Single Cooking

[Astrobot]

I usually eat ready warm meals from outside. I'm too lazy to cook and I'm not good at it. When I cook I usually make pasta,rice or soup. Simple things. I also heat up meals but I never use microwaves. I often eat sandwiches.

[Asexy Existentialist]

I usually eat ready warm meals from outside. I'm too lazy to cook and I'm not good at it. When I cook I usually make pasta,rice or soup. Simple things. I also warm up meals but I never use microwaves. I often eat sandwiches.

May I ask why you never use microwaves? I try never to use them, too.

[Astrobot]

I usually eat ready warm meals from outside. I'm too lazy to cook and I'm not good at it. When I cook I usually make pasta,rice or soup. Simple things. I also warm up meals but I never use microwaves. I often eat sandwiches.

May I ask why you never use microwaves? I try never to use them, too.

Oh my mother never used microwaves and I took this habit from her. Also, microwaves heat up the food way faster outside than inside. This sometimes causes the delusion that the food is ready very fast.

Some say that microwaves are dangerous but there are a lot of other "waves" in our daily life that are more dangerous. eg the electromagnetic waves from mobile phones.

[Adriatic]

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...

Chorizo, olive and cucumber sandwiches were my staple lunch diet for ages (sometimes plus cheese, although that really wasn't good for me :) ) The bread rolls at my supermarket are so dreadful these days, though (and the bagels are even worse) that I'd have to go to a completely different shop just for bread, and unfortunately I haven't got time. It's almost not worth putting good fillings in bread like that :/

[Sally]

I like to make stews and soups and freeze them for later meals, but when you freeze potatoes in your home freezer, they are really icky, so you have to cook potatoes later and add them, which defeats the whole purpose of opening up the freezer and just heating something up. Pasta freezes OK; rice less so.

[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...

Chorizo, olive and cucumber sandwiches were my staple lunch diet for ages (sometimes plus cheese, although that really wasn't good for me :) ) The bread rolls at my supermarket are so dreadful these days, though (and the bagels are even worse) that I'd have to go to a completely different shop just for bread, and unfortunately I haven't got time. It's almost not worth putting good fillings in bread like that :/

oh dear, its not like that over here... mostly fresh baked bread in yuuummy!! and very easy to make too!

[Asexy Existentialist]

I usually eat ready warm meals from outside. I'm too lazy to cook and I'm not good at it. When I cook I usually make pasta,rice or soup. Simple things. I also warm up meals but I never use microwaves. I often eat sandwiches.

May I ask why you never use microwaves? I try never to use them, too.

Oh my mother never used microwaves and I took this habit from her. Also, microwaves heat up the food way faster outside than inside. This sometimes causes the delusion that the food is ready very fast.

Some say that microwaves are dangerous but there are a lot of other "waves" in our daily life that are more dangerous. eg the electromagnetic waves from mobile phones.

Do you try to avoid stuff like mobile phones too? Or does the wave thing not matter to you?

[Matters Of The Heart]

Do you try to avoid stuff like mobile phones too? Or does the wave thing not matter to you?

Do you?

Before my brother was around to cook real meals...I usually ate boxed meals and microwaved things. Because I was alone, depressed and I'm not a very good cook. It's good to get in some fruits and veggies, though. Frozen ones are healthier than canned, so...yeah...frozen fruits and veggies are good to stock up on when you're alone and want to keep healthy.

[Astrobot]

Do you try to avoid stuff like mobile phones too? Or does the wave thing not matter to you?

Yes and Yes.

Personally, I hate mobile phones. I never used a mobile phone until the age of 16/17. But they are useful sometimes. I don't use mine much though.

This sounds weird but the wave thing doesn't bother me much. I never use bluetooth or handsfree when talking on the phone and I usually sleep with my mobile phone on... I do feel bad sometimes for not taking more precautions but I don't care much and forget it afterwards.

Electromagnetic Waves(I'm talking about the dangerous wavelengths) are everywhere in our daily life and you have to live very simple to avoid only part of it. I try on my vacations to do many outdoor activities and less indoor. I succeed most of the time(if not always! :P ).

Is it my idea or are we a bit(just a bit) Off-Topic? ^_^

[Asexy Existentialist]

Do you try to avoid stuff like mobile phones too? Or does the wave thing not matter to you?

Do you?

Before my brother was around to cook real meals...I usually ate boxed meals and microwaved things. Because I was alone, depressed and I'm not a very good cook. It's good to get in some fruits and veggies, though. Frozen ones are healthier than canned, so...yeah...frozen fruits and veggies are good to stock up on when you're alone and want to keep healthy.

I do! I usually don't have my phone on me unless I go somewhere or I'm texting, which isn't very much either. I barely use the thing xD And I try to never use the microwave, except for at school, where I use it to make tea. Because I could never give tea up. Ever. Do you, Moth?

And, I eat lots of frozen veggies too, they keep for forever and are usually flash-frozen soon after being picked, which means they often have more nutrients than the fresh ones at the store (which have spent weeks being shipped from Columbia or wherever), let alone the canned ones.

[Matters Of The Heart]

I do! I usually don't have my phone on me unless I go somewhere or I'm texting, which isn't very much either. I barely use the thing xD And I try to never use the microwave, except for at school, where I use it to make tea. Because I could never give tea up. Ever. Do you, Moth?

And, I eat lots of frozen veggies too, they keep for forever and are usually flash-frozen soon after being picked, which means they often have more nutrients than the fresh ones at the store (which have spent weeks being shipped from Columbia or wherever), let alone the canned ones.

Lawl. ^^; I'm on my phone pretty often, just because it has internet on it...I'm not a very big texter. Driod Eris' keyboard is awful.

I definitely don't use the microwave much anymore, not since my bro has been making real foodz. The last thing I used it was was...tea, actually. ;D

We made a stir-fry last night using frozen vegetables and lean chicken. Delicious.

[Changed773]

Hello all!

I don't know if I'm considered an "older asexual," but I really liked this topic. I live alone and created my very first soup! I'm so proud of myself ^_^ I spent three hours making the chicken stock and a week later (yesterday) I made "Heavenly Asparagus Soup with Tarragon cream." Well...it's pretty awesome. I'm so happy about it!

But as soon as I finished it, I wanted someone to try it...but there was no one around and then I felt super lonely. This is actually the first time I've ever felt lonely as an asexual. I actually want to date someone just so he/she can try my soup! :D Ridiculous, I know, but that's just how excited I am about making a real meal that doesn't include microwaving a frozen dinner.

[Mademoiselle Pink]

I've lived with roommate and alone alternatively since I was 17 (I'm 28). I always have my food and cooking separate from my roomates.

My parents both hate to cook so I nearly starved to death at first! :redface:

After some years I became interested in cooking and worked very hard teaching it to myself with online recipe websites (like allrecipes.com) and youtube tutorials. Amazon has a bunch of great books on cooking for one with key ingredients to have in a kitchen at all times.

As for portions, it is really hard to find normal size portions for one person. Personally, I get fed up of something after eating it 2 or 3 times in a week, so I work with that. I usually buy a pack of whatever meat is on sale, freeze half, use 1/4th in one recipe and the rest in another. That way I get the cheap 'family pack' *insert eyeroll* price AND varied meals.

I really think that freezing is the easiest way when you're alone. I try not to freeze too much stuff at the same time so I don't forget about it. It's an habit you have to make yourself take but it's worth it. What really helped me was freezing my ingredients raw. In the past, I would freeze cooked meals but I never ended up wanting to eat it. With raw ingredients it has a lot of potential to be turned into whatever I feel like eating at that moment.

Making a good, healthy meal for yourself instead of ordering in or buying frozen meals is really a great feeling!!

(I'm sorry for the long rambling reply...!!! :redface:)

[SorryNotSorry]

Having lived alone for a couple of years now, I figured out the key to losing weight is to cut out grease and high fructose corn syrup as much as possible. When I was younger I was fat because I was raised by an Italian mother who liked to feed me pasta and greasy pizzas and sausages.

Nowadays I usually eat a couple of sausages for breakfast and for dinner, but I boil them and never fry them. For dinner I also eat an apple or two.

The last couple of weeks, I fixed my own popcorn... I like salt on it but I hate butter. So then I had an idea. I filled a new spray bottle with soy sauce and spray the popped corn when it falls from the popper chute into the bowl. Some people are going to reply and say they think soy sauce on popcorn sounds pretty disgusting, but I think it tastes great and the popcorn doesn't turn out soggy as long as you don't spray it hard.

I love to cook my own food because it means never having to come home from work to find some disgusting surprise that you can't identify waiting for you on the table (and you're expected to eat it).

[Asexy Existentialist]

Hello all!

I don't know if I'm considered an "older asexual," but I really liked this topic. I live alone and created my very first soup! I'm so proud of myself ^_^ I spent three hours making the chicken stock and a week later (yesterday) I made "Heavenly Asparagus Soup with Tarragon cream." Well...it's pretty awesome. I'm so happy about it!

But as soon as I finished it, I wanted someone to try it...but there was no one around and then I felt super lonely. This is actually the first time I've ever felt lonely as an asexual. I actually want to date someone just so he/she can try my soup! :D Ridiculous, I know, but that's just how excited I am about making a real meal that doesn't include microwaving a frozen dinner.

This isn't ridiculous. I'm a chef and a romantic, so I want someone around to try (and also enjoy) my food. But... I have no one. :(

[Matters Of The Heart]

This isn't ridiculous. I'm a chef and a romantic, so I want someone around to try (and also enjoy) my food. But... I have no one. :(

Such a person would be so very privileged.

[xanthesun]

I know this is an older thread...but I love cooking for myself and since starting bentoing (think appetizing lunch box) it's really added variety.

I tend to do several side dishes which which really makes eating the same meal everyday less boring (like one week I did pasta primavera w/ vegetarian meatballs, artichoke w/spinach, a few olives, and salad for lunch). With smaller portions of each but complementary but varied flavors and textures.

The other thing is if you are using fesh ingredients that are voluminous or spoil quickly is to prepare them in different ways (spinach sauteed with garlic and spinach salad). I've also gotten into non-lettuce salads (like cabbage and radish with spices and wilted a bit from salt). Change the spices each day and you can get different flavors.

I save marathon sessions for basic items (like when I was making the vegetarian meatballs I froze some for a later point in time and used others that week).

[Samael]

Hello all!

I don't know if I'm considered an "older asexual," but I really liked this topic. I live alone and created my very first soup! I'm so proud of myself ^_^ I spent three hours making the chicken stock and a week later (yesterday) I made "Heavenly Asparagus Soup with Tarragon cream." Well...it's pretty awesome. I'm so happy about it!

But as soon as I finished it, I wanted someone to try it...but there was no one around and then I felt super lonely. This is actually the first time I've ever felt lonely as an asexual. I actually want to date someone just so he/she can try my soup! :D Ridiculous, I know, but that's just how excited I am about making a real meal that doesn't include microwaving a frozen dinner.

Heh, I've been cooking for myself for almost a decade now. I like soups, but I almost never bother to make them. Shame on me!

Reading this thread actually inspired me to brush up on my cooking skills, and learn new recipes. I think I'll have soup for dinner tomorrow.. :)

[never odd or even]

And I try to never use the microwave, except for at school, where I use it to make tea. Because I could never give tea up. Ever.

WHAT??????

tea in a microwave????

SACRILAGE!!!!!

It should be made with a kettle and boiling water. Always.

*shlurps tea*

ow, i'm not a pretentious prick in most things, but when it comes to tea, there ARE standards.

*shlurps more tea*

ps, frozen cake is quite nice :D i always go out and buy the onsale breads, cakes and doughnuts and freeze them so that when i get peckish i can scrump :lol: also makes them last ages and they dont go off. :D

[LaughingWolf]

When I lived alone, I would buy my meat and then divide it up and repack in one serving size and throw it in the freezer raw. Well, what difference does it make? The stuff you buy at the store was previously frozen. I also always make sure my freezer is about empty before I go shopping again. I bought the bags of frozen veggies, and then just used a handful from the bag when I cooked - this works great with stir-fry - and then put a tie of some sort on the opened bag and tossed it back in the freezer. My freezer was often packed full, my fridge, not so much. I don't drink milk, when I need milk for something I use rice milk which has (like soy milk) an incredibly long shelf life as well as refrigerator life. I did buy fresh veggies and fruits but only enough I'd finish them before they went bad, even if it was going to be two weeks again before I could go to the store. I've also always refrigerated my bread. (My mom freezes it and thaws it out in the microwave one slice at a time which makes its taste & texture awful).

It's all a matter of finding things that work for you... Canned soups & veggies work great, too. I often ate just a can of green beans or just a can of peas for a meal...

Just remember, buying in bulk might be cheaper at the time, but how much money are you throwing away when you throw away the stuff that went bad because you bought so much and couldn't use it up fast enough? It's much cheaper for a single person living alone to buy the amount they need, not bulk. Bulk is for families... ;)

[Tanwen]

And I try to never use the microwave, except for at school, where I use it to make tea. Because I could never give tea up. Ever.

WHAT??????

tea in a microwave????

SACRILAGE!!!!!

It should be made with a kettle and boiling water. Always.

*shlurps tea*

ow, i'm not a pretentious prick in most things, but when it comes to tea, there ARE standards.

*shlurps more tea*

ps, frozen cake is quite nice :D i always go out and buy the onsale breads, cakes and doughnuts and freeze them so that when i get peckish i can scrump :lol: also makes them last ages and they dont go off. :D

Agreed; one has (or one should) have one's standards.

[Asexy Existentialist]

And I try to never use the microwave, except for at school, where I use it to make tea. Because I could never give tea up. Ever.

WHAT??????

tea in a microwave????

SACRILAGE!!!!!

It should be made with a kettle and boiling water. Always.

*shlurps tea*

ow, i'm not a pretentious prick in most things, but when it comes to tea, there ARE standards.

*shlurps more tea*

ps, frozen cake is quite nice :D i always go out and buy the onsale breads, cakes and doughnuts and freeze them so that when i get peckish i can scrump :lol: also makes them last ages and they dont go off. :D

Agreed; one has (or one should) have one's standards.

Agreed, but when one has no oven and hot plates are against the rules, one has to settle.

[The Magnetic Grumpus]

I've found it's easy to do salads with low waste - get some lettuce and the basic stuff like carrots and tomatoes. Then to add variety I like avocado, feta, almonds, beets, cranberries, chick peas, sprouts, hard boiled egg.. You can throw anything on there!

Also not too keen on the freezing stuff end, but I do like to make a big old pot of soup and freeze individual portions. It doesn't look gross coming out of the freezer and it's ready to eat after a few minutes on the stove. This is also a good way for me to use up veggies that got pushed to the nethers of the fridge and need to be used asap or else. Just soupefy 'em!

[Melorian]

I live alone. The answer is simple: don't cook! I live on jacket potatoes and spagetti on toast.

[Asexy Existentialist]

I live alone. The answer is simple: don't cook! I live on jacket potatoes and spagetti on toast.

Spaghetti... on toast?

[Feather]

When I lived alone at school I mostly ate soup because it is one thing I can eat all of the time, and cereal and oatmeal.

[Melorian]

I live alone. The answer is simple: don't cook! I live on jacket potatoes and spagetti on toast.

Spaghetti... on toast?

Yeah - spaghetti hoops that you get in a tin. They're yummy. I eat a lot of baked beans on toast too.

And chocolate... lots of chocolate

[Asexy Existentialist]

I live alone. The answer is simple: don't cook! I live on jacket potatoes and spagetti on toast.

Spaghetti... on toast?

Yeah - spaghetti hoops that you get in a tin. They're yummy. I eat a lot of baked beans on toast too.

And chocolate... lots of chocolate

Hoops in a tin? Is that like Spaghetti-O's? Forgive my American ignorance... I'm actually really interested. What are the baked beans in your baked beans on toast like? And what is the toast like? And are you Scottish? And have you ever had eggs-in-a-hole? Tell me more tell me more :D

[Qutenkuddly]

I rely heavily on my freezer. Every weekend, I cook a HUGE pot of something, like stew, chilli, or tuna casserole, and portion it out into containers to be frozen for lunches and quick meals. I also freeze things like chicken portions or steaks, which I can individually thaw for meals when I have the opportunity cook. Variety also comes along through meals at restaurants, supermarket or purchased from food vendors at the market. Then there are the occassional pot lucks, BBQs and other food based social events (about a month or so ago I went to a sushi party!).

[Tanwen]

Spaghettti hoops http://www.heinz.co.uk/ourfood/pasta/spaghettihoops/heinz-hoops-in-tomato-sauce-4-snap-pots

Baked Beans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baked_beans

Egg in a hole? Do you mean 'Toad in the Hole'? It's sausages baked in a batter and very tasty too with gravy. :)