“In my 20s, quite a few peers made free happy hour food their dinner.”
Not as much free food as there was back then but it was fun!
There is also the Costco Senior Buffet — lots of free samples and you never know exactly what will be sampled. Of course if you live far away, you may spend more on gas and if you are avoiding some foods, limiting salt, etc., probably bad as well
Buying a rotisserie chicken and deboning it and cutting it up to store the bulk of it in a freezer bag provides lots of protein for use in soups, stir fries or whatever you’re interested in. A whole chicken generally lasts us about s week.
At our Costco you can also buy a package of skinned rotisserie chicken already cut up with the meat only. They use some type of vacuum seal for it - it’s a couple pound package? I take this home and portion it out into smaller zip lock bags and freeze for ready to go cooked chicken for certain dishes.
My empty nest dinner (when I am alone) is a good loaf of bread and real butter.
I have this panini maker - my son asked for it last year, then decided that he didn’t want it. It is absolutely fantastic - when H is away, I make all sorts of grilled sandwich-y things - it makes a fabulously toasty, gooey treat in about two minutes, with almost zero clean up. I’ve done combinations of cheddar/avocado/tomato/tuna/chicken on grainy bread, or open face. It can handle very thick creations. It’s really perfect for one person.
Sometimes we have popcorn and wine.
Or cheeses and crackers, with a little fruit or veggies.
It certainly is nice not to have to cook. I don’t mind cooking. I would like to try cooking as a couple thing, but I’m not sure I will ever be able to convince my husband of that. He will certainly cook for himself, but he sees cooking as a chore (as do many, I know).
@abasket - I love your idea of ‘sheet pan dinners’ A couple of nights ago I improvised your idea and I roasted a whole spatchcocked chicken along with a sheet pan full of veggies I portioned them out and placed half in the blender along with a carton of chicken broth and had soup for dinner and soup for the freezer. I used 1/4 of the roasted chicken for dinner that night with the remaining roasted veggies, made 1/4 of the chicken into coronation chicken for dinner and a sandwich the next day and put the rest of the chicken in the freezer for dinner another night
Enough variety to not feel as if I’m eating leftovers for days!
Costco rotisserie chicken to the rescue on the nights we don’t feel like cooking. Apparently, we are not alone!
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/costco-sells-60-million-5-223246832.html
(On a side note, I can’t stop laughing at the “acai bowels” mentioned in the article. Proofread, you dummies! 
)
^^^Sounds painful!
had to look up “spatchcocked chicken”- never heard of it before. And spell checker redlined it here…
@wis75 If you have a trader Joe’s near you, they have the best, lemon & garlic spatchcock chicken. Moist, flavourful and delicious!
I don’t plan. That avoids that hassle. I have favorite meals and make them for fun, freeze portions (also a food saver fan.) Then I choose the night’s dinner. I also have an air fryer, which means breaded foods (I made) can be heated from frozen and without frying. It’s half th cooking time of the oven. Easy.
Btw, did you know you can use hummus on salad, as the dressing or mixed in with your regular? Pretty good.
Also, I have to admit I have never mastered sheet pan veggies. Total fail. Not even my roast potatoes turn out the right bit of crispy.
Bell and Evans now sells fresh spatchcocked chickens at Whole Foods - they are delicious and easy to prepare. I use a shallow foil pan, then rub in a little olive oil, then a generous spicy rub like harissa, and bake at 400 for 45 min. Prep is 5 min and no clean up.
“Not even my roast potatoes turn out the right bit of crispy.”
Try putting some Italian oil-free salad dressing on them. Yum! (yes oil-free, all the flavor, no fat and crispy to boot)
I just received this cookbook in the mail. https://www.amazon.com/Skinnytaste-One-Done-No-Fuss-Dinners-ebook/dp/B07912W4H9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540590235&sr=8-1&keywords=skinnytaste+one+and+done I haven’t had the time to make anything but these recipes are great for 2. Sheet pan, instant pot and air fryer recipes. I look forward to trying some.
I also have this cookbook https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Cooking-Two-Cookbook-Everything-ebook/dp/B00JEOMV1E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540590392&sr=8-1&keywords=americas+test+kitchen+cookbook+for+two. I’ve tried a few, very good and the recipes are more how to cook things and a recipe.
Also this went on sale for $30 and I love it. https://www.target.com/p/dash-900w-1-2-l-compact-air-fryer/-/A-53177589?preselect=52912356#lnk=sametab A tiny air fryer. I thought the frys were as good as the ones from the fast food places. I toss them in seasoned salt. It’s the perfect size for one or two.
We are super boring. I do not eat popcorn or bread for dinner. I make a meat and a side and vegetable most days. But I buy chicken breasts and other meat and freeze in small portions. I find that have meat, rice or potatoes and vegetables on hand, I always can make a meal even if it’s super simple.
Yesterday I put a pork tenderloin in the crockpot and today made spaghetti sauce. We’ll have leftovers for lunch for the weekend now. In the winter I use my crockpot all the time. The liners for them are the best.