I have been participating in Menu Monday for a while, after planning my weekly menus I have discovered that I am a boring eater/cook. The main reason for repeating meals is that I live alone and cooking for one is not that fun.
Being single in your 20’s is a different kettle of fish than being an accomplished adult with grown up taste buds. I don’t regularly have a bowl of cereal for dinner as I did when I was younger. I want a real meal, a healthy meal, quite possibly with a glass of wine. Wine does not go with cereal.
Cooking for one needs to be fast cooking, if you are eating alone you do not want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Here are a few of my quick food fixes, adult yet Lean style.
Protein – Roast chicken can be made into so many different dishes, the easiest yet most versatile is stock. I never put a carcass in the bin. Making stock takes minutes to prepare just pop it all in the pot, simmer, strain, cool then decant into ice cube trays for easy one serving portions.
I adore poussin, aka baby chicken. It is not very expensive and much speedier to cook than a regular chicken. I particularly like a spatchcock poussin which is a butterflied chicken where you take out the backbone so it cooks quickly. A spatchcocked chicken is also very easy to cut in half; eat one half and have the other for lunch or another dinner.
Family packs of chops and steaks are also great for a fast fix. Buy the family pack, break it down into single serving sizes and freeze.
Batch cooking – I feed my freezer on a regular basis – I regularly make spicy chili, a large pot broken down into individual servings. Nothing better than coming home to a spicy hardy meal without cooking, just add rice. I also freeze pasta sauces and stews.
I also make a lot of Mexican food, such a thrifty cuisine. What is cheaper than rice and beans.
How about any other frugal singletons out there, what do you enjoy cooking? I need some more ideas to stave off culinary boredom.
I’m a big fan of “breakfast for dinner”, which usually takes the form of an omelet. I’ve used some really strange things for fillings – my favorite was leftover artichoke-spinach dip…droooool!
Hello and thanks for commenting. I also love omelettes for dinner, your artichoke- spinach dip one sounds amazing!
Cheap filling eats for winter: Try making an easy peasy casserole- Into a casserole dish with a lid place chicken drumsticks or thighs x6, 2 tins of plum tomatoes, 2 stock cubes, 2 carrots chopped, one courgette chopped, a couple of potatoes roughly chopped, one onion, one full glass of water, 2 table spoons of flour ( to thicken sauce) curry paste/ or spices, chilli sauce or whatever you fancy to flavour it. Stir it up, add salt pepper and garlic as require and pop it in the oven for 1.5 – 2 hours and Bob’s your uncle- Enough dinner for 3 days! serve with rice or cous cous. It freezes beautifully. Total Cost £3.50 ( chicken thighs £2 for 6, Veg 1.50) Enjoy xx
Hi Ruthie, Thanks for commenting! I love your recipe, sounds super easy and most importantly cheap as chips. Vxx