Does anyone know of some good strategies or recipes for making meals for one when you are used to making meals for more people? Preferably meals that are frugal.
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I buy 3-4 boneless chicken breasts, put them in the snack sized bags seperately, and freeze. I'll buy a small ham, cut it into several small roasts [and maybe some slices for breakfasts or fried ham dinners], and freeze. Defrost 1 roast, for dinner, and slice the balance for sandwiches for later in the week.
Buy a small pork or beef roast. Cut a few slices for steaks/chops and, leave enough to make a roast for dinner, with leftovers for a small one serving stew [this is where you can use tomatoes that are getting soft].
Always remember that you can take dried soup mixes, sauce mixes, and other boxed items, measure them out into several equal 1 serving packets. Just remember if you divide into 4 parts, cut the added items [water] into 4 parts as well.
Buy a pound of ground beef, and divide it into 3 meat loaves, cook them. When almost done, but still moist inside, remove 2 and freeze them. Defrost and finish the cooking when you're ready to use the others.
You can do this in most cases, even cakes. The only difficulty will be in the eggs, which should be dividable when beaten. I hope this is a help.
There are so many foods that can be prepared and/or prepared and cooked then frozen. Spend a day or two cooking or baking and you can freeze a lot of it in single servings. Also, if you don't have a lot of freezer space and you do any canning, you can make large pots of soups and can those. I have done that with leftover veggies and made my own broths and it comes in so handy on a day when your meal didn't thaw out completely or you are too tired to cook.
This is a tough one ... but I have found if you prepare a meal for 3-4 then portion it into freezer containers ... with a few days of cooking you have a freezer full of meals for one ... that only need to be heated up.
This is a good one - I have done this for a long time now. I go to Wendy's & buy 3 side salads w/lt dressing (.99 each) & then to Sav a lot to buy 3 frozen Michelinas single serving pastas (under $1.00). I have a salad & frozen meal for dinner for 3 days & it costs me $6.00 - Also I buy tuna on sale (3 for .99) & make 2 sandwiches from each can.
I do meals for 2 & your right, it is a challenge sometimes. Yep, the freezing thing is the most economical ~ still buy meats in large portions (it's MUCH cheaper that way) then seperate & freeze it for later use. Invest in George Forman grill (or a generic one) ~ perfect for very quick healthy meals for 1 or 2. Truly, I freeze almost everything. Spaghetti, Lasagna, Soups (the list goes on & on) & we save so much by buying larger portions & just breaking it down in reusable freezer bags into "us" size portions ~ it's like buying convenience foods without the high price. Don't forget you can do goodies this way too ~ sweets, fruits... Have fun with it :)
www.savingdinner.com has free sample menus and shopping lists for 2 or more. The recipes are generally good and healthful. There are regular, frugal, vegetarian and lo-carb options.
here's a simple one I use all of the time. It requires a george foreman grill or similar and a skillet. On the grill you can do a salmon steak or shoulder lamb chop. Both of these can be seasoned with fresh green onions, black pepper and sea salt. the salmon takes about five minutes for well done and the lamb about 8 for medium well.
I have made skillet meals and frozen the extra portions. Just be sure it is something you really really like. Otherwise working your way through all those containers can be daunting.
I find that I'm saving money by continuing to cook for more than one (even though I'm single & live alone). I'll cook up meals and then reuse old food containers to refrigerate or freeze the leftovers.
I also use the trick of storing smaller portions of food, usually meat & poultry, in plastic bags in the freezer. This way I can also control my portions and eat in a healthy manner.
Dude, I've been trying to figure that out for six months now and found it easy to get the rice and pasta sides and all those things like that mac and cheese. Now for actual food, I either use less ingredients, cook it all and have lunch for work, or my friends love me cuz I cooked them this damn good meat loaf. Yeah, it's really hard and the freezing thing sounds wonderful and I think I'm gonna start doing that.
One thing you can do is buy from the bulk bins (many health food markets have them). That way you can get precisely how much you need and you can always store the extra dry goods. I like to have pasta, beans, lentils, split peas, etc on hand. I generally cook for two but often just for myself. I love putting some kind of meat, generally turkey, chicken, or beef, in the slow cooker and cooking all day. With this, depending on how I seasoned it, I can use it to make tacos, burritos, other types of Mexican food, sandwiches, salads, casseroles, etc. You could freeze the meat, tortillas, bread, etc to have for other occasions as well.
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