Cooking for One

[Swing Kitten]

my motivation (and time) to cook myself decent meals is quite low. It's seems it would almost be easier to cook for 2-4 people.

any suggestions or tips?

I guess there's always the leftovers thing :shrug: blah!

[dancin_feet]

Sometimes I'll cook up a big batch of curry or lasagne or something and split it up for the week. Other times I'll just do something out of a packet.

Then there are the really lazy times that I'll just have a couple of cracker biscuits with some sort of spread on them!

Would probably be more motivated for more people, yes. But then there are more people to do the job, so you wouldn't have to do it all the time.

[Sagitta]

I often do the "cook a huge batch and split into small meal portions" thing. If I cook a couple different things, then steam some vegatables one day with nuts, fry a little salmon...pretty easy to have a varied and appetizing diet. :)

[NeoDevin]

If it's easier to cook for 2-4, then cook for 2-4, but only do it half or a quarter of the time :). Eat leftovers the rest of the time, that's how I survived the whole first year of university... mmmmmm, chicken salad :banana:

[tsb]

my motivation (and time) to cook myself decent meals is quite low. It's seems it would almost be easier to cook for 2-4 people.

any suggestions or tips?

I guess there's always the leftovers thing :shrug: blah!

besides the freezing/leftover route, find a few friends (preferably nearby & decent cooks themselves) and:

- invest in some tupperware & trade leftovers (cook for 4 and get 1 meal each for each member of the pool);
- take turns making dinner once a week meeting at the cook's place;
---------------------------------------------
start with something that lends itself to adaptation like roasting a whole chicken. while roasting takes about an hour, actual prep is more like ten minutes. on subsequent nights:
- chicken breast becomes topping on a caesar salad or simpler yet, a cold chicken sandwich;
- chicken carcass goes into stock for soup;
- remainder of chicken goes into a chicken pot pie (which again takes an hour but only 15 minutes prep & can then be frozen and set in the oven in the morning with timer setting so it's ready when you get home);

pretty economical too.

bc

[pygmalion]

Get a little George Foreman grill. You can grill up a nice chicken breast, lamb chop, fish fillet, etc, in a few minutes. (The cook book that comes with the grill has some nice marinade and dry rub recipes in it) Add a salad or some veggies, and you've got a nutritious meal for one in fifteen minutes or less. Not bad. 8)

[Taita]

Try not to eat alone.... :wink:

[NeoDevin]

Try not to eat alone.... :wink:

Yeah, invite me over ;)

[Sagitta]

Also, crockpot dishes don't take much of your time. You throw some things in, put it on low heat, and go to work/classes. When you come back your meal is ready for you.

Another strategy I use is I might buy a lot of chicken breasts, and split the meat into meal size portions. I prep the portions differently and freeze them. Then one day I might take out a chicken breast to grill, another some marinated meat. I can get quite a lot of variety that way, cook enough for only perhaps two meals each time, and also save a lot of the prep time that can be required when making meals. :)

Finally, high heat cooking. Fast and easy.

[pygmalion]

Yup. Stir fries are nice. My favorite? Shrimp stir fry over angel hair pasta. Fifteen minutes. Yum.

[danceguy]

Hmm, I love to cook and go shopping for interesting new spices and experiment. Typically I cook up a large dish of a main entree and then keep it in a nice ceramic corningwear dish. Any leftovers I bring to work for lunch the next day.

Actually, these days I've been eating a lot of tortillas...so I cook up a pound of chicken or ground beef and then use it for tacos or with some veggies and/or salad greens.

Every now and then I make a batch of hummus...I originally got the recipe from an Egyptian guy who made hummus that was like heaven...it was delicious beyond words. I've talked with other folks with Middle Eastern heritage to pick up more tips, so i've gotten quite good at making it. If I have a lot time, I'll make some hand made flatbread to go along with it. It usually takes about 4-5 hours to make good hummus though...that's a weekend project for sure. :)

As I'm Italian-American, I mostly cook with tomato sauce that I add herbs to as anything from a can or jar is an insult to my mother's cooking skills that she passed along to me. Or grill a nice chicken breast in olive oil, then add sauce and top with parmesean cheese....yummy!

Ok, I better stop, I'm getting hungry! :P

SG

[Estella]

I never cook! I let take me out for dinner! :lol: :lol: :lol:
(joking....)

[NeoDevin]

I never cook! I let take me out for dinner! :lol: :lol: :lol:
(joking....)

It's a date! ;)

[danceguy]

Damn, he beat me to it. :D

[SDsalsaguy]

How did I just *know* that Devin would be the first in line? :lol:

[NeoDevin]

Though perhaps because I'm on a student's budget, I'll have to cook something for you instead of taking you out... lucky for you I'm a good cook.

[danceguy]

Be careful ladies...any guy that you don't know very well that invites you to his house for dinner is probably more interested in dessert! :roll:

[NeoDevin]

... Chocolate frosting anyone? ;)

[Swing Kitten]

clearly a guy not to be trusted

[NeoDevin]

You know you want some chocolate frosting kitty ;) ... all cats like chocolate (Especially mine, he keeps trying to eat the chocolate I bought on sale after valentine's day)