Help me learn to plan and cook for one?
October 10, 2016 11:00 AM Subscribe
Help me learn how to plan, shop, and cook for just me.
Cookbooks exist for the cooking alone market, but it's hard to choose between them. What I want is something in the vein of Serious Eats for the solo chef. The things I need are guidance on how to shop in a non-wasteful way for one, including how to keep fresh vegetables on hand but not prone to spoilage, techniques for recipe splitting, etc.
I use Mealime for this exact purpose. They have a free version, and a paid version with more features. It will automatically plan out a selectable number of meals and provide a shopping list that you can add to. The recipes are designed for no waste, and you can configure the number of servings you want. Two servings of each meal means dinner + lunch for the next day.
posted by dobi at 11:24 AM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by dobi at 11:24 AM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
The main thing I learned when I was cooking for one was: don't overcommit yourself.
If you're a working adult, it's perfectly legit to cook a "family" portion of something and let that be your dinner plus a couple weekday lunches. (Especially when things like casseroles are hard to scale down: dividing ingredients is easy, but cook time: not so much.)
Spoilage/waste: as you point out, fruits/vegetables are the key thing to worry about, since they don't freeze as easily as meat/cheese/bread if you run out of time to use them.
For me, I learned to never stock more than two vegetables in my fridge at a time: inevitably, there would be a night or two during the week when I was too tired to cook and/or just wanted takeout. If I ran out of vegetables, it was easy to stop by the store for more. And cooked vegetables are perfectly fine as leftovers.
posted by homodachi at 11:32 AM on October 10, 2016 [7 favorites]
If you're a working adult, it's perfectly legit to cook a "family" portion of something and let that be your dinner plus a couple weekday lunches. (Especially when things like casseroles are hard to scale down: dividing ingredients is easy, but cook time: not so much.)
Spoilage/waste: as you point out, fruits/vegetables are the key thing to worry about, since they don't freeze as easily as meat/cheese/bread if you run out of time to use them.
For me, I learned to never stock more than two vegetables in my fridge at a time: inevitably, there would be a night or two during the week when I was too tired to cook and/or just wanted takeout. If I ran out of vegetables, it was easy to stop by the store for more. And cooked vegetables are perfectly fine as leftovers.
posted by homodachi at 11:32 AM on October 10, 2016 [7 favorites]
In terms of cookbooks, we really like One Pan, Two Plates. It would be great for making a meal for yourself and then having one portion of leftovers. In fact, when we make a meal from it for me and my husband, I'm often disappointed that we *don't* have leftovers!
posted by radioamy at 11:44 AM on October 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by radioamy at 11:44 AM on October 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
If you are able to do smaller, more frequent grocery trips, that might help. In the UK, small supermarkets and food stands are really common. I stop probably five times per week to supplement what I might need (smaller portions of fruit or veggies, bread, etc). My husband and I do a bigger shop at a bigger market once every two to three weeks for staples (usually non-perishable ones). It might be a tiny bit more expensive to not buy in bulk quantities, but we waste a lot less, so I think it probably comes out about the same.
posted by stillmoving at 12:02 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by stillmoving at 12:02 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
When single I stopped buying fresh vegetables, and only bought frozen for every day use. I picked up salads once or twice a week. Frozen was easy and didn't expire. I still bought potatoes, carrots, onions. And tomatoes.
I tended to make one large meal to have as leftovers..that made for 4-5 lunches or dinner. Spaghetti, curry, chili, shepherds pie.
Otherwise, I made a variation of meat and potatoes. Ie one pork chop and a baked potato, some frozen veg.
Or homemade teryiaki chicken and rice.
My best tip- make a super simple meal, a real basic (for example, grilled sausage and boiled potato) and time yourself. Make note of how long it takes. I started doing that and realized most meals were less than half an hour, most of that was waiting. Show yourself that cooking isn't as onerous and time consuming as you think.
posted by Ftsqg at 12:35 PM on October 10, 2016 [11 favorites]
I tended to make one large meal to have as leftovers..that made for 4-5 lunches or dinner. Spaghetti, curry, chili, shepherds pie.
Otherwise, I made a variation of meat and potatoes. Ie one pork chop and a baked potato, some frozen veg.
Or homemade teryiaki chicken and rice.
My best tip- make a super simple meal, a real basic (for example, grilled sausage and boiled potato) and time yourself. Make note of how long it takes. I started doing that and realized most meals were less than half an hour, most of that was waiting. Show yourself that cooking isn't as onerous and time consuming as you think.
posted by Ftsqg at 12:35 PM on October 10, 2016 [11 favorites]
I like and frequently use the CookSmarts meal planning service. Each week you're presented with four seasonal meals. For each meal you want to make, you can select your dietary needs (original recipe, vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo) and the number of servings you want to make (2, 4, 6, 8, or other). It then spits out a shopping list for you, and tells you what prep you can do on the weekend so that the meals come together quickly on any given evening. You also have access to the full meal archive, ideas re: what freezes well and what to do with leftovers, and short instructional videos on basic kitchen techniques in case you come across something you're not familiar with cooking.
posted by zebra at 12:52 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by zebra at 12:52 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
My favorite single-diner cookbook is this one, because it also subtly trains you in the art of repurposing leftovers.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:21 PM on October 10, 2016
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:21 PM on October 10, 2016
Some things I've found helpful:
- Spending some time prepping as soon as I get home from the store. I cut up salad ingredients for the next few days so they're easier to assemble (and therefore I'm less likely to let them rot in the fridge because it feels like too much effort). This is also when I portion out bigger packages of meat or fish and freeze anything I won't use in the next couple of days. If you don't want to portion it out yourself, you can usually find individually portioned chicken breasts, fish fillets, etc.
- Investing in a bunch of smaller containers that hold one or two servings of something. Many recipes can be scaled back, but if that's not practical, I make the full recipe and split it into the smaller containers for freezing.
- Figuring out what can be bought in bulk - not so I can buy a lot of it, obviously, but so I can buy only the amount I need. I will never need an entire bunch of celery (really, who does, even when cooking for a family), but I can buy just a couple of stalks by weight at my grocery store.
- Keeping frozen veggies on hand, as well as some starchy staples like rice, pasta, and potatoes. Then, since I always have small portions of meat or fish in the freezer, I always have ingredients to make a simple meal even if I haven't planned it in advance.
- Erring on the side of less when buying fresh produce. I used to constantly buy too many salad greens because I assumed a perfect world in which I would make salad every single day, and then inevitably I didn't. Be realistic and not overly ambitious. It's nice to buy everything I need for the week at once, but if I end up making additional mid-week trips to the store, it's better than overbuying and wasting food.
- Realizing that trying to use stuff up actually makes it easier to decide what to cook sometimes, if you're indecisive like I am about things like this.
posted by treachery, faith, and the great river at 2:12 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
- Spending some time prepping as soon as I get home from the store. I cut up salad ingredients for the next few days so they're easier to assemble (and therefore I'm less likely to let them rot in the fridge because it feels like too much effort). This is also when I portion out bigger packages of meat or fish and freeze anything I won't use in the next couple of days. If you don't want to portion it out yourself, you can usually find individually portioned chicken breasts, fish fillets, etc.
- Investing in a bunch of smaller containers that hold one or two servings of something. Many recipes can be scaled back, but if that's not practical, I make the full recipe and split it into the smaller containers for freezing.
- Figuring out what can be bought in bulk - not so I can buy a lot of it, obviously, but so I can buy only the amount I need. I will never need an entire bunch of celery (really, who does, even when cooking for a family), but I can buy just a couple of stalks by weight at my grocery store.
- Keeping frozen veggies on hand, as well as some starchy staples like rice, pasta, and potatoes. Then, since I always have small portions of meat or fish in the freezer, I always have ingredients to make a simple meal even if I haven't planned it in advance.
- Erring on the side of less when buying fresh produce. I used to constantly buy too many salad greens because I assumed a perfect world in which I would make salad every single day, and then inevitably I didn't. Be realistic and not overly ambitious. It's nice to buy everything I need for the week at once, but if I end up making additional mid-week trips to the store, it's better than overbuying and wasting food.
- Realizing that trying to use stuff up actually makes it easier to decide what to cook sometimes, if you're indecisive like I am about things like this.
posted by treachery, faith, and the great river at 2:12 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
I daily make lunch for two. There's no reason you couldn't do this for one.
Look for interesting recipes that aren't too complicated, and then eyeball the ingredients with a view to ending up with the amount you want on your plate or in your bowl.
It takes a little practice, but these days I can whip up a chop suey, Italian sausage with pasta and sauce, fried rice, curry, burrito, quesadilla, panini, BLT, tacos (you name it) in 30 minutes or less, with no leftovers.
To do this for one will take some kitchen management skill, but it's not hard. At any given time, our fridge has several ziplok bags containing fresh produce, like half an onion, half a tomato, whatever. The trick is to find recipes that will use those leftover fresh ingredients before they go bad.
It's probably not possible to avoid all food waste if you're cooking for one. True confessions, I do end up throwing away half a can of coconut milk, or part of a package of tortillas, from time to time. On the other hand, you might be surprised by what you can do with a partially used bunch of celery (cream of celery soup) or half a loaf of bread (process into bread crumbs and freeze for breading fish or a pork chop).
Buy butter in half-stick format and keep most of it in the freezer until needed.
My grocery store allows splitting a tray of a dozen eggs in two, so you're only buying six at a time.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 4:41 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Look for interesting recipes that aren't too complicated, and then eyeball the ingredients with a view to ending up with the amount you want on your plate or in your bowl.
It takes a little practice, but these days I can whip up a chop suey, Italian sausage with pasta and sauce, fried rice, curry, burrito, quesadilla, panini, BLT, tacos (you name it) in 30 minutes or less, with no leftovers.
To do this for one will take some kitchen management skill, but it's not hard. At any given time, our fridge has several ziplok bags containing fresh produce, like half an onion, half a tomato, whatever. The trick is to find recipes that will use those leftover fresh ingredients before they go bad.
It's probably not possible to avoid all food waste if you're cooking for one. True confessions, I do end up throwing away half a can of coconut milk, or part of a package of tortillas, from time to time. On the other hand, you might be surprised by what you can do with a partially used bunch of celery (cream of celery soup) or half a loaf of bread (process into bread crumbs and freeze for breading fish or a pork chop).
Buy butter in half-stick format and keep most of it in the freezer until needed.
My grocery store allows splitting a tray of a dozen eggs in two, so you're only buying six at a time.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 4:41 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
My freezer is my friend. I make a big batch of something and then use containers the size of a single serving (I like these two-cup glass containers) to freeze portions for the future. If I do this a few weekends in a row, I have an assortment of different meals ready for me through the week. I make all sorts of stew, chili and pasta sauce.
You can freeze english muffins (cut them in half first) and bread then put them directly in the toaster. (I avoided big loaves of french bread because of the waste, but I recently discovered that frozen slices toast well and become lovely garlic bread.)
I also make biscuits, freeze the dough in individual biscuit-shapes and put them straight in to the oven. No need to defrost, just cook for a bit longer. Cookies are also good this way.
Raw ingredients can also be frozen for future use: lemon/lime juice, chopped onions, tomato paste, chopped fruit, etc. A key is to freeze liquids and liquid-ish items in small bits so you aren't trying to hack a portion off a frozen block. Similarly, I chop fruit, then freeze it on a cookie try before putting it in ziploc bags or the pyrex containers. That way it remains in pieces rather than an unmanageable mass.
posted by mcduff at 4:58 PM on October 10, 2016 [3 favorites]
You can freeze english muffins (cut them in half first) and bread then put them directly in the toaster. (I avoided big loaves of french bread because of the waste, but I recently discovered that frozen slices toast well and become lovely garlic bread.)
I also make biscuits, freeze the dough in individual biscuit-shapes and put them straight in to the oven. No need to defrost, just cook for a bit longer. Cookies are also good this way.
Raw ingredients can also be frozen for future use: lemon/lime juice, chopped onions, tomato paste, chopped fruit, etc. A key is to freeze liquids and liquid-ish items in small bits so you aren't trying to hack a portion off a frozen block. Similarly, I chop fruit, then freeze it on a cookie try before putting it in ziploc bags or the pyrex containers. That way it remains in pieces rather than an unmanageable mass.
posted by mcduff at 4:58 PM on October 10, 2016 [3 favorites]
Food co-ops are great for the single person, because you can buy only as much as you need from the bulk bins and meat counter. I frequently ask for 2 or 3 strips of bacon, or two sausages--one for me, one for the dog :)
posted by MrBobinski at 6:34 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by MrBobinski at 6:34 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
As several here have pointed out, you don't necessarily want to avoid leftovers. Leftovers make life easier. Take some time on Sunday (or whatever day you have off) to make a full recipe of a stew or chili or hearty soup and you have lunches for most of the week.
Good bread (wheat-based, anyway) holds up well in the freezer. Lately I have been buying half a loaf of a big rustic sourdough, which the baker slices for me, and putting the slices in one or two gallon-sized freezer bags for freezing. The toaster on a low-ish setting (takes a little experimenting) will revive it just fine. Lasts much longer than bread-on-top-of-the-fridge. Sandwiches are good for solitaires, since many of the most popular ingredients like cured meats and cheeses and condiments have a relatively long shelf life. Some type of vegetable pickle can liven them up--there are many recipes out there for small-batch quick pickles which don't require a water bath and make only one or two jars.
In my experience, sturdier greens tend to last longer in the fridge. Kale, broccoli rabe, and the like can hold out nearly two weeks. Pasta recipes using these which are not heavily sauced (e.g., with a quick olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, anchovy sauce rather than tomato) hold up better than you might think as leftovers.
Also, Serious Eats did a study of the best ways to store fresh herbs which is particularly relevant to the solo cook, since fresh herbs can represent a frustratingly large portion of the cost of a dish when you may need only a small portion of a package.
Egg dishes are often prepared in single servings anyway, so they are a natural choice. You can scramble eggs or make an omelette for one person with a wide variety of mix-ins/fillings. I like to beat a couple of eggs with about an ounce of goat cheese, scramble them, and then put it over some frisee if I have it or else arugula.
posted by praemunire at 8:41 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Good bread (wheat-based, anyway) holds up well in the freezer. Lately I have been buying half a loaf of a big rustic sourdough, which the baker slices for me, and putting the slices in one or two gallon-sized freezer bags for freezing. The toaster on a low-ish setting (takes a little experimenting) will revive it just fine. Lasts much longer than bread-on-top-of-the-fridge. Sandwiches are good for solitaires, since many of the most popular ingredients like cured meats and cheeses and condiments have a relatively long shelf life. Some type of vegetable pickle can liven them up--there are many recipes out there for small-batch quick pickles which don't require a water bath and make only one or two jars.
In my experience, sturdier greens tend to last longer in the fridge. Kale, broccoli rabe, and the like can hold out nearly two weeks. Pasta recipes using these which are not heavily sauced (e.g., with a quick olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, anchovy sauce rather than tomato) hold up better than you might think as leftovers.
Also, Serious Eats did a study of the best ways to store fresh herbs which is particularly relevant to the solo cook, since fresh herbs can represent a frustratingly large portion of the cost of a dish when you may need only a small portion of a package.
Egg dishes are often prepared in single servings anyway, so they are a natural choice. You can scramble eggs or make an omelette for one person with a wide variety of mix-ins/fillings. I like to beat a couple of eggs with about an ounce of goat cheese, scramble them, and then put it over some frisee if I have it or else arugula.
posted by praemunire at 8:41 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh, and Whole Foods also has a bulk aisle, though I'm sure the savings are not like those at your local hippie co-op.
posted by praemunire at 8:42 PM on October 10, 2016
posted by praemunire at 8:42 PM on October 10, 2016
(And, weirdly enough, organic milk has a MUCH longer lifespan than regular milk.)
posted by praemunire at 8:43 PM on October 10, 2016
posted by praemunire at 8:43 PM on October 10, 2016
I decided that I was going to stock up my freezer before work got very busy this year. Here is what I have done:
1. I spent weekends and one weeknight a week for like, two, maybe two and a half weeks cooking a lot. This ensured me a stockpile. Now, I just have to cook one or maybe two big things a week to keep that going.
2. Choose recipes. Several ideas are below, things I've happily frozen with success.
3. Once cooked, store most food in ziplock 2-cup containers with the twist-lock top. Fill a serving's worth. Get a piece of saran wrap and just smoosh it down on the top. This prevents freezer-burn! Twist on lid and use labeling tape and a sharpie to label with the name and date.
5. Keep an inventory sheet. Get a piece of lined paper. On each line, write the name of the meal you've frozen. Draw circles next to it, one circle per container. Hang this on your freezer door with a magnet. Every time you eat a serving, put an x through a circle.
Recipes:
Smitten kitchen: these curried lentils with sweet potatoes are veggie-packed and freeze and reheat a charm, I like her quiche recipes too (just wrap pieces tightly in foil after letting it set in the fridge overnight, put foil-wrapped slices in a large ziplock), browse her soup list. Also her freezer-friendly list.
You can freeze rice or any grain easily for these meals. I make a large pot of rice (3 cups water, 2 cups rice). Put it in the fridge overnight. The next day, portion out into ziplock bags in your preferred serving size. I put all the smaller freezer bags into a bigger freezer bag just for ease. This link is from the kitchn and they have a great list of freezer meals.
BudgetBytes has some good stuff. I like freezing this Southwest chicken skillet. She's got a nice list of freezer-worthy recipes.
Have fun! Cooking can be a really nice activity. I usually spend a few hours at least one day a weekend cooking something, and I usually have anywhere between 10-15 meals in my freezer ready to be heated up when I get home.
posted by sockermom at 8:45 PM on October 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
1. I spent weekends and one weeknight a week for like, two, maybe two and a half weeks cooking a lot. This ensured me a stockpile. Now, I just have to cook one or maybe two big things a week to keep that going.
2. Choose recipes. Several ideas are below, things I've happily frozen with success.
3. Once cooked, store most food in ziplock 2-cup containers with the twist-lock top. Fill a serving's worth. Get a piece of saran wrap and just smoosh it down on the top. This prevents freezer-burn! Twist on lid and use labeling tape and a sharpie to label with the name and date.
5. Keep an inventory sheet. Get a piece of lined paper. On each line, write the name of the meal you've frozen. Draw circles next to it, one circle per container. Hang this on your freezer door with a magnet. Every time you eat a serving, put an x through a circle.
Recipes:
Smitten kitchen: these curried lentils with sweet potatoes are veggie-packed and freeze and reheat a charm, I like her quiche recipes too (just wrap pieces tightly in foil after letting it set in the fridge overnight, put foil-wrapped slices in a large ziplock), browse her soup list. Also her freezer-friendly list.
You can freeze rice or any grain easily for these meals. I make a large pot of rice (3 cups water, 2 cups rice). Put it in the fridge overnight. The next day, portion out into ziplock bags in your preferred serving size. I put all the smaller freezer bags into a bigger freezer bag just for ease. This link is from the kitchn and they have a great list of freezer meals.
BudgetBytes has some good stuff. I like freezing this Southwest chicken skillet. She's got a nice list of freezer-worthy recipes.
Have fun! Cooking can be a really nice activity. I usually spend a few hours at least one day a weekend cooking something, and I usually have anywhere between 10-15 meals in my freezer ready to be heated up when I get home.
posted by sockermom at 8:45 PM on October 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
nthing "don't overshop."
I've never liked big meals and leftovers much. Don't know why. That's probably the best if it works for someone. When I do a cookbook meal for fun and tastiness I immediately split it up for storage into daily portions, otherwise I'll binge.
But mostly I target shopping at least twice a week to stay stocked on fresh vegetables and buy for 3 days. If I miss a day that's fine. I do quality stores because truly fresh stuff they can last a lot longer--a lot of local in season farmers' market stuff can actually make it almost a week. If I run out early I'll top off at a convenient place (high quality or not).
I also keep cans of beans, dried lentils, quinoa, canned tuna and frozen veggies around for days when I am out of stuff but am too busy to shop. Healthy filling stuff. I go through them slowly but it's easier not to overshop when you're sure you can get by for a day with a bare refrigerator. Just lentils with frozen onions, peas and a few herbs are--well, maybe not good, but perfectly palatable.
Meat I do fish, shrimp, lamb chops, ground beef and other things that you can buy a third to half a pound of easily. If I make a roast I think "this is great and easy, why don't I do this more often" and then after a week of eating roast I remember.
posted by mark k at 8:51 PM on October 10, 2016
I've never liked big meals and leftovers much. Don't know why. That's probably the best if it works for someone. When I do a cookbook meal for fun and tastiness I immediately split it up for storage into daily portions, otherwise I'll binge.
But mostly I target shopping at least twice a week to stay stocked on fresh vegetables and buy for 3 days. If I miss a day that's fine. I do quality stores because truly fresh stuff they can last a lot longer--a lot of local in season farmers' market stuff can actually make it almost a week. If I run out early I'll top off at a convenient place (high quality or not).
I also keep cans of beans, dried lentils, quinoa, canned tuna and frozen veggies around for days when I am out of stuff but am too busy to shop. Healthy filling stuff. I go through them slowly but it's easier not to overshop when you're sure you can get by for a day with a bare refrigerator. Just lentils with frozen onions, peas and a few herbs are--well, maybe not good, but perfectly palatable.
Meat I do fish, shrimp, lamb chops, ground beef and other things that you can buy a third to half a pound of easily. If I make a roast I think "this is great and easy, why don't I do this more often" and then after a week of eating roast I remember.
posted by mark k at 8:51 PM on October 10, 2016
What worked for me was realising that a week had fourteen meals (lunches and dinners) and therefore making three four-serving dishes. The other two meals were either takeout or breakfast for dinner. Breakfast was either eggs (when I had time) or oatmeal and fruits. I planned my meals for the next week Friday, went shopping Saturday, cooked Sunday, and then ate out of the fridge all week.
This won't work if you hate leftovers, but it saved me a lot of time and sanity.
posted by Tamanna at 9:04 PM on October 10, 2016
This won't work if you hate leftovers, but it saved me a lot of time and sanity.
posted by Tamanna at 9:04 PM on October 10, 2016
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My other suggestion is crockpot recipes you love - eat one day and then for the next few, or freeze and have for later.
If you're on reddit, I think people are into the "Meal Prep Sunday" sub - not sure if they have single-specific advice but might be worth a look?
posted by shortskirtlongjacket at 11:18 AM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]