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Dinner for one!

(29 Posts)
Greatnan Tue 13-Nov-12 16:02:31

I felt like a really good dinner today, so I roasted a big chicken leg, made onion gravy, new potatoes, cauliflour, carrots and sprouts and had a proper roast dinner. There is enough of the gravy/vegetables left for another meal, so tomorrow I will have it with a lamb chop! I don't often make a full dinner unless I have company and I really enjoyed it - with a glass of wine/lemonade/fresh orange.

Barrow Tue 13-Nov-12 17:16:59

Good for you - it sounds delicious! I usually have one day a week which I set aside for cooking. I then divide into individual servings and freeze. Yesterday I made chilli, bolognaise sauce and honey mustard chicken.

AlieOxon Tue 13-Nov-12 17:23:17

I bought mince for £4 on Sunday, cooked it and had it three days running with vegetables, today made the rest into a shepherd's pie which made three helpings, ate one, one for tomorrow, and froze the third! That's five meals.
(I might have frozen more but not a lot of room in the feezer!)

Fairly often I do a roast chicken and it can last as long too.
And all this fits my colitis diet!

Greatnan Tue 13-Nov-12 18:24:13

I love being frugal - and cheap cuts of meat can be delicious. When I was working, I tended to eat steaks and chops, which I also love, but now I have all the time in the world I am starting to experiment - there are so many recipes on the internet.

Anne58 Tue 13-Nov-12 18:38:02

I too enjoy trying to be frugal, but interspersed with some treats. I usually make meal plans, then do my shopping based on them, as well as adding things such as washing and cleaning stuff.

I like to make sure Mr P has good food when he is home at the weekend, as when he is away he seems to live on Sainsburys pasta salad!

absentgrana Tue 13-Nov-12 18:49:09

Having cooked huge meals for years, not because I had a big family (just three or four of us), but because we were always spontaneously inviting local friends to supper and frequently had house guests, I find cooking just for two now tedious, and uncreative. Consequently, I do what I call "home-cooked ready meals". I'll have a fit of being creative with a curry, cheeky with chicken or speculative with a stew, using a wide range of ingredients that inevitably means a meal for eight. I serve enough for two and freeze three more meals for another time. I definitely need a bigger freezer.

jeni Tue 13-Nov-12 18:52:47

I cannot get the hang of cooking for one! I always cook far to much. I think my cleaners chickens like this! I can't freeze it as both my freezers are full. I need someone to come and live with me to eat all the food!

Greatnan Tue 13-Nov-12 18:58:14

Be careful, jeni - I might take you up on that!

jeni Tue 13-Nov-12 19:10:32

Be wellcome!

Maniac Wed 14-Nov-12 13:16:18

I've been cooking for one for almost 30 yrs!
I use absentgrana method of freezing portions for later.I only have a small freezer.When a holiday looms I try to eat mainly from freezer -saves time in shopping- and money!
Visiting family are helpful in choosing something from freezer rather than expect me to produce a freshly cooked meal.Anyway I never know what time they will arrive -and SIL is an expert cook!!

jO5 Wed 14-Nov-12 13:32:14

I've got a feeling that if I was on my own I would live on white bread and butter. And oranges.

jeni Wed 14-Nov-12 13:37:39

No rock?

jO5 Wed 14-Nov-12 13:46:36

Oh yes. Always the sweeties. smile

AlieOxon Wed 14-Nov-12 13:49:32

I made the mistake of making a chocolate cake this week. It's VEGAN and delicious - I just found the recipe from years ago.
Now I am eating too much of it!

I may make it as an alternative to Christmas cake.

soop Wed 14-Nov-12 14:05:20

I would eat an awful lot of toasted cheese sandwiches, tomato soup and rice puds.

Jendurham Wed 14-Nov-12 14:28:40

Nearly ten months and I still cannot cook for one.
Could explain why I have put on half a stone since Ken died.
Have been vegetarian for over 35 years, so it's not that I eat a lot of starch or protein. I would think that 3/4 of each plate is stirfry veg, but I find I've put in a whole red pepper instead of the half I should do. Yesterday I put in half a courgette, then washed the other half and put it in the wok instead of in the fridge.
I hate soggy veg so would not freeze half. In fact most meals take no longer than 10 minutes to cook after the preparation.
It's probably all the wine that's put the weight on!

jO5 Wed 14-Nov-12 15:04:11

Oh yes. There would have to be the odd rice pud or two.

And pancakes. With lemon and sugar.

jO5 Wed 14-Nov-12 15:05:34

It sounds very healthy overeating jend!

So I wouldn't worry. Just enjoy. smile

annodomini Wed 14-Nov-12 15:20:02

I often have things on toast: garlic mushrooms (favourite), fried tomatoes, eggs, and, of course, cheese. I make a kind of tuna paté with a can of tuna and half a pack of philly light plus a little mayo. That goes well on toast or in a sandwich and keeps for a few days in the fridge.

jeni Wed 14-Nov-12 15:42:08

I adore devilled mushrooms or kidneys.

Bags Wed 14-Nov-12 16:18:57

jend, you could always make soup with your leftovers.

Jendurham Wed 14-Nov-12 16:38:47

The problem is that I ran a vegetarian cafe for 5 years, then a guest house for 10.
Have never cooked for one!

feetlebaum Wed 14-Nov-12 17:30:57

Not just me, then... I often buy cheap mince (i.e. with adequate fat left in) and cook it with, oh, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, stock, tomatoes, sometimes wine, sometimes mushrooms and have it with spuds and something green, then the next night with tagliatelle and then another night with rice...

Not so long ago, Sainsburys sold mutton mince - great for curries (keema peas for example) but of course it finally stopped coming...

AlieOxon Wed 14-Nov-12 18:23:28

My daughter days that Tesco sell diced mutton now.

storynanny Wed 14-Nov-12 22:25:59

My OH made curry with mutton (goat) it was vile!!!!! Unfortunately loads left in freezer, he says he will eat it.
The posts about mince remind me of cooking for 3 hungry boys, I could make a pound of mince stretch to 2 meals for 5 people!