<p>I am single, my kids are finally sort of launched, and for the first time in 33 years, I don’t HAVE to cook for anyone. But how do you cook for one? I can’t afford to eat out all the time (I don’t like fast food anyway), but I’m not really motivated to dirty up the kitchen for just me.<br>
What do other single people eat?</p>
<p>For two years I lived in another state during the week, for my job, and I made dinner for myself four nights a week.</p>
<p>Sometimes I’d buy a rotisserie chicken on Monday night. Monday, I’d have a quarter of it, with rice or baked potato and a veggie. Tuesday, I might slice some chicken and use it in a stir-fry – with onions, asparagus, and carrots, on rice with an Asian sauce. Wednesday, I might heat up another quarter of the chicken and have it with a sweet potato and a veggie. Thursday, I might make chicken salad with the chicken, apple, celery and mayo, and have it with a crispy roll.</p>
<p>I also froze ground beef into single-serving sizes. Sometimes I’d brown the beef in a fry pan and add spaghetti sauce from a jar, then serve it over spaghetti, with a salad. </p>
<p>I don’t eat a lot but I didn’t find it a struggle to feed myself during those nights.</p>
<p>ETA: My “go-to” meal was an Asian stir-fry. You might prefer making something more Tex-Mex. Same idea!</p>
<p>My only kid left at home spends some long stretches with her dad in the summer and on other school vacations. I cook the stuff I really like (some things that she doesn’t eat), and freeze it in two-three serving batches. Then eat it for a couple of days when I take it out of the freezer (maybe dinner, then take to work for lunch the next day). I don’t have to dirty the kitchen as often. Sometimes I get takeout (pizza, Chinese), and the leftovers feed me for a couple of days. And I get all the fortune cookies. :)</p>
<p>My go to/favorite is chicken quesadillas. I poach a batch of chicken breasts, then have them for a few days with whole wheat tortillas, black beans, cheese, and avocados. Add Trader Joe’s “Avocado Salsa” and they are perfect.</p>
<p>I like to make fajitas with chicken breast, onions, bell peppers, cheese, guacamole, etc., but the prep for all that is a pain in the rear! Guess I’m getting lazy in my old age. </p>
<p>When the kids were here, I would cook at night then eat the leftovers for lunch the next day or two. Since I haven’t been cooking supper, I find I am struggling with lunch, too. I like salads, but I get tired of them after a day or two.</p>
<p>Salad with dressing, mandarin oranges, cheese slices,olives, tuna from a bag, ground chicken cook with sauce and spaghetti, egg drop in ramen soup with cheese, fresh raw veggies, lots of nuts, egg whites with bacon, apples, all fruit, mashed potatoes, tacos with chicken strips that are stir fried, cooked cereal and fruit and nuts.</p>
<p>I wish I only had to cook for one.</p>
<p>I enjoy cooking for one. I always cook multiple meals. So, if I cook a pork roast, I get four meals out of it. Usually a second night in the fridge, then two in the freezer. Chicken breasts will be fajitas or something the night I cook them, then leftovers in a chicken caesar salad. So, I always have single serve “tv dinners” in the freezer. Just pull one out, nuke it, and good eatin’.</p>
<p>I have organizational systems that work when cooking solo. For example, I bought a shoebox size tupperware container that sits on the shelf in the fridge. Onion, red bell peppers, and carrots. Just grab it, put it on the counter, and there are fixin’s for salad or soups. No more hunting around in the fridge for an onion.</p>
<p>Try things. Because you are one person, you can afford smaller quantities of different and better ingredients. So learn different things. </p>
<p>For example, I was in the Asian supermarket today - I know many don’t have one or only have a tiny one - and they had watercress on sale. How many people eat watercress? It’s delicious as a salad. It goes well in sandwiches. Etc. I also bought some smoked tofu - which they sell at Whole Foods too but it’s not as good - cubed it, cut up some oyster mushrooms, bok choy and sauteed those with pea pods. So good I ate it all. Didn’t share.</p>
<p>I try not to make a quantity of food because then I get tired of eating the same thing over and over. If I want a steak, I think: there’s only me so I’ll buy a really good cowboy steak and sear the heck out of it. Better meat, better eating, same cost.</p>
<p>As disclosure, it’s the 2 of us but and we sort of split cooking so some days and some meals we cook for each other, some days we each cook for ourselves, etc. So I do buy and cook for myself sometimes. You learn to make what you really want.</p>
<p>I recommend Judith Jones’ cookbook The Pleasures of Cooking for One. Nice ideas.</p>
<p>Wow, interesteddad. You’re my hero with your organizational systems. I’ve managed to consolidate all veggies and fruits into a single drawer in the fridge (now that DS and DD are off at college), but I still have to root around in that drawer to find what I’m looking for. Think I’ll “borrow” your idea.</p>
<p>The first real challenge to cooking for one is to figure out what you like to eat. After DD moved out to go to college, I realized I had been cooking meals that the kids liked, but not what I necessarily liked. It took me about 6 months to figure out what I really like to eat - tacos? not so much; spaghetti, yep.</p>
<p>I bought a 4-quart crock pot and make soups and stews that are ready to eat when I get home from work. Leftovers are no problem. I bought several single-serving sized containers and fill them with the leftover soups and stews, pop them in the freezer, and have meals-for-one ready to go. </p>
<p>Admittedly, there are nights I’m too tired to cook, so a frozen dinner or take-out is the order of the day. </p>
<p>All in all, with a little experimentation, you’ll find it’s quite nice to cook just for yourself. Now, if I only didn’t have to do the dishes . . .</p>
<p>I have trader joes frozen veggies of all descriptions, frozen rice, and throw in a chicken breast some curry sauce and voila and great dinner</p>
<p>Or throw into a salad</p>
<p>Trick is to freeze Stuff, like half the pork loin, and once a week go thru freezer and cook</p>
<p>I make extra pasta sauce and freeze, cook some noodle and again a great meal with little waste</p>
<p>Tacos. Toasted cheese, big salads, </p>
<p>Another fave is take out Chinese lunches for dinner, has the rice,small salad and entree</p>
<p>OK, I definitely go with the make & freeze plan – but that’s a hassle in itself. Here is my latest (new, but I’m happier with the results than I thought it would be):</p>
<p>I just bought a LITTLE crockpot (1.5 Qt.) I have a larger one, but making a big batch of something is time consuming. With the little crockpot, I can throw in stuff in the morning and have a meal for myself ready in the evening. </p>
<p>This is new for me, but I am surprised at how much I have been using the little pot since I got it. I think one of the hassles of living alone is that sometimes I just don’t feel like spending much time on cooking & prep, so I end up noshing rather than having a real meal.</p>
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<p>It came to me about the 500th time I got an onion out of the fridge, then a carrot, then a red bell pepper… Lightbulb… hey dummy, why don’t you put all the “salad fixins” in one big tupperware. WalMart sells the perfect size Sterlite plastic box. Nice handles. Grab it, Plop it on the counter next to the cutting board. Actually, I first started using the plastic tubs that “spring mix” comes in. But, those get ratty after a while so I headed to the store to look for real container with a real lid, that can actually be washed out once a month – unlike the vegetable crispers in the fridge that are always such a pain to wash.</p>
<p>It’s just a never ending supply, Might include some brocolli or whatever else I have going for salads. Solves the eternal problem of fifteen half-onions in sandwich bags at the back of the fridge! It only works in an empty nester household because, otherwise, there would never be room in the fridge. Celery goes in another container, all washed and trimmed once the first time, then sitting in ice water so it doesn’t go bad. Just grab a couple of stalks. I have the same routine to sautee some fresh veggies to liven up Progresso soup. And, what stew recipe doesn’t start with onions, peppers, carrots, celery?</p>
<p>I’m so lazy that I dirty exactly one metal mixing bowl for a lunch salad. Make the dressing in the bowl. Add the salad ingredients. Toss it all around. Eat it. Wash the bowl… :)</p>
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<p>I have freezer bags and those Glad plastic containers in every imaginable size. So when, I cook something, I immediate divvy it all up into individual portions. So, three servings of pork loin will go into three quart freezer bags and then all into a gallon bag. Soups and stews go right into the Glad containers and stacked in the freezer. Not having to hunt around for old Cool Whip tubs makes the process much easier! I feel bad that I’m destroying the environment with so many freezer bags, but it beats eating McDonalds three nights a week!</p>
<p>The last time I fired up the smoker for bar-b-q, I smoked four full slabs of baby back ribs and four small pork shoulders. I pull out a half slab of ribs and dinner portion of pork shoulder, defroast it, and have a combo platter two nights – a half portion of pulled pork and four baby back ribs. Same thing with pot roast – individual portions.</p>
<p>The only thing I don’t cook multi-meals are fresh seafood and good steaks. But, I might grill up a couple of chicken breasts when I’m cooking a steak and throw them in the fridge.</p>
<p>It can be a pain. As a young single person, I loved cooking for myself. These days, not as much. </p>
<p>However, I enjoy indulging my own tastes, though need to mix it up a bit to keep interested, as my tendency is to make one thing and then eat it all week. I eat a produce oriented diet. </p>
<p>Some basics:</p>
<p>Freeze protein in small packages, 1/3 pound ground beef or pork, single chicken breasts and thighs, 1/3 pound sliced meats for stir fries, shrimp, scallops to pour from a bag. I like small sandwich bags, so I can put in water to thaw, or microwave before cooking. </p>
<p>Heads of leaf lettuce last longer unwashed. I spin a few days supply at a time, and keep in Tupperware. </p>
<p>Baby carrots, bagged spinach, loose peas in a frozen bag are my go to meal additions. </p>
<p>Most of my meals start with onion and garlic cooked in some olive oil, other vegetables and protein added. This can be the basis for pasta sauce, tortilla filling, or stir fries. </p>
<p>In winter I bake a few yams at a time, or a whole squash, and eat all week. </p>
<p>My go to meal is sauted onions, yellow squash and peppers with canned garbanzos, feta on top. </p>
<p>Quesadillas are the other standby. As are canned refried beans with tomatoes and cheese. Easy to zap and </p>
<p>If cooking pasta, add vegetables to the cooking water. Tortellini with chopped broccoli, and carrots for example. Add jarred sauce, cheese on top. Throw frozen peas or spinach into pasta, or fried noodle or rice at the end, as they need little cooking. </p>
<p>Recently I’ve started heating left overs for ASAP eating with my salad greens as soon as I get home from work to avoid snacking. Later, I can make something else, salad or cooked vegetables. </p>
<p>Trader Joe’s has lovely frozen entrees, for times when you just can’t rise to the challenge. </p>
<p>Interested D, like your technique for keeping vegetables. An area of a fridge shelf is dedicated to those half onions and tomatoes in sandwich bags. I always know where to find them.</p>
<p>Lunch takeout for one is better then dinner. Cheaper, better portions</p>
<p>Like curry and rice, pasta and salad</p>
<p>I make big batches of soups in either a crockpot or pressure cooker, then freeze it in quart-size screwtop plastic storage containers. Easy to pull out and thaw in the fridge. A quart is good for ~3 bowls. Add a sandwich or salad and you’ve got dinner. By dividing the soup into portions and freezing you don’t get tired of eating the same thing over and over. I usually have 2-5 different kinds of soup in the freezer at any given time. </p>
<p>I also buy a package of boneless chicken breasts, split their thickness and pound them flat and store between layers of waxed paper in the the freezer. Just pull one out and saute with whatever you have on hand (white wine, lemon & butter, marinara, pesto, BBQ sauce, teriyaki sauce, curry sauce, tomato sauce w/ cream or yogurt, frozen creamed spinach) add some pasta or rice or bread and a frozen veggie or bagged salad. Dinner! Because the cutlets are thin, you can actually toss them in the skillet frozen and they’ll cook thru in just 4-5 minutes.</p>
<p>My latest shortcut involves buying a small fresh veggie tray (like for party w/ dip) at the supermarket. There’s usually carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes. The portions are just the right size to make steamed veggies for 1-2 people. Tomatoes get added to the chicken breast sautes or to salads. Celery either gets eaten raw or added to stews/soups/sautes.</p>
<p>Before I was ever married, I ate my biggest meal at lunch. I worked in hospitals and you could get a good meal really cheap so it made sense. Dinner ended up being sandwiches or cereal or wild rice. When I had a family, I had a hard time breaking that pattern. I still prefer my biggest meal to be lunch. I eat most of my calories during my work day. After I got divorced, we’ve had 50-50 custody so I cook for one every other week.</p>
<p>The cooking in large quantities and freezing is hard to get started, but once you have some stuff in the freezer, you really only have to make one thing a week to replenish the stock. I also use the glad containers and freezer zip locks. When I buy something like lunch meat, I package that into individual servings and freeze it. You can put it right on a sandwich and it is thawed by lunch! You can also grab a bag to toss in an omelette. </p>
<p>You can make breaded chicken breasts and eat one plain the first night, make chicken parmigiana by tossing some spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese on it, cut it up to put it in a salad… three very different meals with the same “base” meal. Ditto with ground beef or ground turkey. You can easily turn it into taco meat, sloppy joe meat, a loose cheeseburger, or spaghetti sauce. </p>
<p>My “go to” meal is grilled cheese. Sometimes it’s just American cheese. Sometimes it is a blend with cheddar or colby jack and parmesan. Sometimes it is grilled ham & cheese and or grilled bacon and cheese. Grilled bacon, tomato and cheese is awesome. So is grilled mozzarella, basil and tomato. YUM.</p>
<p>When I was single, I’d sometimes have breakfast for dinner, an omelet, bacon & eggs, or even a big serving of oatmeal. Cheap, quick, satisfying, and there was no one around to tell me it was “wrong.”</p>
<p>Another favorite was a huge salad, loaded with sunseeds, croutons, dried cranberries, and grated cheese.</p>
<p>I cook for one every summer, and will shortly be cooking for one again. Like interesteddad, I like cooking a protein that I can transform. And cooking to share is also a great motivation. Last summer, someone in our office had a baby, so I cooked pork shoulder in the crockpot and gave her family part of it as a pulled-pork dinner. The rest I served for myself first as pulled pork with BBQ sauce, then as moo shoo pork (very easy with a precut coleslaw package), and finally as pork fajitas; and each incarnation made enough for a dinner and then a lunch at the office the next day. I am not so good about using stuff I’ve put in the freezer, alas.</p>