Cooking for 1?

DezUk

DezUk

DezUk

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Anyone here cook for themselves?

Recently moved back into my flat and struggling to think of dishes to make for myself when I come in from work. Get in around 7:30/8 so don't want to spend ages cooking.

I am thinking cooking pasta bake, chili con carne and using my slow cooker to make a stew etc. I could freeze some of that but what about real quick tasty and healthy dishes I could cook up in 30 mins?
 
Fail to plan...plan to fail...its all in the prep. get yourself a decent sized freezer.

Chicken, fish take no time at all, with salads, veg and pasta.

home made tomato sauce for all sorts of cooking. fry some bacon, onion, mushrooms, peppers, add some passata and blitz. store in sandwich bags when cooled and then freeze. when you want to make pasta, spag bol, chile, or many other things, get it out of the freezer in the morning and its thawed in the evening.

tbh the list is endless. but cook in bulk is the easiest option.
 
DezUk said:
Anyone here cook for themselves?

Recently moved back into my flat and struggling to think of dishes to make for myself when I come in from work. Get in around 7:30/8 so don't want to spend ages cooking.

I am thinking cooking pasta bake, chili con carne and using my slow cooker to make a stew etc. I could freeze some of that but what about real quick tasty and healthy dishes I could cook up in 30 mins?
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You got the right idea, cook big portions and divide up.
 
I tend to mostly cook in bulk and freeze it in portions. As long as you remember to take out what you want before you go to work, you can have a tasty, nutritious meal in minutes.

At the moment, I have chilli con carne, spag bol (tends to go a bit watery in the freezer), scouse, Thai green curry, beef stew and 3 different kinds of soup in my freezer as well as several portions of rice (I buy a bag of rice, boil the whole thing, rinse with cold water and portion up when cool).

Also, things like chops or sausages are quite quick to cook, as is fish. By the time your tatties are boiled you can have your chops/sausages/fish done and any veg you want. I also keep a selection of frozen veg in the freezer. The texture isn't as good as fresh but most veg is frozen within hours of harvesting so the goodness and flavour are still there. Frozen spinach is particularly tasty.

As mentioned above, salads are easy as well. I get the pre-packed salad bowls from Morrisons, they're only £1 a piece and you can add whatever you want to them. Things like a tin of tuna and/or a couple of boiled eggs or some sliced cooked meat or a cooked chicken breast or the like. All tasty and nutritious.

These are the sorts of things I eat most of the time but, every now and then I like to treat myself so I'll organise ingredients for something special, crack open a beer or pour a glass of wine, get my apron on and get busy in the kitchen with Absolute Radio 70s on the iPad - basically make it into an event to be enjoyed. Cooking "fancy" meals can be a bit challenging as you often need ingredients you wouldn't normally buy and supermarkets tend not to cater to singletons. As a result I have an incredibly well stocked spice cupboard and I've had to be inventive in trying to use up leftover ingredients in the days after.
 
Yeah, you just make normal meals with less ingredients...

There's no rule which says you can't have your chicken breasts bagged separate, or only buy small quantities of veg. I never understood why people moan about cooking for 1.

Last night I made greek style chicken and potatoes. One chicken leg, a few shallots, bit of garlic, oregano, white wine and oil, some spuds cut into wedges. Wrap it all tightly in foil and cook in the oven for half an hour. Prep and washing up is less than 10 minutes. That's one of my classic "I can't be arsed to cook" dishes, enjoy
 
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Anything you would normally cook. Either reduce size or portion up and freeze or keep for next day.


randomshenans said:
No, you cook for 4, eat for 4 and then get fat. Oh, that's what I did.
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Or this, guilty as charged.
Weighing stuff out helps massively, otherwise it's just, i'll throw in a bit more pasta.
 
I'm hopeless with pasta. I always look at it and think "That'll never be enough" and end up with far too much. I really should weigh pasta.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions folks. I do have a massive freezer so time to start putting it to use. Gonna get a slow cooker and start using that more often.

I was just after dishes that I could prep and cook on my way home from work, so nip into the supermarket and pickup a few items and cook it in less than 30 mins when I get in. Any suggestion on that front until I get myself stocked up on ingredients and stuff.
 
DezUk said:
Thanks for all the suggestions folks. I do have a massive freezer so time to start putting it to use. Gonna get a slow cooker and start using that more often.

I was just after dishes that I could prep and cook on my way home from work, so nip into the supermarket and pickup a few items and cook it in less than 30 mins when I get in. Any suggestion on that front until I get myself stocked up on ingredients and stuff.
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Steak and salad as Raymond says.

If you have a gas BBQ then you can whack on anything from burgers, sausages, marinaded chicken, steak, chops. Serve with rice/pasta/bread etc. and veggies of choice.
 
You can have pretty much any meat and salad.

Grilled Chicken breast , pork chops, fish, etc.

Or a fresh soup in a tub if you want, its healthier than other ready meals.

And Salad.
 
I find cooking for 1 is easy, you just need to make 1/2 as much :p Or in my case, still make as much as for 2 but eat it all anyway...

Or if you make too much, freeze the rest and have it another time.

Anything with a meat/tomatoey sauce is good. Use grains like Quinoa, bulgar wheat and cous cous to bulk it out a bit (or wild rice and pasta if you want).

Or you can have drier foods that you add a sauce too - the sauce can be frozen or put in the fridge for future use.
 
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