Shopping for one

I use small local shops and I am helping them as well as myself as they will sell a few slices or a quarter of a chicken. Also I don't like the attitude of supermarkets who think we are all large families. And it is less expensive than throwing food out.

The Hairy Bikers on the One Show tonight said they Google the ingredients they have that need using up and find a recipe online to save wastage.

If you have a freezer there are recipe books that just do meals for 2 so you could cook, eat and freeze one for those days when you really don't want to cook.
Buying loose is good, Garlic will store well in a cool place (we hang ours in the garage)
I hate cooking for just me but its only when hubby is away but it is important that you have a good fresh diet

Apart from a freezer, another must I think for a solitary person, is most definitely a slow cooker. It is so versatile, I would not be without mine and I think that freezer and slow cooker compliment each other very well.
I 'roast' my joints of meat ie: beef and pork and they are always melt in the mouth. The added bonus is the meat juices that you get to make the most delicious gravy.
You can cut the meat into single portions and freeze the rest, ditto the gravy.
As for a glut of fresh, or even tinned vegetables, they can easily be turned into a soup or a casserole in the slow cooker, and again frozen.
The best thing of all is that a slow cooker is very cheap to run, and can be left to it's own devices.
One last thing Jenty, I discovered a book many years ago that I still use even though I am no longer on my own as it is easy to double up.
Check out "One is Fun" by Delia Smith. It is a brilliant book.
It is designed for the single person, and best of all, the recipes do not require silly amounts of ingredients ie: half an egg, nor do they have an endless list of ingredients. The recipes are lovely and well worth a look

The freezer is the answer but it means you have to have a large one. I have been on my own now for twenty eight years so have got it down to a fine art.

Willsmadnan you can freeze advocado!!

I dint know until we stayed at a holiday home last year where the lady had an avocado tree and she told me she did.

She either cute them in half, removes pip and freezes OR she scoops out the flesh, slices and freezes.

They make great guacamole as they are soft when defrosted.

I know that Tesco now have them in a bag in the frozen section too.

Jenty61, please consider going for the value and service usually offered by "local" small shops, especially independent ones. We've an excellent local butcher who will sell any quantity of fresh & deli meats, and cheeses. They also sell local veg - "loose". As mentioned by many here, freezing is an invaluable resource and many foods can be frozen. It's just DH and myself here (all family live many miles away) and we eat a lot of fresh food, almost always cooking "from scratch", and making our own bread. (I'll be honest, DH is the main cook/baker - I'm simply the commis chef/bottle washer.) It's thanks to our (smallish) freezer that we can pride ourselves on wasting very little. If we end up with lots of fresh veggies, we make a "mixed veg" soup - which friends always appreciate.

Just getting used to shopping and cooking for one, and I must say life would be a lot more difficult without our small chest freezer. I cook chicken casserole, spag bol etc as normal and freeze in single portions. My biggest mistake is buying what takes my fancy on the veg counter ..... I arrived home the other day with an avocado, a cucumber, a bunch of asparagus and some strawberries as well as all the normal stuff. Now I've got to eat them quickly before they go off. I love food, both preperatìon and eating and could never understand why single, elderly people eat such a bòring diet...now I get it! If I want a varied, interesting diet I have to plan the menu very carefully to avoid waste. Still, I've got plenty of time on my hands to sort it all out

Freeeze anything once, if it doesn't work don't do it again..

You can freeze fresh veg. I freeze vast quantities that I grow in the garden. I also, om occasion, freeze bought vegetables. Anything in the green leaf line(cabbage, kale, sprouts) can be chopped blanched and then frozen. Other veg (roots, beans of all kinds can just be chopped and frozen. Freeze in portion sizes. Surplus fruit I stew and freeze. The only things I do not freeze are lettuce, cucumber, and radishes, although lettuce makes a nice soup and cucumber, diced can also be thrown into a veg soup.

I always freeze bread and rolls, then just take out what I need on a daily basis.
That way, nothing gets wasted. Got fed up throwing out mouldy bread.
It really is the most sensible thing to do.
Same goes for any food that's freezable.

Obviously, you can't freeze fresh veg and I must admit I get fed up throwing out half bags of kale etc. Why do they produce such large bags of it.
Not too keen on frozen veg but maybe I should give it a try.

I shop online once a month. Milk butter bread meat chicken and fish all freeze well. Fresh veg gets made into soup, fresh fruit is often so unripe it lasts for 2weeks anyway until it ripens. I have currently a fridge freezer and a separate chest freezer.m ore than adequate for one person living alone.

They've done that at Tesco too Jenny 61

I do my main shop on line too but do it once a fortnight so the cost is £40 plus, or I would have to pay a much higher delivery cost. I did mine for this week normally a Tuesday delivery 11-12 noon and noticed sainsburys had put the cost of delivery up by £2!! yes I complained. So I changed the day and time to Wednesday 2-3 pm to get a £1 slot, by looking at the delivery chart theyve cut down a lot on the £1 slots and put a lot of prices up by £2 a slot!

When I'm having a rough day health wise I order my shopping online, ok I expect to pay for delivery but I don't think it's fair that I have to pay a surcharge of £4 if my order doesn't come to £40.
It applies to people with big families and people who live alone so there's another way the lone shopper is penalised.

Wouldn't it be great if instead of BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free) they just sold you one at half price?

I bet the stuff would fly off the shelves just as fast - but with less waste.

Jenty, we are now empty nesters and I find the same. We often eat a version of the same meal on x2 days or I make a meal with fresh mince and freeze half for next week.
Yesterday, I cooked a pork joint. We ate roast pork. Today we will have cold sliced pork and jacket potato. Then we will eat the pork in bread rolls.

I find I am now buying more bags of frozen veg as you have more portion control.
Milk and loafs are in my freezer. I shop online once a week.
The smaller local shops are more money = I pay 75p for a loaf with my online shopping. The local mini market is £1.40.

theres two small supermarkets where I live and neither have a deli counter or sell individual rolls, asda and the co-op , have to say Ive never frozen tinned veg ie beans must give that a go.

I do as shysal does mainly. Sometimes I end up having the same food for supper two evenings running but I am not fussed. The only thing I could not get in a quantity I wanted at Waitrose today was pears- they were all packaged. There were large packs of kale, 3 for 2, I cannot get through one pack before it rots never mind 3.

Cut larger packs into smaller and then put the spare ones in the freezer. I put half tins of beans, tomatoed etc (decanted into plastic containers), bread rolls, butter cold meat of all kinds into the freezer.

I don't worry about the dates on spreading margarine but just use it till it has gone

I shop for one, and tend to buy loose. Anything that comes in larger quantities I either freeze part of the pack immediately or make several portions of a dish and freeze some.

Tesco and Asda sell individual rolls and loose veg. Or use a local baker and greengrocer they will happily sell you enough for one.

And they usually sell loose fruit and veg too.

Most of the big supermarkets have a deli counter where you can buy one slice of ham etc. if that's all you want.