While I am not a gourmet cook, what I cook, I do well and can follow a recipe. I would say the last 10 years or so, my dinners would cycle through the same regular dishes, plus a good bit of grilled protein. I would cook and clean as I went, whereas my husband would grill if we were grilling, and he would do the dishes and remaining pans. We also ate out a few times a week as we both got home late from work.
Now that it is just me, I admit, I really don’t cook much. I will fix a large salad or a pasta dish, but I don’t really want to make something too involved, then eat and have to clean everything. I don’t know how to cook for one, and I don’t want to make something that I have to eat for 2 more nights!
I think I might do well to start by getting a grill pan for the cook top. I know it won’t be the same as cooking on the gas grill outside, but it will be easier for me while I prep my sides. Quick research leads me to the Staub Enamel Cast Iron grill pan; would love other suggestions. I thought I could cook a couple of pieces of chicken, steak or fish at a time, and use the second piece for on a salad the second day for variety.
I need to get out of this rut of not cooking before I forget how to do it. It just isn’t exciting cooking for myself, but there is no time like the present to make some changes.
I love my cast iron Lodge pan. Inexpensive but very sturdy and easy to clean.
My H travels a lot for work so I often cook just for myself. I do the morphing of the protein the second day too.
My D lives alone and she loves making stuff in a crockpot and morphing it for the entire week but that would get boring for me. One day of left overs is enough.
I’m probably going with big-batch stews and soups for fall/winter and then I’ll freeze some for later before I get completely tired of it. For spring, lots of salads–beans, pasta, etc.–that I can also eat several days. It gets boring but it’s easy. No decision fatigue .
I also love my cast iron pan from Lodge. And I inherited a Le Creuset Dutch oven that I love for all kinds of other things.
I like this cookbook because it gives you a second different meal made from the first meal’s leftovers. Might be a good way to ease into cooking again with just enough structure.
My daughter has gotten really good at cooking for one. She makes fresh food almost every night, but only things that are quick and easy to do. Pasta with fresh sautéed vegs (spinach, peppers, cherry tomatoes, etc.) Egg dishes - scrambled or fried or omelet (again throwing in fresh vegs). She will make herself a small steak (she does it using the broiler of her breville smart oven). The secret when she does that is to do simple sides (instant mashed potatoes, cut fresh tomatoes, etc.) She will make a quick soup (like an italian egg drop). She very rarely makes enough for two meals (only if she does something big like baked ziti). The secret is reusing ingredients multiple nights (so one night the pepper goes with pasta, another night it gets put in an omelet, another night it gets mixed with rice, etc.) She is also OK eating a meal of “sides” some nights - so broiled carrots and a salad with some fresh bread. Another idea is to make breakfast for dinner - pancakes or french toast or waffles.
I like making a big pot of vegetable soup on Sundays, freezing portions, and having it with organic bread and salad all through the week (lunch and dinner sometimes!). Having those nice portions premade just makes cooking after a tiring day of work so much easier.
Since you don’t like to repeat dishes too much, maybe having several varieties of frozen soups/chili/stews in single portions in the freezer (made in various weekends) would help?
I have a stand alone freezer and when I make larger recipes I portion them into individual meals and freeze.
Sometimes, if the recipe feeds 4, I eat one, freeze a single and then freeze a double so I can serve a guest. Besides my bags of chicken breasts, shrimp and salmon, my freezer has portions of ‘butter pork’, turkey chili and spaghetti squash lasagna.
I also will marinade and cook boneless skinless chicken to freeze ready to defrost and put on salads.
Small rice cooker – I can make a pot of rice and if any is leftover, rice reheats easily and can be combined with leftovers for a quick meal. We use ours for brown rice and quinoa, too.
I subscribed to a home meal kit for a while to get out of a not cooking rut. It seems a bit expensive, but then you have to consider how hard it is to buy a small portion of something at a grocer, especially the spices. It is so nice to have a variety of fresh spices to elevate the meal. It was fun to browse and pick the meals and the instructions were easy to follow. Having the box show up meant I had to cook and was less tempted to eat out or worse have a bowl of popcorn instead of a proper meal. I ended the subscription once I was cooking again regularly but my healthy cooking habits have improved.
@BuckeyeMWDSG You also will eat popcorn for dinner; sometimes it is ice cream here! I have thought about the meal kits, but only for a couple of days a week. I might revisit that, but like the hate to spend thread, I feel like I could pick up a dinner out for almost the same cost.
@greenbutton I have no trouble making a starch; I could survive on pasta, potatoes and rice!
I need to get more protein back into my diet, which is why I thought the grill pan would be an easy way to prepare a piece of chicken, fish or a small steak, without doing a full fledged dish. Throw in a few piece of veggies to grill, add a side of rice and I could be done. I do use my air fryer, but not for meat; maybe I should try that.
Even if I wanted to make a large batch of something and freeze it, I don’t have freezer room. When we downsized, we lost the extra freezer as there was no place to put it here. For some reason what is mostly in my freezer is food for my GD for when she visits; she has food allergies, so we have specific safe food for her.
I have never used a slow cooker, but that is something I could try. I guess I grew up with a mother making large meals and she never used a slow cooker, so while I received one as a wedding gift in 1980, it sat unopened in our attic until a move in the mid 90’s where it was sold at a garage sale!
You can get some of your protein without you doing the cooking. Pick up a rotisserie chicken or other precooked chicken or salmon in wegmans or whole foods. Then you just have to make the sides. We sometimes buy sliced london broil or roasted turkey at the deli counter as our protein for a meal (again making nice sides to complete the meal).
We have also had good luck with frozen pre-cooked shrimp or crab cakes (shouldn’t take up much freezer space) that we just have to heat up (again good quality in Whole Foods).
You have gone through some household transition the last few months so I can also understand feeling a bit “what’s the point” about cooking. That’s ok, with time you’ll find your footing again in the kitchen.
Some thoughts on my end.
Agree with the one protein, use it different ways. Brown a pound of meat for tacos? Have tacos one night, taco salad another night. Freeze the rest.
Small rotisserie chicken. Eat a piece off the chicken one night and then debone for various meals that week or put in freezer. Chicken tacos, chicken atop salad or chicken salad sandwiches. Chicken soup with the carcass.
Eat out of your freezer one week a month - all those items you froze above ^^^.
Sheetpan dinner but make it smaller. Don’t have to use the largest pan in the kitchen. Enough veggies/protein for 2 meals for only a few minutes of prep time.
Bowls. I could eat “bowls” every night!. Tonight I’ll take leftover pork roast/veggies and put it atop leftover raw kale, rice (you can buy the plain rice in the packets that warm up in 90 seconds in the microwave - enough for two meals) and then whatever sauce in the refrig I’m in the mood for. You can use any protein, a “starch” (rice, potato, quinoa, couscous), roasted/cooked vegetables and some type of raw greens. Very filling, nice and healthy overall.
Had to come back and post this pic I just had in my feed - this looks delicious! Leftover rice with scrambled eggs, bacon on top (or make it ham! or whatever!). I would add some sliced tomato, avocado, fresh herbs or greens. Delicious and easy!
This could work well. Another approach you might like is to use a toaster oven. Sear both sides of chicken or steak in a frying pan then put into the toaster oven at say 350F and use a probe thermometer to tell when it is done. Or you could reverse the order, cook the protein in the oven until almost done and then sear. For fish you could omit the sear step. If you have a restaurant supply store near you then 1/8 Sheet Pans and 1/4 Sheet Pans can also be used in the toaster oven; line with aluminum foil and drizzle some oil so the protein doesn’t stick, then just toss or recycle the foil when done so cleanup is a breeze. Amazon also sells them.
Soups and stews freeze well. Amazon carries Souper Cubes made out of silicone in a variety of sizes. Make a big batch, eat 2 servings the week you cook and freeze the rest. A vacuum sealer such as Anova is helpful; pull a frozen puck out the day before you plan to eat it. Once you’ve built up a few different soups and stews you’ll have some variety in what you pull out.
For protein, keep some frozen cooked shrimp in the freezer. You can defrost a few, throw onto a salad. I bet you could find a way to make some in a grill pan too.
We’ve done Hungry Root in the past and their proteins just need a quick finish and are in reasonably sized packages. It’s not a pre selected meal prep place. It’s more like ordering your choice of whatever components you like for meals that you put together however you want. I like that all of their packaging is on the smaller size. I can order condiments or sauces and not have to throw him out in a few months when they are hardly used.
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if I’m really tired of it. She will eat anything. She may gain a lot of weight next year.