I don't enjoy cooking because most of the time I'm eating alone. What are others in my situation eating? It has to be fast and not have a lot of cleaning up. I buy fresh veggies and often times they go bad because I never get around to cooking them.
By Betty from Lubbock, TX
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Spend one day a week cooking everything you want to eat for the next 7 days, and then put the cooked food in serving size containers either in your refrigerator or freezer. When mealtime comes around, all you have to do is reheat the food you already cooked.
I was single for many years & ate a lot of soups & stews in the colder weather - You can make a big pot & then eat it in several servings over a few days - I also bought ramen in a cup & broke an egg into it, added soy bacon bits, garlic powder & dried onion flakes for a really quick soup meal. Then one can add salad.
I discovered pickled red peppers in a jar, which was another quick vegetable - Ditto marinated mushrooms and such. (Many of which are available at my local dollar store & can be stored in the cupboard.) I also baked potatoes & scooped out the center, putting in egg, grated cheese, and soy bacon bits for another fairly quick & thrifty meal. Buy pre-chopped cole slaw mix & either use it as salad or in your soups - it will also last a long time.
Also remember you can make a ploughman's meal with just bread & cheese (add salad or veggies or a cup of tomato soup.) Just a few suggestions.
One large baking potato, microwaved until tender. 4 oz peas and carrots from a frozen pkg. Cook on stove while potatoes cooks.
Drain peas and carrots, add 2 Tbsp of sour cream.
I knew you ladies would give me some good ones. Thanks a lot.
The idea of cooking small meals and dividing into several containers, then freezing them is almost like I wanted to add. I cannot do a lot of 'big' cooking because of my handicaps. I have a home worker two hours a day, three days a week. One day is designated shopping or cooking day, usually cooking. We make up a variety of meals. It sometimes is pasta, soup, various meats, etc.
Last week we made a big beef stew. I ate it for three meals till all I had was the gravy/broth. I added various vegies to that, some fresh, some canned, and had one of the best pots of soup I ever made. (At 68, with 5 kids, I have made lots of soup!) I also make to have in frig various cold vegie salads, such as: three bean salad, kidney bean salad, pickled beets, cucumber and onions, most any raw vegie 'pickled', assorted slaws, etc.
I have three different things in frig at one time usually. For a quick sandwich, 'salad', and maybe soup, have a quick meal in no time. I always keep a variety of lunchmeat and cheese for me, and my kids/grandkids to eat. The variety of meals is up to you. I try to make small amounts of several things so I don't end up eating the same thing several days in a row. Hope I have helped you and good luck.
Hello Betty,
If you have a fridge, a freezer and a crock pot the simplest solution would be:
Prepare a crock pot meal in the evening, put the preprepared pot in the fridge. Before you leave for work the next morning, take your pot out of the fridge, put it in the warming element, switch it on low and when you come home your meal is ready. You freeze the rest in one meal portions. When you do that a few times you'll have a whole week of meals ready for you and a cook-free week.
Not a lot of washing up either! I promise you, it works.
All the best, Roxanne
Once a week prepare a main meal and place in individual containers and freeze. If it's pasta sauce place the sauce and pasta separately in the individual containers (so the pasta won't get soggy from the sauce). I almost always make extra and this way, after about a month of doing this, I have a variety of items to choose from and not stuck with the same thing for an entire week and can just take out what I want the next day and place it in the fridge to defrost and microwave it the next day to heat. This is also nice to make the extra because it gives one weekend a month off from an entire day of cooking ;-)
The other thing I do on weekly prepare day is prepare the veggies. Each veggie is placed in it's own container (so they stay fresher longer) and I can just pull out what I want each day for a salad and just toss a handful of veggies to cook in to a small pan of boiling water or the steamer. If veggies that are freezable are on sale I get extra and prepare them too and store those extras in individual zip-lock baggies in the freezer.
Did you know that www.AngelFoodMinistries.com offers boxes of good food for less than what you would pay at your local grocery store? They also offer balanced meals that are precooked and microwave ready for a lot less than what many commercial TV dinners cost. Availability depends on your local site. Go to the website and check it out. Insert your zip code to see which site is closest to you. Hopefully this will help you out. Bobbie
Take your fresh veggies put them on a pretty plate, put your favorite dip in the middle and snack all day on fresh veggies. I leave mine on the counter and graze all day. Keeps me from eating junk & I get my nervous nibbling satisfied. When your veggies don't look fresh enough to do this, dump it in a pot and make soup. When salads I make get limp I dump them right in a soup.
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