Cooking for One, or Two (ingredients, grill, junk food, mushroom)

[RDSLOTS]

Do any of you find yourselves 'challenged' when it comes to cooking for just yourself, or two of you, if you have a spouse?

So many of my beloved recipes and dishes just don't taste quite the same if I halve them, or quarter them, but my freezer fills up fairly quickly if I prepare the meal, and then try to save the leftovers -- without having to eat them in the next few days. Some things freeze very well, like a stew or chili, while others just don't.

To buy things in quantities suitable for just me, or my husband and myself, is SO expensive, too.

I also find that if I am here alone because hubby's work has taken him out-of-town overnight, I tend to skip meals, or eat like I would never let my daughter do, as a child -- the junk food thing, you know. I hate to admit I ate two bowls of ice cream for dinner one night!

[cynwldkat]

You are not alone. I find it very difficult cooking for two and if it just for me I am like you....a bowl of cereal or a quick drive-thru is just fine. To buy all them items needed for so many recipes and then to have to cut the recipe by half or by fourths seems like a lot of money. I am finding I have to find a whole new way of cooking. As you said, freezing leftovers is good if the foods freeze well. I don't know if there is a good answer here--but you are far from alone!!

[findinghope]

i have been cooking for 2 for years. my little one just eats a little of our food.
i dont find it difficult, but i dont really make caseroles and such.
i make pasta or rice about 4 times a week and the other days i will make a protein-although i do use a protein for my pasta/ rice condements
as for just the protein part, i freeze things in 2 or 4 like chicken parts or beef etc. the favorite way to cook them is to grill on the stove. i make a salad or a side of veggies. there are usually no left overs and if there are DH takes them for lunch.

[Town&Country]

I'm way better at cooking for two, I find it much easier to cook for my Pumpkin and me as opposed to the masses... I think its because I can dedicate more time to a unique dinner...

[RDSLOTS]

Now, that is a different way of looking at this dilemma of mine, Town&Country!

My problem is trying to reduce the recipes of things. How do you make coq au vin for two? chicken cacciatore? Even pancakes on a Sunday morning are often more than we need to make, or to eat.

[JnR]

What I have learned is that you have to 'eyeball' things and not go strictly by the recipe. Hard to do at first, but you get better over time. For example, we love the chicken enchiladas that I make but the recipe was for a family of about 12 or something!!! LOL And the two of us didn't want to eat it forever. So, I took the ingredients it called for and just eyeballed what I thought would make enough for a meal and one meals leftovers. Same thing with soups or stews... just cut back the ingredients into something more manageable for two. My 2 cents...

[findinghope]

Originally Posted by RDSLOTS

Now, that is a different way of looking at this dilemma of mine, Town&Country!

My problem is trying to reduce the recipes of things. How do you make coq au vin for two? chicken cacciatore? Even pancakes on a Sunday morning are often more than we need to make, or to eat.

pancake box says how to make just 12. even if there are 4 left you can freeze them--i have done this and they taste fine--not wonderful. but they are 4 pancakes and i have been known to either eat them later in the day or just throw them out.,..

[UpperPeninsulaRon]

Originally Posted by RDSLOTS

Now, that is a different way of looking at this dilemma of mine, Town&Country!

My problem is trying to reduce the recipes of things. How do you make coq au vin for two? chicken cacciatore? Even pancakes on a Sunday morning are often more than we need to make, or to eat.

I've cooked for years from preparing a Thanksgiving feast for thirty from scratch to numerous two person meals. I think the whole thing boils down to one question - am I looking at this as a chore or something that I really enjoy doing. If you really enjoy cooking, you do not try to perfectly break down a recipe for eight by trying to divide a spoonful of salt into a perfect proportion for two. Instead, you experiment, use your imagination, cook by feel, and over time cooking for two is just as easy as cooking for ten.

Using two small chicken legs with thighs is a perfect size for chicken cacciatore. Brown them, remove, add mushrooms and onions and garlic, saute, add a few roma tomatoes, cook down, add back the chicken and cook until done. Layer your seasonings along the way. Use a salt and pepper mill - grind just what you want into the meal. Presto - chicken cacciatore for two.

[RDSLOTS]

OK, you Guys have made me look at this differently. I do enjoy cooking, very much, just hated feeling wasteful or something. Old cooks can learn new tricks.

Reminds me a little of a joke about a newlywed wife who always cut a roast into a neat little square, and when her dear hubby asked, "why do you do that?," she could only say,"because my Mother cooks a roast this way." He thinks to ask the mother-in-law at holiday time, and gets the same response. And so on to the grandmother. Finally, he gets an answer from the 100-year-old great-grandmother.

"So it will fit in the pan."

Obviously, I need to use smaller pans?

[eggalegga]

I tend to cook meals on Sunday and eat the leftovers throughout the week. If I make a lot of something, I'll freeze it for later. I made a huge batch of Olive Garden's Pasta Fagioli soup and froze the leftovers. Lesson learned: don't put the cooked pasta in with the rest of the soup when freezing it. All of the liquid was absorbed by the pasta.

I would love to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables....but I hate going to the grocery store. There are some delivery services available but my small order isn't worth the price of getting it delivered. I usually go grocery shopping once a month.