What do all you single people eat/cook for yourselves?

taterkc

taterkc

Cathlete
I know this may sound like a really silly question, but I live alone and just draw a complete blank when I get to the grocery store. I can't think of hardly anything good and healthy to buy or cook for myself that doesn't make a family-sized amount of food. I can grab my normal snacks (apples, carrots, etc), but can't think of anything else. I can cook fairly well, but just don't keep a lot of staples on hand since it's just me. I've made chicken nachos for the past four weeks and need some new ideas! Thanks
 
Eggs are always a staple for me. scrambled, fried (no butter), hard boiled.

I buy those low carb, low calorie pitas (only 60 calories for the whole thing). I put pizza sauce on, a little mozz cheese and whatever toppings I choose and havea delicious, healthy pizza. I always put spices on too and make it extra tasty!

I make frozen chicken breasts, one at a time, slice the chicken and put it in my pitas (love 'em!) with some black beans.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head...
Jenn (not single, but I cook differently for the family sometimes!)
 
I'm not single, but were just a small family of 3, and cooking for just 3 can be a pain, too. Everything comes in huge packages. Buy the individually shrink wrapped chx breast in a box - it'll keep in the freezer forever. Make family sized meals that will freeze, and cut into single servings and freeze - like a do it yourself TV dinner. Lasagna freezes well, as do soups and chili's. You can freeze soups and chili flat in zipper bags and they take up hardly any room in the freezer. Cookies (dough and baked) and brownies freeze well too, if you don't give into temptation and eat them all. (Not a good idea for me to have these around) Split other meat packages into separate freezer bags when you bring them home, so you only have to thaw what you're going to eat. Sauces freeze well, too. Some will separate, but mostly the fattier ones, that you prob shouldn't be eating. I think Steamfresh sells single serve packages of veggies but they may be pricier bc of the small package. You can freeze your own fresh veggies, too. Give them a quick blanch, the cool and toss in the freezer. Rice and pasta portion out single servings pretty easily. Just make sure you label and date everything you freeze. Look for things that are easily dividable, and split it up when you get home from the store. That way you aren't trying to hack saw thru a frozen block of beef trying to make 1 burger or trying to pry one frozen chicken off another.

As for produce, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, citrus, onions, beans, and garlic will all keep for quite sometimes. Berries, bananas, tomatoes, lettuce/greens, fresh peas, corn, cucumbers don't last so long and need to be eaten faster. Oatmeal keeps a long time if closed up well, so do most grains and pastas.

And you need a well stocked spiced cabinet - single spices and blends. That way even if you are eating the same thing every night, it won't taste the same. Check out www.penzeys.com They have the best cinnamon ever!!!

HTH

Nan
 
lots of soup,stew,or chili. keeps long time in fridge or freezer. i check out the healthy recipes every day, i buy packages of frozen wild caught salmon,brocoli,and/or cauliflower,and prewashed lettuce. i use a rubber steamer that i bought from target and put it on top of a pot with some water.after it boils turn to low(3) then add veggies,cover,and cook 5 min my favorite easy dinner is

stir fry small bits of zuccini,yellow squash,and red bell pepper.put it in a tortilla with cheese and salsa

Spanish Rice

1 c brown rice or quinoa.
1 c grated sharp cheddar cheese
14 oz can diced tomatos
1 c boiling water

mix all ingredients together adding boiling water last. put in a 2 qt casserole.cover.bake 350 for about an hour
serves 8.can freeze

laura
 
I am not single (have hubby and son) but will often cook at least part of my dinner separately from my family's because I am making them something I won't eat. I will cook up a piece of chicken in a frying pan with some non fat cooking spray in minutes with very little extra effort. If you buy bags of frozen veggies you can pour out only what you need. Potatoes are great for one person because again, you can cook only what you need. I also enjoy deli turkey sandwiches, tuna and big salads. HTH some!
 
I usually only cook for two and I often cut recipe ingredients in half and usually have leftovers for lunch. Salads are always nice too. ;)
 
This time of year I do a lot of salads. Not the tossed kind - healthy chicken salad, mushroom chicken barley salad, black bean salad ... my Prevention cookbooks have a ton of good recipes. And I often will serve it on a bed of lettuce/spinach just to up the veggies. I also buy frozen, individually wrapped tilapia, salmon and tuna. I can pull one out, throw the bag in some cold water and it's thawed in no time.
 
Every week I get chicken (which I roast), pork & steak (which I broil) for dinners. I eat that along w/some kind of veggie that I steam. Really easy dinners, prep time is less than 10 minutes & cook time is anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. Key to this is preheating--if I'm roasting chicken I'll turn the oven on right when I get home, then put the chicken in (always cook covered to keep moist) after I wash up & change into my sloppy clothes.

For breakfast I usually have cottage cheese or some kind of flavored rice cakes.

For lunches, I chop up a bunch of salad fixins (lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, celery, peppers, etc) & store them in seperate containers. That way I can make a quick salad for lunch. Usually I'll add some kind of a protein--either the meat leftover from dinner before, or canned tuna, or some kind of chopped fish from the grocery store (my local store makes a great sushimi w/shrimp that tastes great on salads).

I'll have yogurt or sugar free Jello for a snack at night.
 
I'm single, work a lot of hours and don't cook because my kitchen is tiny and I have nowhere to set anything, nor can I find anything. But I gotta tell you, one can only heat up so many chunks of meat in a skillet, boil so many chicken breasts, fry so many egg whites, and nuke so many vegetables. If I don't get by butt in gear soon the boredom will become dangerous to my efforts...
 
I usually have some sort of protein (chicken, turkey burgers, fish) and pair it with veggies and brown rice. I also eat lots of eggs. Sometimes I will make a homemade pizza on a millet/flax crust or on a tortilla. You can top it with veggies and cheese.
 
SirenSongWoman said:
I'm single, work a lot of hours and don't cook because my kitchen is tiny and I have nowhere to set anything, nor can I find anything. But I gotta tell you, one can only heat up so many chunks of meat in a skillet, boil so many chicken breasts, fry so many egg whites, and nuke so many vegetables. If I don't get by butt in gear soon the boredom will become dangerous to my efforts...
Click to expand...

Amen to that, sister:(
 
I am not single but might as well be. Dh does not eat veges...at least none of the ones that are good for you so I am always preparing food for just me. Two of my main go to's that are easy and quick but satisfying and good are egg white frittata's and turkey burgers that I make up and freeze raw and then thaw when needed. The key to a healthy turkey burger that tastes good are the mix in's. Last time I used kashi shredded wheat and onion and pepper with a little worschestshire and seasoning (how you like it). I chop all the veges very fine and grind up the shredded wheat and mix all those ing. together first and then mix in the meat last so you don't work it as much. Then I make 4 patties which when I thaw I normally turn into two and grill them. The more flavor you add before the more flavor your burger will have. I use about a cup of shredded wheat per lb. of meat. The rest I just eyeball.
For the frittata, I just google healthy frittata recipes. The leftovers warm up surprisingly well and you can vary the recipe to fit the size you need.

Rachel
 
Salmon

My favourite is to bake a salmon steak and steam some brocolli and cauliflower. I buy several salmon steak at a time, take one out of the freezer and bake it at 450 in my countertop oven, takes about 15-20 minutes, and while it's baking, steam the veggies. I drizzle a bit of olive oil over the veggies. Yummy and healthy.
 
I agree with Stacey. I don't know how people cook up a plain old boring chicken breast.....or plain old egg whites and eat them every day. Blech! I discovered that eating clean works best for me when I take some time to do some preparation, find some tasty recipes and cook them up. (Leftovers make great lunches.) That way on the days that I am really in a pinch cooking up a plain old chicken breast isn't as painful if I ate those damn things day in and day out.
Today I had this for lunch:
http://health.discovery.com/fansites/nathan-lyon/recipes/quinoa-salad.html
 
Well, when I'm cooking for myself, I eat this really strange meal, but I totally love it. Brown rice topped with garlic pan-seared spinach, topped with a garden burger with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese, topped with a dollop of hummus.
 
I pretty much eat the same way now as I did when I was single. I'm a salad fanatic. I kept a refrigerator full of fresh veggies for salads, and almost every day I would stop off and pick up one or two veggies to keep the supply fresh. I'd add a little tuna, or salmon or chicken or beans and never got tired of it. Still haven't to this day. Now, DH and I eat together, but because we have very different tastes, we're each responsible for our own food. Nowadays I pick up salads at the local salad bar and DH eats his hot dogs and french fries. We each make faces at the other's food. :p
 
SirenSongWoman said:
I'm single, work a lot of hours and don't cook because my kitchen is tiny and I have nowhere to set anything, nor can I find anything. But I gotta tell you, one can only heat up so many chunks of meat in a skillet, boil so many chicken breasts, fry so many egg whites, and nuke so many vegetables. If I don't get by butt in gear soon the boredom will become dangerous to my efforts...
Click to expand...

I'm not single, but I do work quite a bit and I'm sick of everything that I've been eating lately. I probably eat a salad with some sort of protein 5 nights a week. Recently, I can hardly get the salads down. I can't eat anymore brocolli! I thought I was doing myself a favor last week and made some lentil and bean soup for lunch, but it just didn't agree with my stomach and I had to throw it all away.

Tracy
 
Yes, I am single, work full time, and a full time college student pursuing my MBA so my time is very limited. My saving grace is the LiveSmart line from Schwan's plus lots of fruit, yogurt, and granola. I was worried that going back to school that I would put on weight. The Apprentice (TV show) bundle is my new fave that has turkey meatball spaghetti with veggies, boneless/skinless orange chicken with potatoes and for dessert is a cobbler of apple, blueberries, and granola. Order together from the main page and save yourself a couple of dollars.
 
GMonkey said:
Well, when I'm cooking for myself, I eat this really strange meal, but I totally love it. Brown rice topped with garlic pan-seared spinach, topped with a garden burger with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese, topped with a dollop of hummus.
Click to expand...

That sounds perfect to me. I love garlic pan seared spinach and I just never thought to put a veggie burger on top. Like the idea of a slice of sharp cheddar and I usually put hummus or baba ghanoush on sandwiches instead of mayo or mustard. I am not single but I am definitely having this for dinner one night.
 
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