Cooking for one
 

I really need some help here. My house mate has just moved out and she used to cook for me. The problem that I face here, is that I cant cook. I need some ideas for basic food that I can make to feed myself. I will be eating by myself most of the time, and its to hard to make big meals just for one. Has anyone got some ideas about what I can cook for me. Thanks guys, any help would be great. :)

Buy a book, if you can read you can cook. Mac & cheese is a great cheap easy start. Add meats, crunchies, veggies. Filling endless variety. usually goes best with chardonney or lite beer.

This is a problem. It's no fun to cook only for yourself. And a lot of fresh things you buy, like vegetables and bread, go bad before you use them, unless you want to have broccoli 3 or 4 days in a row! I was single until age 37 so I've been there. Even though I like to cook, I ate a lot of take-out chicken wings and frozen pizza.

First of all, frozen veggies aren't too bad and you can use just what you need. Get a steamer for fresh veggies, they're great cooked that way. Potatoes, rice, pasta, anybody can cook that. For variety you can cook rice in broth or throw in some herbs. Try to make things that you can use the leftovers the next day, either by reheating or turning into a sandwich or something.

Here's a recipe that I have always enjoyed. It is simple and delicious and it reheats well either in an oven or microwave. THe only drawback is it cooks a long time on low heat. My family calls it: Yummy Chicken and Rice

Mix
1 cup raw rice
1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 soup cans water

pour into a 9" X 13" baking dish and lay on top 1 cut up chicken or parts of your choice (boneless thighs or breasts will work although not as good).

Bake at 275 F for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

The best thing to do is master a few easy dishes and learn how to make good leftovers.

Of course, the best leftover is pizza, which you can get one for a couple bucks with a coupon from most places when you buy one at full price. Stick one in the fridge and save it for tomorrow, the next day, heat the oven at 250-350 and let it heat up for 8-15 minutes. Watch it, try around and find the way you like it.

That's the key thing about cooking. Rarely will you make something great the first time you try. This is because with most cookbooks and such, they are written generally to try to apply to everyone, which is impossible.

If all else fails, get spagetti and add whatever you want after it's cooked. A regular thing I make is a spagetti pizza type deal. I cook the spagetti till it's done, put it in a pyrex dish, add some spagetti sauce, some pepperoni, some sausage, and some cheese on top, put it in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes and that's it. Quick and easy.

Also, go get "I'm Just Here For The Food" by Alton Brown and watch his show Good Eats on Food Network (9:30est on Wednesdays). His show is great for beginning cooks and experienced cooks alike.

Yup, start small. KD, instant noodles, minute rice and then start adding little bits of meat or veggies in it.

The freezer is your friend. Get some mini loaf pans, and you can make meatloaf, lasagna, any type of caserole. Easy portioning, and 1 cooking session for like 6 meals, and most recipes are simple.

If you have the money, a crockpot/slow cooker might be a good idea. Same idea as Pellaz, 1 session makes lots of meals. All you have to do is put all the ingredients into the cooker and turn it on, that's the way most recipes are designed. And there are lots of recipe books and lots of recipes on the internet.

my SO went home for 3 weeks, so i've basically have had to cook for myself for the past week.. and for the next 2 weeks.

Leftovers are your friend. I'm cooking for 2, and saving half for the next meal. Boring, but i hate having to both COOK and WASHUP, so this cuts the cooking in half.

Cookbooks. I automatically throw out ALL cookbooks with ingredient lists of more than 6 foods. It doesn't have to be elaborate to taste good.

I'm asian, so my meals tend to be of the rice with assorted stirfry vegetables and meat and various soups.

Pasta is great. Here's a recipe i use for shrimp scampi. A 30 minute meal that tastes great.

Start boiling water and cooking the pasta. This should take 20 min.

Serves 2:
Mince 3 cloves of garlic.
shell 12 medium sized shrimp.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.
Saute garlic until it turns pale.

Add lemon juice, salt to to taste. (if you have some dry wine, add some too)

Add shrimp. Finally add some chopped parsley.

Toss together with pasta.


yummy... all in 30 minutes... =)

stir fry. oil, xxxxxx veggies, soy sauce, stir, done. want meat? add and cook before veggies. 20 min max.

for stirfrying veggies, you can also try oyster sauce. available at any asian grocery..

Thanks for all the help guys, hopefully I wont poison myself...

I know one issue is cooking time. If you are cooking for yourself, you never want to have to do something that takes a while and is a hassle, because you are the only person there to do the work and clean up. Broiling or stirfrying are both fast and simple. Broiling is good for red meat, chicken and fish, and stirfry can be a whole meal in itself.
A real simple, fast but delicious meal for one:
Broiled/barbequed steak and couscous
Marinate the steak for an hour in about 1/4 cup total of red wine, soy sauce, ground pepper and pressed/minced garlic. You can go watch tv or whatever while it sits (but flip it once or twice.) Then put the oven rack in the top position and broil the steak 5 minutes a side (baste it when you flip it).
For the couscous, follow the directions for 1 or 2 servings (i think it is about 3/4 cup couscous to 1 cup water, but I could be wrong). While that is cooking, saute some garlic and pine nuts for a couple minutes, and add them to the finished couscous.
Chop up some mint if you can get it and sprinkle on top.
Then whole cooking process is maybe 15 minutes tops with minimal clean up.
If you are feeling adventurous, save the marinade mixture and reduce it in a pot over medium high heat until it is about half the initial amount and a syrupy consistancy. Pour that over the finished steak.
One of my personal favorites.

Oh yea, if clean-up is a problem, learn where you can use aluminum foil and such. Items like that cut down on clean-up immensely.

MAC AND CHEESE (kraft dinner if you speak canadian). Add a little tuna for protien and you have a wonderful meal in 10 mins

The solution to cooking for one:

Get hitched. Cooking for one sucks. Find a mate.

I live off of chicken breasts......grill a bunch for dinner. Use left overs for chk salad or sandwich the next day.