Cooking for One or Two

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I know that many of you are single, or have no children, so I thought you might have some special issues when it comes to shopping, cooking, etc... Use this thread to post your hints and tips for cooking for only a few people.

I don't have this problem as it feels like I cook for a hundred!! Between planting, growing, picking, canning, planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning up, it feels like over 1/2 of my life is taken up by food!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), December 09, 2001

Answers

After years of cooking for hubby and two growing sons, I am an empty nester, and hubby works in another part of the state most of the time.

When I cook, I cook as I used to, freeze the bounty, and then dine from the assortment in the freezer.

Easier for me to do it this way. It takes just as long to cook a little or a lot.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), December 09, 2001.


I have been cooking for one for about 25 years. The hard part is buying for one, often there is too much in the package to use at one time. Things like canned tomatoes, mushrooms, pineapple, ect. are allways too numerous, so I portion them out and freeze. I keep all powdered type ingrediants, grits, corn meal, pancake mix, rice, plastic milk, flour, ect. in two letter soda bottles. Inventory checking is a quick glance and being from Florida, where the cockroachs have a union, this keeps stuff bugproof. Larger ingrediants are keep in 1 gallon plastic jars from the dollar store.

Cooking is often accomplished in a one skillet style, I keep one plate and set of silverware for continued use, the others are packed away so dishes do not stack up waiting to be washed. Meat is portioned out to be wrapped in plastic and then stored in freezer bags, instant inventory again and easier to thaw when their not frozen to each other. Liquid and semi liquid ingrediants such as tomato sauce is frozen in ice trays then moved to freezer bags, it is very easy to grab a couple of "cubes" to add to the skillet, never worring about what to do with the rest of the can.

I would preffer to grow my own produce but this rock I live on does not allow this.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 10, 2001.


I can relate to mitch's answer: when I was in the "big city" during college years, I just ate out of the pot or skillet itself; why get a dish dirty in the first place. Of course, I didn't have any roomates to call me dirty names or anything.

My hardest thing to eat on time was fresh produce like lettuce; I am not a big salad eater, and half the head would rot before I got to it. Anybody have information on keeping vegetables fresh for a long time?

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), December 10, 2001.


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