Cooking for One

Meal Planning for One

Creating a meal plan for the week will make it easier for you to prepare healthy meals. It will also help ensure that you have all the right ingredients on hand when you’re ready to cook. As you make a meal plan, think about ways that you can:

• Cook once and eat twice (or more) by cooking larger meals and freezing single portions to eat another time.
• Get creative with leftovers, by using them for additional meals.
• Use the ingredients you already have in your cupboard.

Sample week menu

When you plan a weekly menu, it may look something like this:

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Breakfast	Oatmeal w/ fruit	Hawaiian Toast	Veggie Omelet	Cold cereal	Egg & Toast	French Toast	Muesli
Lunch	Tuna sandwich	Quinoa salad	Chicken Sandwich	Fried rice	Barley soup	Burrito w/ leftovers	Dinner Leftovers
Dinner	Tuna, quinoa, veggies	Pineapple Chicken, rice & veggies	Healthy Fried Rice	Barley soup w/ sausage & greens	Tacos Beans, cheese veggies	Dinner out with friends	Meatloaf with potatoes, broccoli

Recipes

Breakfast Recipes

Lunch Recipes

Dinner Recipes

Cooking Tips for One

Cook once, eat twice (or more)

Most soups, stews, and casseroles freeze well, so you can cook once and then freeze single servings to eat another time. When cooking, thinks about how you can eat leftovers for lunch tomorrow or dinner next week. When freezing food, though, it’s important to write the date and contents on the packages, and move older packages towards the front of your freezer so you remember to eat the food in a timely manner.

Reinvent leftovers

If you don’t want to eat the same meal a second time, having leftovers can be a great starting place for your next meal. For example, wrap leftover chicken, rice, and veggies in a tortilla, then add a little cheese and salsa—and you have a whole new meal.

Stay clean and organized

By keeping your pantry, cupboard, refrigerator, and freezer organized, you’ll be able to quickly see which ingredients you have—and which ones you need to restock.

Make use of spices and condiments

A great way to get different flavors into your meals—without adding unhealthy fats or frying your food—is to keep a variety of spices and condiments on hand. These can be added to your cooking or leftovers to turn bland meals into spicy treats. A well-stocked fridge and cupboard might include:

• Herbs & spices such as pepper, turmeric, curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, and basil.
• Sauces such as salsa, soy or teriyaki sauce, pesto, tomato sauce, olive paste, and salad dressings.
• Vinegars, oils, pickles, mustard, and ketchup.

Don’t be afraid to be creative

Don’t be afraid to try new combinations of foods. Creativity can help you make interesting meals and can also help you use leftovers from other meals. One of the great benefits of cooking for yourself is that you don’t have to try to please anyone else. You can cook using the food and combination of ingredients you enjoy, even if they may not be to other people’s liking.

Shopping for One

Your weekly meal plan can help you shop more easily. Purchasing smaller amounts is best when shopping for one. This way your food stays fresh and is less likely to spoil. It’s easier to keep track of what you have in your pantry, and keep track of expiration dates as well.

Stock up when items are on sale

It is helpful to have some single serving meals on hand for those days when you are too busy to cook, such as low-sodium soup cans or low-fat frozen meals. These can be quite pricey, so it is helpful to stock up when you find a sale.

Bulk bins are you friend

Whole grains such as rice, oats, millet, and quinoa, can be bought in small amounts or you can store larger amounts in jars to keep them fresh for longer.

• Legumes – lentils (red & green), split peas, and beans can also be stored in jars.
• Nuts & Seeds – purchase small amounts so that you are eating fresh nuts and seeds.
• Herbs & Spice – such as cinnamon, basil, oregano, and curry powder, should be purchased in small amounts.

Canned and boxed foods

Once opened, you’ll need to use up canned and boxed goods relatively quickly, so opt for smaller can and box sizes. Even if the larger containers seem more cost effective, they won’t be if you end up having to throw away a lot of unused food. Canned and boxed foods include:

• Legumes – such as beans black, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans—which should be rinsed under cold water before use to remove added sodium.
• Fish – salmon, tuna, sardines.
• Vegetables. Try to opt for low-sodium brands. Again, rinsing under cold water can help remove some added sodium.
• Broth or bouillon cubes.
• Fruit such as applesauce, mandarins, pears, and pineapple, etc. It’s best to look for unsweetened varieties to limit added sugars.

Fresh foods

You will want to purchase fresh foods more often and in smaller amounts. This way you will be more likely to finish it before something spoils
Dairy – milk, cheese, yogurt in smaller containers so you can get eat it before it spoils
Meat – with a freezer, you can purchase family size amounts and then make into one serving sized packages for the freezer. Be sure to label each packet with the date and move older ones forward as you add new things into the freezer.

Shopping without a real kitchen

No fridge: look for individual/travel serving size packages. More expensive, but you will have less waste from spoilage, so in the end it is more cost effective.
Purchase only what you are able to prepare and eat before food goes bad.
One option is to get a cooler and fill it with ice when you purchase perishable foods. When doing so, be sure to keep the foods sealed from the water as the ice melts.
In winter windowsills (as long as no heater below) can be cooler places.

Cooking Without a Real Kitchen

You don’t need a full kitchen in order to be able to prepare healthy meals for yourself. A few appliances such as a hot plate, a toaster oven, or an electric skillet—plus a little creativity—are all you need to cook some great meals.

Appliances

Whether you have one or more of these appliances, you can create healthy easy meals for yourself without a full kitchen. Have fun with it. There is lots of room for creativity.

• Toaster Oven. Because it heats quickly, a toaster oven is an economical way to broil or bake. Of course, it is limited by its small size but can be used for heating single meals, roasting vegetables, toasting bread, and making toasted sandwiches, for example.
• Hot Plate. An inexpensive alternative for a full size stove top, a hotplate is ideal for hotel rooms, dorm rooms, and small apartments. Just about anything that can be made on a stove top can be made on a hot plate with a saucepan or frying pan.
• Rice Cooker. Consisting of a metal bowl with a heat source on the bottom, rice is not the only thing that can be cooked in a rice cooker. With a little creativity, it can also be used to cook flavorful one-pot dishes.
• Slow Cooker or Crock-Pot. This plug-in device slowly cooks food on your counter. As it’s designed to cook unattended, you can add ingredients to a slow cooker in the morning before work, for example, and then come home at the end of the day to a fully-cooked meal. Slow cookers are ideal for cooking things like stews, stuffed peppers, frozen meat, or anything which requires a long time to cook.

Using leftovers to create tasty new meals

Using leftovers is a great way to save both time and money. You can take leftovers with you for lunch or have them for dinner the next day. Either way, it’s nice to use these leftovers in a new, creative way so that you don’t get bored of the food.
First, a few things to keep in mind regarding the proper storage and handling of leftovers to maintain freshness and quality (and prevent food poisoning):

• Refrigerate perishable foods and leftovers within two hours of purchase or preparation.
• Let foods cool quickly to minimize bacteria growth. Put large quantities of food into smaller containers to speed the cooling process. These can be refrigerated right away provided the lids are NOT on tightly. Once food is cooled, secure lids tight or cover the container.
• Cover and store in airtight containers (glass jars with tight fitting lids work great as you can see the contents).
• Eat leftovers within a few days (four days maximum) or freeze them.
• Reheat food thoroughly to reduce contamination. The internal temperature should reach 165 degrees F. Stir the food to help it heat evenly and thoroughly.
• Add water when reheating food, unless the meal already contains a sauce. This will prevent foods from getting too dry.

Meal ideas that utilize leftovers

Whatever type of food you’ve already cooked, there are plenty of ways create new meals from the ingredients.