Cooking for One

If you're living single, cooking for yourself can seem to be a time consuming and thankless chore. Not being obligated to feed anyone but yourself can make it very easy to just settle for whatever you can find or have delivered. Calling for take-out or substituting snack food for a meal can be tempting, but snacking instead of actually eating a well-balanced meal may eventually cause health problems.

Cooking for one person begins with planning meals for one. Start by thinking about how much food 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 the week - or how much food you throw away. Buying less food and buying food weekly can save you money, time in the store and cooking time. Most recipes can be halved or quartered.

Visit www.mealsforyou.com to assist in paring down recipes to serve one. This website can locate recipes following your specific diet and once you select the number of servings it alters the ingredients to match. Many companies also offer cookbooks for one or two.

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. Larger items may be cheaper per unit size, but the money you save is wasted if most of the leftovers are thrown away. Frozen vegetables are equal in nutritional value to fresh and can be cooked in the same variety of ways as those you find in the produce department. Already purchased fruits that have grown too ripe, such as bananas and strawberries, can be frozen for later use to make fruit smoothies or daiquiris.

After all the time and effort you've put into preparing a meal, don't forget your table. Many cooks know that the presentation of food can make the meal, even when eating alone. Vary the color of your foods or accompaniments. Choose multi-colored food and use your best plates. Try music or flowers on the table. Make it fun to cook and eat for one.

Helpful hints when cooking for one:

• Buy fruits by the piece, not by the package.
• Ask the produce manager to halve heads of lettuce, cabbage or other produce to meet your needs.
• Buy smaller cuts of meat or ask the butcher to cut roasts or chicken into pieces big enough for one meal.
• Divide leftovers into meal-sized portions and freeze for convenient meals later.
• Save leftovers and create new meals by adding different vegetables, or cheese.
• Casseroles, stew and lasagna are all recipes that freeze well which can come in handy when you have unexpected guests.

Source

Source: Workplace Benefits. (2004). Cooking for one. Raleigh, NC: Author.

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