I do a mix of large batch and freeze with single serving recipes. There’s a site on Instagram called @eleanorgwilkinson who does one pot/one portion cooking. She has a fairly new cookbook out. There are also many recipes on Pinterest for one serving recipes. Good luck! I also ordered silicone molds from Amazon that freeze leftovers in a 5” square that fit perfectly into the casseroles you mentioned.
Likewise struggling to justify cooking for one. My ex- wife and i would take turns making meals that fed more. But these days, I'd rather live my life in the day and graze on what I've got around at night as fuel only.
One nice step is that I'm getting back into making big pots of chili. I keep enough for a few meals for myself and share with bet appreciative neighbors, who now tell others about being in Dave's chili club. But yeah, many of the other neighbors are quite unseen with club offerings. Go figure.
I rarely cook just enough for one, unless it’s, maybe, eggs for dinner or oatmeal. (I don’t do instant oatmeal, BTW.) Sharing food is a joy for me though I won’t share food that’s not really good and, usually, completely homemade. Right now, I have the makings for chicken soup laid out on the kitchen counter. I don’t mind left-overs for a few days and will freeze a couple of pints(two meals!).
Traditional soup is not something I do in the summer. Hot winter soups I like to change up a bit each day adding greens from the garden or some other compatible bit of leftovers. And peas! I think I’m lucky that I find peas acceptable in nearly any savory dish and keep them(and cooked shrimp) in the freezer.
Eating too much, is too easy for me. I’ve been overweight my entire life and don’t expect that to change but I am less overweight now than I have been, maybe ever.
I’m just on the other side of a mild case of Covid. I think it may have helped with smaller portions and less snacking. For that, I am grateful.
Though I have a spouse, we don’t eat alike at all. He eats meat, starch and NO veggies only. I blame his 1st wife for not training him to incorporate veggies-at 67 he’s not changing! I love vegetarian meals and was one for 20 years. I cook my veggies for me only and I found that dividing recipes in half (if it’s for 4) works pretty well. Take each ingredient and divide it to what suits you.
I am very, very lucky. My husband loves to cook (not so much bake, every once in a while). I do the cleanup. Now that he is retired, he's been eyeing the cookbooks. We enjoy watching Cook's Country and Test Kitchen. I'm waiting for him to bring up getting a subscription.
I often cook for one even though I live with my husband. We have very different tastes and he won't eat a lot of what I love, like spicy food and chunky vegetables. Food, in general, is my nemesis, I have huge anxiety about it most days. Sometimes I'll prepare a meal for two, and freeze half of it without cooking, ready to make another day. Like last week, I made paella, put half (uncooked) in a bag in the freezer, then cooked and ate that for lunch yesterday. I relate to your father in that I hate leftovers - they always taste gross, and I'm never in the mood. Another of my foodie foibles :)
I lived alone for 17 years and at first it was a challenge to adjust recipes to my needs, but after a while I had such a strong repertoire of serves-one recipes that when I married, I struggled to adjust them back upward!
I still remember a curried-lentil dish that took FOREVER to cook when I doubled it to share a meal with a friend. Still not sure why it took so long; the single portion always cooked quickly. My friend and I had been hiking and were hanging over the dish on the stove with our tongues practically hanging out, willing the darn thing to finish, LOL!
The 2 strategies I used the most when faced with a surfeit of raw ingredients:
1) The freezer is my friend.
2) I'm not opposed to eating the same dinner 2 days in a row, to use up perishable ingredients.
I appreciate the struggle you mention and have gone through it after my kids moved off for school leaving me cooking for one most of the time.
I've gone back and forth. As I have cut out more and more ultra-processed foods, the need for leftovers to eat when I'm tired and don't want to cook has become more important. I have found some great silicon 1 and 2 cup freezer molds to portion the leftovers better. That helps.
But in terms of portion control for the meal, I think about it while I am assembling the food to cook. If it's one carrot - yes I can eat the whole thing. If it is 3 carrots, then I should be looking to freeze the leftovers (if there's lots of other things being combined)? I ask myself if I would sit down and eat 1 carrot and 1 potato and half an onion. . .the list of ingredients, all at once. . .if that amount is reasonable then I don't feel guilty eating the whole thing. If not. . . I freeze it.
But I also have 3 dogs and they definitely help control any food waste. They make it easier to try new things since they will gobble up the experiments without a worry.
This is fun to think about! How much effort is right when you’re feeding yourself? How to stop and save the other half? Like Debbie, I look forward to hearing more about your eating adventures.
I do a mix of large batch and freeze with single serving recipes. There’s a site on Instagram called @eleanorgwilkinson who does one pot/one portion cooking. She has a fairly new cookbook out. There are also many recipes on Pinterest for one serving recipes. Good luck! I also ordered silicone molds from Amazon that freeze leftovers in a 5” square that fit perfectly into the casseroles you mentioned.
Likewise struggling to justify cooking for one. My ex- wife and i would take turns making meals that fed more. But these days, I'd rather live my life in the day and graze on what I've got around at night as fuel only.
One nice step is that I'm getting back into making big pots of chili. I keep enough for a few meals for myself and share with bet appreciative neighbors, who now tell others about being in Dave's chili club. But yeah, many of the other neighbors are quite unseen with club offerings. Go figure.
I rarely cook just enough for one, unless it’s, maybe, eggs for dinner or oatmeal. (I don’t do instant oatmeal, BTW.) Sharing food is a joy for me though I won’t share food that’s not really good and, usually, completely homemade. Right now, I have the makings for chicken soup laid out on the kitchen counter. I don’t mind left-overs for a few days and will freeze a couple of pints(two meals!).
Traditional soup is not something I do in the summer. Hot winter soups I like to change up a bit each day adding greens from the garden or some other compatible bit of leftovers. And peas! I think I’m lucky that I find peas acceptable in nearly any savory dish and keep them(and cooked shrimp) in the freezer.
Eating too much, is too easy for me. I’ve been overweight my entire life and don’t expect that to change but I am less overweight now than I have been, maybe ever.
I’m just on the other side of a mild case of Covid. I think it may have helped with smaller portions and less snacking. For that, I am grateful.
I enjoy your perspective. Thank you.
Though I have a spouse, we don’t eat alike at all. He eats meat, starch and NO veggies only. I blame his 1st wife for not training him to incorporate veggies-at 67 he’s not changing! I love vegetarian meals and was one for 20 years. I cook my veggies for me only and I found that dividing recipes in half (if it’s for 4) works pretty well. Take each ingredient and divide it to what suits you.
I am very, very lucky. My husband loves to cook (not so much bake, every once in a while). I do the cleanup. Now that he is retired, he's been eyeing the cookbooks. We enjoy watching Cook's Country and Test Kitchen. I'm waiting for him to bring up getting a subscription.
I often cook for one even though I live with my husband. We have very different tastes and he won't eat a lot of what I love, like spicy food and chunky vegetables. Food, in general, is my nemesis, I have huge anxiety about it most days. Sometimes I'll prepare a meal for two, and freeze half of it without cooking, ready to make another day. Like last week, I made paella, put half (uncooked) in a bag in the freezer, then cooked and ate that for lunch yesterday. I relate to your father in that I hate leftovers - they always taste gross, and I'm never in the mood. Another of my foodie foibles :)
I lived alone for 17 years and at first it was a challenge to adjust recipes to my needs, but after a while I had such a strong repertoire of serves-one recipes that when I married, I struggled to adjust them back upward!
I still remember a curried-lentil dish that took FOREVER to cook when I doubled it to share a meal with a friend. Still not sure why it took so long; the single portion always cooked quickly. My friend and I had been hiking and were hanging over the dish on the stove with our tongues practically hanging out, willing the darn thing to finish, LOL!
The 2 strategies I used the most when faced with a surfeit of raw ingredients:
1) The freezer is my friend.
2) I'm not opposed to eating the same dinner 2 days in a row, to use up perishable ingredients.
I appreciate the struggle you mention and have gone through it after my kids moved off for school leaving me cooking for one most of the time.
I've gone back and forth. As I have cut out more and more ultra-processed foods, the need for leftovers to eat when I'm tired and don't want to cook has become more important. I have found some great silicon 1 and 2 cup freezer molds to portion the leftovers better. That helps.
But in terms of portion control for the meal, I think about it while I am assembling the food to cook. If it's one carrot - yes I can eat the whole thing. If it is 3 carrots, then I should be looking to freeze the leftovers (if there's lots of other things being combined)? I ask myself if I would sit down and eat 1 carrot and 1 potato and half an onion. . .the list of ingredients, all at once. . .if that amount is reasonable then I don't feel guilty eating the whole thing. If not. . . I freeze it.
But I also have 3 dogs and they definitely help control any food waste. They make it easier to try new things since they will gobble up the experiments without a worry.
This is fun to think about! How much effort is right when you’re feeding yourself? How to stop and save the other half? Like Debbie, I look forward to hearing more about your eating adventures.
Sue, I loved this! I insist on more adventures with you in your kitchen, when your new cookbooks arrive!
Coming right up!