Cooking for One

Tips and suggestions for cooking for one

I often hear people say that it's just too hard to cook & plan meals for one.

It is easy to justify why you don't want to bother cooking for one {or two} people everyday.

Most recipes are for 4 or 6, and it can be confusing or complicated to halve recipes. If you're just trying to get dinner on the table, the last thing you probably feel like doing is halving a recipe. You might also end up with some random leftover ingredients and have no idea what to do with them...

However, cooking for one can be done! And it can be easy. You just need to know some basic facts.

Lucky for you, I have some tips that help me, seeing as I live in my apartment alone:

Make your freezer your new best friend

• I feel bad for my old roommates because I'm pretty sure I took up about 80% of the room in our freezer - sorry! But it runs in my family: my grandmother has at least 3 freezers, and my mom has an extra one...
• Your freezer is great for preventing waste. If something looks like it's reaching its shelf-date, I promptly freeze it and make something with it later.
• When you cook something, go ahead and freeze half of the meal. Then you have a healthy "frozen meal" in your freezer instead of those preservative & salt-filled frozen meals {that never actually fill you up}
• These recipes are great for the freezer:
  • Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli, & Rice Casserole
  • Cheesy Bean Casserole
  • Slow-Cooker Lentil Soup
  • Red Beans and Wild Rice Stew
  • Chicken Fingers
  • Crock Pot Pulled Pork
  • Chicken Nuggets
  • Chicken Taquitos
  • Smoky Chipotle Chicken Tacos
  • Turkey Breakfast Sausage
  • Sauces: BBQ Sauce, Pizza Sauce

Portion things in advance or buy them portioned for you already

• I do this with meat especially. Read this post for buying, cooking, and storing chicken.
• Also, I love buying & freezing the already portioned chicken breasts. There's practically no work involved!

Make a weekly meal plan

• I know, I know - weekly meal plans don't usually top people's list for favorite things to do, but it is so helpful when trying to cook for one or two!!
• If you buy meat, either cook it all one night or freeze the un-used portion. This can really help save time & money.
  • Example: you can only find 1 lb. ground beef but need just ½ pound, so cook it all and either freeze the leftovers or use the cooked ground beef for something later in the week like tacos or lettuce wraps

Re-invent your leftovers or freeze them

• Have some ideas for what you can make with your leftovers
  • Make soups or salads with them.
  • Fill a tortilla with leftovers & some cheese and make a quesadilla
  • Or use leftovers as omelet fillings

Find recipes specifically designed for one or two people.

• Here are some good ones:
  • Balsamic Chickpeas and Spinach
  • Mexican Pizza
  • Quinoa Salad Shaker
  • Tuna Salad Stuffed Avocado & Pepper
  • Lemon-Herb Avocado Pasta

I hope this helps!! Do you have any other ideas for cooking for one or two?