get bagels or wasa crackers instead of bread.

But I make all food by myself and I also cook for my dog.

Same. But maybe then we're not really cooking alone. My dog can eat more than me, it's always hungry.

[areece]

Hmmm. Microwave ready meals at 75p each 6 times a week and a pasta bake for a treat one other night. Breakfast is cereal and milk; lunch just a sandwich and a packet of crisps if I bothered to buy any the last time I was at the supermarket.

Cheap and nasty, but emphasis on the cheap - my food budget is ridiculously low, to the point where I probably have change out of £10 most weeks.

Just as well I get a proper cooked meal when I get over to my parents' house!

[Adriatic]

I like to think that I'm making pasta or stir fry dishes most of the time (sometimes I use the same ingredients over a few days but with a different sauce each time), but then I have other weeks where I'm never quite sure what time I'm going to get home (my working hours are usually 'Until it gets finished') and I don't want to buy too much fresh stuff in case it gets wasted, so then it needs to be ready meals or stuffed pasta, and I probably eat those more than I think I do.

What I never do, because it's a complete waste for one person, is turn the oven on. My parents have a combination microwave, grill and convection oven, though, which takes far less time to pre-heat because it's smaller, so if I got one of those one day I could be a bit more adventurous...

[daveb]

I do turn on the oven sometimes, either to cook something that cannot be microwaved or to cook something that makes multiple portions. I often make things that can be frozen, so I'll eat some of it over the course of a few meals and freeze the rest so I have variety i can pull out in between other meals.

[Hermathena]

There is always some milk , cheese (yellow and white), eggs and fresh salads (tomato, letuce, carrots etc) in the fridge as thats what I generally eat most of the days . Its fresh , tasty and I dont haver to spent time cooking.

When I buy meat or fish I eat it for 3-4 days in the row until there is nothing left. Vegetables I buy frozen and cook as much as I need each time for 1-2 days at the most.

Pasta and rice and ready to cook soups, there is no prob they last for months in the cupboard.

[PiF]

has anyone else on harder times..picked the green mould off bread so you can eat the rest of it?

[Trolley Girl]

has anyone else on harder times..picked the green mould off bread so you can eat the rest of it?

I really can't say I have...

[thylacine]

Re: hard times... I don't pick mold off bread, I give that to the birds & animals in my backyard. But I do use coupons, buy store brands, and buy stuff on sale.

Also, re: cooking while single... this is how I cooked my dinner last night. Went to supermarket to get catfood & mild for myself & cats. Went to deli where they had teriyaki chicken wings & egg rolls & stuff... "gimme some a those, gimme one of those, yeah, and one a those... got any fried rice to go with that?" And that's how I cooked my dinner last night. :lol:

[Hap2]

When I lived in Kyoto as an exchange student, I lived pretty much on Peanut Butter and Jam sandwiches, Hagen Daz, drinks from vending machines and the local ramen place (which had a really cool owner). I ate like an idiot that summer, though I must admit, sampling everything from all the various vending machines was kind of an adventure in itself.

These days, I do my best to avoid using the microwave, I tend to eat a lot of fresh stuff, and anything I need from the freezer I leave out overnight to thaw (like bagels and bread). I never get tired of PB&J, but one of these days I wouldn't mind cooking roast beef and slicing it up for sandwich meat for the week. I make a lot of smoothies as well using 0% fat Yogurt, frozen fruit, fruit juice, and a couple of other things to give it a kick, make it last, and supply me with nutrients. When I don't feel like doing anything, I order pizza, eat half for supper, then save the other half for the next day. Then there is always the stir-fry, which is healthy, and can be delicious hot or cold, I'm not that picky to be honest lol.

[Sherlock]

I love cooking. I don't mind a few leftovers, but I tend to do leftovers only to have food to bring to work. (Much cheaper that way than buying a lot of ready-made meals or take-away.) What I do generally is half any recipe I find. That way instead of having 4-6 servings, I end up with only 2-3. I make a big meal on my weekend days, leaving me with leftovers for my work days. I will only eat the same meal twice in one week, so I do a little hop-scotching of the leftovers every week, carrying things into a new week until it's eaten up.

During the work week, I will make smaller meals in creative ways. For instance, try some leftover rice with a chicken breast or center-cut pork chop you've sliced up and pan-fried, add some frozen mixed veggies and an egg, and you've got a fried rice meal! Or try some black beans with leftover rice, salsa and shredded cheese wrapped in a burrito and baked in the oven until the cheese melts. Refried beans spread on half a flour or corn tortilla, put on some shredded cheese and pan fry each side until it's gooey on the inside and crispy on the out. Quesadilla! (I do love Mexican.) I frequently do one-off pizzas with those small flat breads or pitas (about 6-8 inch round). Top it with whatever you like and bake.

I've done sandwiches on bagels or flatbreads, warmed or toasted in the oven. Plenty of P.B. and J, of course. Hamburgers can be a treat if you add a strip of pre-cooked bacon and a slice of cheese. What about taco salad with the meat in the next day or two? I also do my own version of ready-made meals (frozen meals) where I get the meat in frozen packs--anything from appetizers to popcorn chicken--and just make a one-meal portion for myself, adding veggies of my choice and single-bought rolls from the local bakery. Much better than a prepackaged deal.

I also love breakfasty foods. Anything from a fried egg with sausage to one-egg frittatas stuffed with veggies, waffles and pancakes made from half a recipe off the Bisquick box to popovers and oven-baked pancakes filled with fresh fruit.

See? Not so tough to make one-person meals after all.

[rosa_vescida]

Out here there are outdoor markets(even in winter)and there is always something cheap on sale-right now i'm feasting on mushrooms but every date i make something else using them(today was ciulama with mamaliga("polenta"));yesterday was the end of quinces feast!

[Nondeplume]

I've lived on my own since the dawn of time! :lol:

Breakfast is usually Weetabix, toast and tea.

Midday is usually some sandwiches and tea.

Dinner is a ready meal from Tesco (It's expensive though!)

I went through a phase of eating nothing but Asda Meatballs, they only cost 38p and could quite happily get through 4-5 tins a day!

Don't have an oven, only a microwave, so if anyone has any ideas on what to cook would be most grateful! That Mug Cake sounds intresting, i'll give it a go one day!

[Verp]

Re: hard times... I don't pick mold off bread, I give that to the birds & animals in my backyard. But I do use coupons, buy store brands, and buy stuff on sale.

Not to be a party pooper, but moldy bread is generally far worse for birds than it is for humans because their lungs are especially susceptible to fungal infections. Lung infection caused by mold is often fatal.

Anyway, single cooking... One thing I find annoying is that cabbages are so big. They spoil before I manage to finish them. I've solved this by never buying ordinary white cabbage -- I buy Chinese cabbage, Brussel sprouts, and German turnips instead. German turnips and Brussel sprouts are smaller and I use the white parts of Chinese cabbage in stir fries while I feed the green parts to my insects (and my snail) and use it for salads so it doesn't go to waste.

[Treval]

When I was living on my own, I used the freezer a *lot*. What I would generally do is go to the grocery store/supermarket once a week or so, and buy one of the smaller 'bulk purchase' fish packets of whatever type of fish happened to be cheapest, pick up what ever I was going to want to make the sides, then head home and mark the date on the package.

Also, I know someone already mentioned this - but freezing raw fish/meat and only defrosting what you wanted to cook would help cut down on the left-overs as well, and if you used good freezer bags it should help prevent frost=burn.

While I admit it usually was gone right around the time for the next trip, that was partially because I almost always had a friend over for meals - so that's another way helping keep leftovers from sticking around too long.

[slippydooz]

I cook every Sunday and make enough to last through Thursday. I do a rotation of vegetarian, meat, fish, and poultry every 4 weeks. So usually I can come home from work and just heat up. Then Fridays I eat at my parents', and Saturdays I get take-out.

[charlotte]

I really like this thread! From the responses I should really use my freezer more...

For breakfast I almost always eat cereal. Lunches are leftovers or something simple like fruit and cheese, or I pick up something from the hospital cafeteria (eww). For dinner I usually cook 2-3 real meals a week. I normally halve the recipe so it gives me just a few servings, so I only eat the same thing for dinner two nights in a row. I keep some frozen meals/pizza on hand for when I'm wiped out. Or I make a bean quesadilla or something similar that takes about 5 min to prepare. Every so often I order take-out sushi.

I also like to bake, and for that I find it is helpful to just give a portion of whatever I make away, so I don't end up eating, say, a stick of butter in cake form over the course of a week. I also think it feels nice to feed other people. It is VERY easy to find friends/coworkers willing to take cookies, cake, or pie off your hands.

[Sally]

I am ashamed to say that I keep potato chips, a can of chopped clams, and a container of sour cream on hand (in the refrig, that is) for when I don't feel like cooking. All the food groups: carbohydrates, dairy, and fish.

When I do cook, I freeze what I'm too bored to eat any more of and then 2 years later, I find all that crap and I toss it out of the freezer. :lol:

[Ziffler]

I'm curious how other adults that live ALONE manage their cooking and buying of food. Please do not reply if you do not live ALONE or have never lived ALONE for any signicant amount of time.

My previous strategy was to cook a marathon pot of something and eat that almost exclusively for 3-5 days until it was gone. There are a number of boring reasons why I did that, but it's just not healthy to eat the same thing every day, especially if you make the same thing several times in a row (yes, I can easily go a month or more eating the same damn thing at almost every meal).

I'm just not sure how people do variety. Things like buying 1 pound of meat to cook with is A LOT for a single person. I mean, even for very, very meaty spaghetti, that's still about 10 meals worth! Buying at the counter so you buy less can be more expensive per pound, because you don't catch the specials. A loaf of bread is hard to eat before it turns bad. It's possible to buy a half gallon of milk, though it's more costly per ounce, but you understand where I'm going with all this?

Also, I'm not fond of freezing things. I tend to forget about them and/or I think they look or smell "funny" when they thaw, get weirded out, and toss them away. The last time I tried to freeze portions of what I cooked (and only two or three different options), my freezer was more full than the fridge and I ended up getting very weirded out and so confused by all of it that I ended up throwing it all out one afternoon (and feeling really guilty about how much food I wasted). :(

Surely there has to be a better way? I'm looking for tips and tricks so I don't end up wasting all that food again. I really can't afford it.

I live alone and cook for myself. You can learn to cook in smaller quantities. But some meals just doesn not lend itself to small portion cooking. So I eat some things for a number of days on end. But then I only cook the things I like so eating them more than one meal is not difficult for me. As for meat. I do not eat alot of meat. The meat I do eat mostly comes in a can. I buy chicken and tuna and beef in a can. I can catch it on special and it doesn't cost so much and keeps for a long time. Bread I buy and freeze. I do not eat much bread, but sometimes I crave a grilled peanut butter sandwich or a grilled cheese sandwich. Frozen bread is easier to butter before grilling. LOL. If I want a sandwich that is not grilled, a toaster thaws out bread fast. I buy french fries in a bag and take out what I want to eat and put the rest back in the freezer. Same way with fish. I buy hamburger in patties. I love the swiss and mushroom patties. I just take one patty out and cook it and put the rest back in the freezer until next time. I love hawaiian pizza. I keep them in the freezer for when I crave one. I eat half for supper and the other half goes in the fridge for lunch the next day. Believe me when I say cold pizza is great. LOL. I never cook entire meals anymore. I keep a cupboard full of cannned veggies. When I want some veggies, I just open a can put it in a bowl and nuke it and eat it. I eat a lot of omlettes. Love my eggs. Pancakes are really easy. The box mix is easy, just put right amount of mix in measuring cup, add water and grill. Delicious.

So with a little thought you can learn to cook for one or 2 people without much trouble and still eat the things you love.

[N. L.]

I loathe leftovers so I purposely started buying cookbooks geared towards cooking for one especially fond of the dessert recipes. In recent months, such cookbooks have become more plentiful. Other than that, I pre-portion meats and such and freeze the uncooked meat until I decide to whip it up into something. TV dinners are also popular from time to time as I frequently get distracted while working on my writing and forget to do meal prep until I'm starving.

While I love to cook, I really don't like cooking for one. Haven't figured out why, I just don't. Even after living on my own for 5 years, I'm just now starting to learn to appreciate the joys of cooking for myself.

[cosmicbimbo]

I live off frozen dinners, the healthy ones.

[ohPhoenix]

I live alone. I hate leftovers. Groceries are sometimes more expensive. Because I end up living alone, I like to get out of the house at least once a day and I do so by going and grabbing some food somewhere. I usually get a sandwich. When I do stay home it is stuff like veggies, soup, romen noddles, cereal that holds me down.

[purrr]

I love to cook but I don't have a lot of time, so what I like to do is plan my meals for the next two weeks or so, then when I go to the market I have a list of things I need to buy. If I have a lot of things going on..i.e. finals, or what not, then I will make a pot of soup,noodles,rice, or just make sandwichs and set them aside for a quick meal on the go.

*hints*

If your not a big eater buy in smaller portions. Most markets sell half loaf of bread and other 'single person' amount.

You can refrigerate bread and it will last for 2-3 months and you can freeze milk and it will last almost 2 month. Don't forget to unfreeze your milk at least 2 days before you want to drink it ..lol

soy milk last longer then regular milk and taste just about the same (or at least to me it does)

sometimes some markets have a 'sale' corner in the meat department, its just meat that is about to expire so its sold cheaply, however you do need to cook it within a few days.

most foods can last about 2 weeks pass its exp. date.

Thats it for now, Im off to make mug :3

[Linlyn]

I tend to cook a lot of a single ingredient that I can use as a base for more than one dish, like rice, potatoes, or pasta. I can make a batch of rice and eat it sweetened with raisins, nuts and cinnamon for breakfast, add some raw vegetables and dressing for a cold tangy salad for lunch, and then pick up fresh vegetables on the way home from work for stir fry with rice. I don’t feel like I’m eating the same thing three meals a day. Every now and then I make “garbage soup”. Whatever I have in the fridge that’s about to go bad goes into the pot. Putting it through the blender and adding some milk and/or tofu to make a creamy soup works to blend the flavors together. I rarely freeze anything. I cut recipes in half when necessary and only buy what I need when I need it, which makes for more trips to the grocery store, but less waste in the end.

Linlyn

[Reader of Strange Books]

I find that I tend to make a lot of "one-dish" meals, either soups or stews or stir-fries. That way I get my meat and vegetables all in one dish. I have learned to look at a recipe and figure out how to cut the amount down to a manageable size or else I freeze what is left over and take it to work. It is challenging to cook for one but not impossible.

[never odd or even]

i find that salamis, chorizo, pepperoni are GREAT for sandwiches- they keep for just about ever, and last quite a long time too, depending on your consumption- get whole sausages of them rather than slices; more value for money, plus, its yours whenever you want, rather than when the pack runs out.

things like cheese and pesto go great with salamis, and if your into olives, you can get them really cheap in jars and they really do last too. i always get cheap bagels and bread, freeze the bread and toast one or two pieces when i need to. as for the bagels, they keep much longer than bread does, but i tend to freeze them sliced, and make my sandwich using the above and whatever else i can find the night before, using the frozen bread and keep it in the fridge overnight and grab it in the morning on the way to college :) (before i used to try make it in the morning, but i found myself making the difficult choice between lunch and breakfast; neither of which were finished as eating and sandwich making first thing in the morning just isnt gonna happen on time...

you can also use the above to fry with potatoes, in an omlette, in pasta, and even just a nice hot sandwich :)

my last tip would be to fry apples and onions :) lovely on toast, and if you like, fry some meat with the onions first until soft, then add the apple. lovely stuff.

i know i said that was my last tip, but things like tinned fish fried (perhaps with onion) and added to some tomato sauce and pasta is great, along with stuff like scrambled eggs (portions to size :P) and stuff is the way to go... dont even get me onto stir fries.... :lol:

and dont forget bacon! it is your friend! as it is cured it lasts longer that meat usually does in the fridge so.... i should really stop waffling on shouldnt i :P

ps, pancakes are sooo easy to make, and yummy too!

[Yellow Fish]

I alter between freezing, eating same for several days, or modifying (say, make a pasta sauce, then add some other things day after to make it suitable for rice or similar), or quite frequently having friends over (or going to their place). I love cooking for others more than when I am just on my own; it's one of my healthier eating tricks, really. When I am only cooking for myself I am more likely to go for unhealthy stuff (read ready meals).

Generally I try to buy vegetables loose, too - as that's usually what's most likely to go bad as those don't come in single-person sizes (unless you pay silly amounts for pre-cut packaged stuff) - on the day that I first use some. I have fruit / vegetable and supermarkets in walking distance. I used to share with neighbours when living further away from "sources".