Do you have to cook for just one person? How do you cope?  |
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|  If you do do you think that it's not worth the time it takes to cook for just one person. And what about all those leftovers?"
For some people who have cooked for a large family, or who are single for the first time, making a dinner to eat alone may seem like a big effort with few rewards. As a result, many who are forced to eat alone may skip meals, pay little attention to what or how much we eat, substitute snacking for good balanced meals, eat out or turn to frozen meals just to get by.
Truth is, cooking for one or two is worth the time and effort for one reason--your health.
For good health, we need to eat a certain amount of food each day. When people live alone, eat alone or are depressed or ill, eating habits change. Skipping meals deprives your body of energy and can make you feel tired. So what's a body to do? Make eating alone an easier, more enjoyable experience by learning to shop and cook for one or two people.
Cooking for one person begins with planning meals for one. Start by thinking like a single person. How much food can you use in a week? One way to tell what food you need is to see how much food you have left in the refrigerator, freezer or cupboard at the end of a week. Or, how much you throw away! Buying less food and buying food weekly can save you money, time in the store and cooking time.
Once you plan what to buy, cooking for one person means shopping for one. It may be difficult to resist the temptation to buy more food or frozen ready-made dinners. But stick to your plan. Look for foods that can be portioned with ease into smaller serving sizes such as rice, pasta, potatoes or frozen vegetables. With foods such as these, the solo chef can use just enough for one meal and not have to cook an entire package of food.
• Buy fruits and vegetables by the piece, not by the package.
• Buy smaller cuts of meat or ask the butcher to cut roasts or chickens into pieces big enough for one meal.
What sort of things do you cook for yourself?
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Cooking for one | | | | |
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1.  karen1969 (1205)
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2 years ago
| |  Eek, I just wrote a whole load then the page crashed and I lost it, grrr! Anyway, what I said was - At the moment, I cook for 6 of us, but once it is just going to be Hubby and me, I think it will be harder to make the effort every night, cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients. But at dinner times, it's usually just me and I cook pasta with onions, garlic and other veggies.
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| karen1969 (1205)
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2 years ago
| | Oh that sounds great, I've never thought of doing an egg on a jacket potato before! Thanks, I will try it! Good photo too! | | | |
| Christmas2006 (830)
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2 years ago
| |  Yep half of this conversation convinces me that part of the problem is MyLot! I have typed many times then had it not post or like you Karen awhole lot of thought out answers and then "this page can't be displayed"!!
You are cooking for 6! I cooked daily for 7 and up to 10. My parents lived with us then my neigbors were elderly and I invited them over, especially after he passed away, she was always here for supper.
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| karen1969 (1205)
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2 years ago
| | Yes, it is annoying if you spend ages typing out an answer only for it to crash and all disappear!!! :-(
I cook for 8 sometimes if we have family over. The problem is if some of the kids are eating at friends' or something & there's only 2 or 3 of us to cook for, as I just tend to automatically cook for 6 so we get huge portions, LOL! | | | |
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| 2. GardenGerty (35289)
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2 years ago
| |  Interesting to know I was not the only one with some server problems, but I did not even get the response written. I have a hard time if it is just me at home. Not so bad if it is hubby and me, difficult again if it is my son, who lives with us, and hubby and me. Part of that is because the guys basically like different kinds of food, and I like it all. If it is just me, I kinda feel like "why bother". With that said, I would emphasize that our biggest meal is midday, and then I warm up leftovers if it is just me in the evening, or just me and my son, I make some pasta. Just me and my husband, we eat a lot more veggies. I buy frozen veggies in bags and can cook large or small portions. I try to make my filler foods be veggies.
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3.  Rebeccarogers2010 (255)
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2 years ago
| |  I cook for just my husband and I. When we cook we make small amounts so none will go to waste.
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| 6. Ciara5 (10)
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2 years ago
| |  You've written a helpful entry here! When I was living alone and working fulltime, I did a lot of "one-pot" cooking on the weekends. In other words, making stews and such in a Dutch oven, eating some of it, freezing some of it. Meat pies are good for one person, too. You can make your own or get a good Marie Callendar kind. Fortunately, I never was one to want to just have a sandwich for dinner simply because I was by myself.
I used to love to stew chicken in a pot with veggies. Nutritious and CHEAP too! And I could eat the chicken in sandwiches for lunch, put it in burritos or enchiladas, stuff like that.
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| Le Cordon Bleu® College Train with Masters of Cooking Learn the Way to a Culinary Career LeCordonBleuCollege-LasVegas.com | add comment | | |
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| 7. calixto21 (84)
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2 years ago
| |  what i do is enjoyng the moment i spend in the kitchen. i cook for my boyfriend and i of just for myself. and i dont have to worry for any leftovers. once u get used to how much u eat ull know how much to prepare!
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| | Top Stomach Fat Workouts Incorporate these wokrout methods to cut down your stomach fat fast. AbStrengthGuide.com
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| Le Cordon Bleu® College Train with Masters of Cooking Learn the Way to a Culinary Career LeCordonBleuCollege-LasVegas.com
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