Cooking for one or two

[Deleted]

A lot of us are faced with this challenge and I'm sure that we have mastered certain purchasing and preparation techniques and been totally thwarted at least as many times.

First of all, let's face it: it is not possible to cook for one. It is a waste of time and energy resources. I very much understand the success of all of the single portion items that you can buy in stores, but just turning on the oven or the microwave for one person is not really environmentally responsible.

My strategy is to cook for two, and I have become better at it over the years, because it used to seem impossible to make certain dishes for fewer than 3 or 4 people, which absolutely puts one in the danger zone in terms of leftovers. When I can't bear to see a dish once again, I just throw it away, and I really hate to do that.

One thing I have learned is that eyes are a terrible measuring tool, and I still make some big mistakes on the quantity to cook for things like pasta ("oh, that doesn't look like enough; I'd better throw a little more into the pot"). However, I have improved over the years, particularly by reminding myself that if I don't make enough food, the kitchen is still full of other things to eat -- but even when I fix something that at first looks like a half portion to me, it nearly always turns out to be plenty.

So, rule one: we need to learn to measure instead of just estimating. Already takes a lot of the fun out of cooking, doesn't it?

[auntieannie]

One of my strategies, especially as I seem to forever be en route to some activity or just back from here, there and everywhere... is to have a varied stock of pasta/rice/grains/pulses also sieved tomatoes... etc... all the stuff keep without needing refrigeration.

Then when I am home, I buy fresh vegetables, meat (thankfully my butcher is very understanding with quantities) eggs, cheese, all as and when I need them.

Only downside is when I get home late on a Saturday night. Breakfast isn't a problem, and I usually manage a half decent lunch thanks to my habit of dehydrating fruit and veg, but I might end up having to get something from a restaurant for dinner, since I don't really like shopping in supermarkets. But that's self-inflicted.

Cooking techniques: I agree with you, K2, I almost never touch my oven these days, unless I am preserving (sterilisation of the jars). I do stove-top casseroles/stews/soups a lot. and lots of quick dishes in the frying pan. The meal I end up eating most of the time don't necessary look wonderful, but they are balanced and provide nutrition. Obviously, cooking for guests, I would provide better looking dishes! The slow cooker is my friend in winter.

[Deleted]

Ditto on the dried pantry items Annie.
Many times, I can have a base sauce prepared and what I do is then embellish on it with fresh ingredients, herbs, whatever looks good in the garden ATM.

I think the problem with wasting food has more to do with how to shop for one or two. My husband has a tendency to buy too much before it can all possibly be used up.
I don't do well with freezing items I'm afraid, other than juices and stocks.
Alot of produce ends up being tossed into the compost heap.

It's much much easier in the wintertime when one of us makes a big pot of soup earlier in the week, or something along those lines, chili, stews...they taste better after a day or two anyway.

Summertime when the heats sets in and I am loathe to turn on the oven it gets more challenging. Having a garden with a variety of fresh vegetables and herbs is the best way to go.
One package of meat, sausages, ground meat, ends up being thrown on the grill at the last minute and either incorporated into a sauce or salad.

As far as dishes that have to be eaten right away, forget it. Unless I'm positive my dining companion is going to be present at the time of serving it hot out of the pan, it's a disaster.
I have ruined one too many dishes going that route.

[joanne28]

I routinely make enough for 4, which is easy, and we have the leftovers to take to work for lunch the next day. As I'm dishing up, I fill our lunchbox dishes as well as the dinner plates. Or the leftovers become the next night's dinner.

I freeze meat but repackage and label it. I'll wrap chicken breasts individually so I can take out 2 or 3 or whatever I need at the time.

In the summer, I tend to use my toaster oven a lot more. Lately, it's a simple slather of sauce and into the toaster oven for baking. I then have been making giant salads, with cubed chicken, cheese, hard-cooked eggs, several types of greens (I cheat and buy the pre-packaged ones from a store here called Longo's - small but very good chain), throw in whatever veggie is hanging around and top it off with croutons and almonds or sunflowers seeds. That has been dinner for the last 4 nights out of 6 and tonight it's a rerun. Simple, quite fast and great for hot days.

[mich64]

I think I have finally (after 29 years) mastered cooking for two.

If I happen to make a pizza, I now make us each a small salad as we have to share the crust with our dog, Jebidiah. He has never been allowed near the table when we eat, but when he smells pizza cooking in the oven, you can find him laying in the living room with his eyes towards the table.

It is rare that there are leftovers and we are always satisfied when we are finished our meals...

I will BBQ extra hamburger or sausage when my husband is working days so I can put into his lunch. Also when I make a pasta dish I make it for 3, for his lunch as well.

Next weekend I will be cooking for 25! Now that will be a challenge. Annual Horseshoe tournament.

[auntieannie]

Joanne, what you had for dinner the last few nights was my staple lunch for when I used to work in an office. the kitchenette provided was so disgusting I refused to heat anything in there and also I thought it was cheap and easy... and could be prepared relatively fast before going to work in the morning.

[Deleted]

If I boil potatoes, I usually boil a relatively large quantity because there are so many ways to use them over the next few days, hot, cold, cubed, sliced, in salads or in sauce.... or roasted once again in a frying pan. Cooked potatoes seem to be one of the most patient foods, in terms of not turning disgusting quickly.

[joanne28]

I do the same with potatoes, K. I particularly like them sauteed in butter - my version of home fries.

[tod2]

The potatoes I bought at Marche Richard Lenoir/Bastille were so delicious I took the leftover ones on our picnic at Quai St Bernard.

[cristina]

I am so very excited to see this thread! I had wanted to start it myself but got sidetracked by a death in the family.

This is really a big (new) issue for me and I am trying to figure out how to stock my pantry for one or two. I know what kinds of proteins, aka meat or fish, to keep in the fridge or freezer, but I don't always have the accessories to make it into a meal. I'm becoming more adept at what I can freeze to have on hand, but not yet perfect. If I can have carrots, celery and onion or leeks at the ready, I would be happy. I don't think celery freezes well, though.

I don't mind shopping for fresh vegs or meat/fish daily, but I never am sure to have the right stuff at home to make a whole meal. I would love to see what everyone here keeps in their pantry as a staple item.

I have about 30 kinds of rice (yes, I have a hoarding problem here) but am otherwise at a loss as what to always have on hand.

For sauces and such, how does everyone decide what to have on hand?

And what does everyone ALWAYS have on hand to make a meal on the fly?

[onlymark]

Sometimes I will list a few of the things I have left into a website like www.supercook.com/ and then see what they suggest as a recipe.

[Deleted]

Good to see you Cristina. Sorry for your loss.

30 kinds of rice!!!!!!!!! Mon Dieu!! I thought we were bad with about 6 or 7.....

Celery, onion and bell pepper if it is chopped up and containerized properly will freeze just fine.

Sauces or bases for sauces that are good to prepare ahead in medium sized batches are pesto, sun dried tomato, lemon butter with herbs to taste,frozen in small batches can make an on the fly meal over pasta and or rice. I'm also a big fan of orzo and risotto.
I like using these to accompany seafood, a nice fresh fish fillet and or some shrimp if you have a decent fishmonger.

Bean dishes, black beans or red beans, black eyed peas and the like can be made ahead of time, frozen in small batches can be stretched just as many stews, chili etc. and also served over rice.

[imec]

I think one of the tricks to this (to which some have already alluded) is to not cook for 1 or 2 but for 3 or 4. With a little planning, a "meal for 1" can in fact provide 3 or 4 separate meals. Take chcken for example...

You could roast a 3 lb chicken with a couple of potatoes - serve a portion of it with the potatoes and a salad or even a frozen veg such as peas (which tend to cooperate nicely with the freezing process), use some of the meat along with some celery, nuts and mayonnaise to make a chicken salad for next day's lunch or cold supper, then remove most of the meat, reserve it, make a stock with the carcass and toss in some carrots, celery etc., the reserved meat and maybe even some noodles for a hearty chicken soup. Cook once, get 3 meals out of the deal.

Or how about meat loaf? Instead of making one big loaf, make 2 small ones (8-12 oz each). Cook them both and make a little gravy. Eat half of the first one hot with some gravy and slice the other half after refrigerating to make a great sandwich for lunch. Freeze the second one and the remaining gravy - thaw and reheat on an evening where you don't have much time and save half for slicing cold the next day. Cook once, eat 4 times.

Pork tenderloin is another option. Grill on a hibachi or pan roast it or simply roast/broil in a toaster oven. Eat a third of it. Slice some for a sandwich. Dice the remainder and make fried rice by adding some veggies, seasonings and of course rice. 3 decent meals out of one piece of meat.

[Deleted]

I got myself into one of those one-person quandries -- I have 3 different sets of leftovers to eat but at least one of them will have to be thrown out before I get to it.

I really need to stop doing that!

[cristina]

I definitely have to rely on freezing, since my travel schedule doesn't always permit having meals (or too many fresh things) loafing about in the the fridge. I don't mind leftovers at all so when I AM home for a stretch, cooking for 4 works. Its the buying part that I am having trouble with.

OK, so I was sort of exaggerating about 30 kinds of rice. But i do seem to have an awful lot of different kinds of rice. And there is such a greater variety of rices in the stores here - its very tempting to buy more.

My basil is growing gangbusters so I will definitely be making pesto, and a lot of it very soon.


As for imec's pork tenderloin idea - I cook those often, especially as they come on sale here often enough that I always have one or two in the freezer. However I think I can eat a whole one in one sitting - its my favorite meat.

Two small meat loaves is a great idea that I hadn't thought of, especially since they freeze well. Also, they make terrific sandwiches.

I don't eat chicken but am well aware of its versatility in making many meals. When my daughter was in college, she and her roommate would buy a whole chicken on Friday (they were $5 on Fridays) and get a weeks worth of meals out of it for the two of them.

[auntieannie]

pasta, barley, some bulgur/couscous (makes a meal real fast), rice noodles or buckwheat/soba noodles (same reason), polenta, dal (no need to soak - especially the smaller varieties, a good protein alternative) millet. I also always have nuts and seeds for snacks and to add to porridges and salads. various grain flakes for said porridge or to add to soups.
I like to have sieved tomatoes as can be added to anything.

[Deleted]

I dined with some dear friends at a neighborhood Middle Eastern restaurant last evening. We always order a slew of the appetizers and share. So many of them I noted were seemingly easy to prepare and keep on hand particularly in the summertime when one is loathe to turn on the oven. If I do it's early in the a.m. (A huge issue here as we don't use AC in our downstairs.)
Anyway, tabbouleh, couscous as Annie mentioned, and the various eggplant dishes common to that cuisine make for wonderful suppers with some fresh pita bread.
Add to it some good olives and feta on the side and I'm a happy camper.

[Deleted]

Dammit dammit dammit! I made 4 times too much spaghetti again. This was because I had some leftover meat sauce, but I also had some mushrooms to slice, and then I could tell there was not enough sauce, so I opened a tiny can of tomato sauce. And to match the amount of sauce that suddenly existed, I made more pasta than I should.

Oh, if only I had a teenager at home to vacuum all of this stuff up.

I guess I'll be putting it in the freezer.

[rikita]

i can never estimate well and i am always too lazy to measure. yesterday i overate because i made too much, and hten had the rest of the potatoes for breakfast today... mr. r. always makes too much too...

[Deleted]

Ha ha, that's exactly why I had spaghetti for breakfast, too!

[hwinpp]

Are you a bachelor or not, Jack? I always thought you had a girlfriend, now you're cooking for one?

[Deleted]

My life is curiously variable.

[hwinpp]

Man of Mystery...

[rikita]

of yesterday's very tasty dinner there is again about a third left over - and mr. r. said afterwards he ate about twice as much as he should. but apparently the recipe he used was meant for four people (i might tell him some day that the website he found this on has a little menu where you can change the number of people, and it will recalculate the ingredients for you...)