Cooking for one has a number of unique challenges, from not being able to finish a bottle of wine to passing up great super-sized deals. We've already discussed how to deal with a whole loaf of bread, strategies for using onions and keeping sweets in the house. We've even covered what to do when you get bored, as a solo cook. Now let's take a look at four common challenges for the solo cook and their simple solutions.
1. Want to drink a glass of wine with your dinner?
But not the whole bottle? Consider some of the (pretty darn good) boxed wines now readily available. The wine is held in a plastic bag which deflates as its being used, thus preventing oxygen from reaching the wine. I like Big House Red for my everyday wine.
2. Do you jealously eye super-sized items and their subsequent savings? Try splitting that extra large bag of flour or case of fresh peaches with a few friends and share in the savings. Or shop the bulk bins of your local co-op where prices can be cheaper but you can get the quantity you need. Sometimes the office or your church is a good place to share a well-priced two-fer that will net you more than you need.
3. Do your fresh vegetables start to go bad before you can eat them all?
Take the advice of Tamar Alder and do a little light prepping of everything right when you get home from the market. That way you'll be more apt to use it or to improv with some of the ingredients. It also will help a number of things last a little longer.
4. Is keeping dairy fresh also a challenge?
Try learning a few farmhouse wife skills. Turn a surplus of milk into ricotta or yogurt, use soured milk instead of buttermilk in baking, make your butter into ghee. (Of course butter freezes wonderfully, too.) For eggs, make them into a quiche, cut into individual wedges, and freeze.
What are the challenges for you in your solo kitchen and how do you deal with them?
Related: The Toaster Oven in the Solo Kitchen
(Image: Dana Velden)
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A friend (who is also a solo cook) and I went in together on food last week. We picked 3 things to make, prepared them, and then split them up. Now we both have food for the week, but saved a little cash and I don't have to eat the same thing 100 days in a row.
Prepping vegetables as soon as I get home is a big help for me. Otherwise, in a couple of months, I end up finding the thing that used to be celery shoved to the back of the fridge.
"not being able to finish a bottle of wine"
I've never encountered this particular problem myself.
I cook with my best friend about 4 nights a week. We'll cook dinner and something else for lunches the next day. The person who's kitchen we use to do the cooking provides the food that night. Our differing palates and availability of spices mean it's never a boring meal. And as for the wine issue. We've never heard of not being able to finish "a" bottle of wine, but sometimes the third one gets vacuum sealed for later.
Buy a vac-u-vin. Seriously. It costs almost nothing and your average bottle will last up to a week. Just remember to seal it every time you're done with that night's drinking.
I'm no wine connoisseur but I have no issue with putting a cork in a bottle and letting it sit in the fridge for a couple of days. It doesn't seem to do it a bit of harm for casual drinkability for one. Then I'll cook with it.
I have a hard time dealing with recipes that are sized for 4-6. I know you can pare them down, but then you're left with strange leftovers like half an eggplant when the full recipe calls for one, or a can of tomato paste when I only need a teaspoon etc.
I have started buying things broken into smaller servings like the four-packs of chicken broth. I also can everything in the smaller bell jars since I rarely need more than a cup and a half of anything at once.
I read somewhere that pasteurized milk does not sour, it spoils. On the other hand, if you have access to raw milk, that does sour and you can use it in cooking.
I'm in a household of 2, and we still have problems with milk (we buy a quart every week; sometimes every other week, but then we won't have milk the second half of the second week because it goes bad in 1.5 weeks). Part of the problem is that I can't tell when milk is going bad, so by the time I know something is wrong, it's too late to make ricotta or something like that.
@MGoodsilver, yes the Vacu-Vin works great. I also like Target's boxed wines, especially the sav blanc, though the quality has been inconsistent lately. For veggies, those as-seen-on-tv green bags really do work and have saved me a ton of money. In general I try to plan out my meals ahead as much as possible to use up ingredients over several recipes before they go bad. Also, I'm big into freezing stuff.
I can honestly say that finishing a bottle of wine has never been a problem for this solo cook ;)
That being said, when I just wanted one glass, and couldn't quite get around to the rest, I freeze the wine to use in stews and so on later.
My girlfriend's out of town. On Monday I made the Baked Orzo and Eggplant and Mozzarella from Smitten Kitchen, and it's been lunch and dinner for the entire week! On the other hand, I'm not being bombarded by the pizza and snack foods that my partner is always buying, and I don't have to worry about milk going bad because she's the only one that uses it. So it's working out ok assuming I don't mind eating the same meal 8 times in a row. :)
Where do I start?? I guess I'll start with reiterating that I, too, have never had any difficulty finishing a bottle of wine with dinner!
Normally what I'll do is try to find a week where I'm not too terribly busy or stressed, preferably just after payday. I'll commit to cooking every single night - that's a big deal for some people, including me, so sometimes I'll take one whole weekend day to do it. I cooke recipes that are for 4-6 people and then freeze everything except what I eat that very night - in individual tupperwares. Not only does it store well, but I know what I have a craving for and I can plan to take that one out of the freezer in time. Or two - they can function as lunches just as well, which is great.
Also what I've been known to do sometimes is take one day and cook sides for the whole week - that way each night I can just make the main dish (usually grilled, sauteed, or baked protein of some sort!) and throw a salad together and I'm done. I love doing this because I'm much more apt to reheat sides leftovers than I am to reheat the main dish. Also, some sides take FOREVER!
BUT! What has saved me recently is a local business. They only have three locations (in Florida and Virginia) but they have changed my life!! I'm sure that there are other business out there like them:
Dinner Done!
Basically you sign up for a 'kitchen session' and choose how many meals you want (I usually choose 8). You pay for your meals. Last time I did it, it was around $160 for 8 meals - but wait!
You show up for your session and they have a community kitchen with different stations. You go around and prepare your meal (bag pasta, make a sauce, etc.) with all pre-measured ingredients and then you put them in to a container to bake or store them. You can split meals - each meal is good for 4 people, so each meal for me is two dinners and two lunches the next day! Since I can split it in two, I make one each night and I get two meals out of it - GOOD meals! They use fresh, good quality ingredients and they shop just before each session.
Seriously - changed my life. Plus, my freezer is organized to a FAULT now - I love it!!
I almost forgot to mention - Dinner Done! does ALL of your dishes during meal prep. You don't even have to rinse a spoon.
That alone is like magic!!
Alhal, I know what you mean about odd-sized leftover ingredients... but there's usually something you can do with them. My usual strategy is to make something substantially different from the recipe for which I bought the ingredient, so I don't get bored with that ingredient. Using your example of half an eggplant: if I bought it to make eggplant parmesan, I might roast the other half for baba ghanoush.
And that leftover tomato paste? I never even refrigerate tomato paste anymore; when I open a new tin of it, I use what I need and spoon the rest, in ~1TSP chunks, right into a dedicated perpetual tomato-paste-only small freezer container. (I only figured that out after years and years of unearthing containers of moldy tomato paste from the back of the fridge.)
first, i'm glad I am not the only solo lush who can polish off a bottle of vino.
I freeze tiny leftovers like tomato paste and broth... I make sure to not waste things by turning things like shrimp shells into broth with a bit of celery and carrot and onion that would otherwise go bad. Broth freezes beautifully and is delish in the next small batch recipe.
I also like making things that freeze easily, like soups and chili. Freezing in individual portions is simple, and they become LIFESAVERS when a sudden cold occurs and you are unable to go to the store!
Creativity makes all the little bits come together: I had bought too many plums this past week, and a few started softening so I roasted them with honey and brought them to a dinner party with soy ice cream. I was the most loved guest that night for sure! Sharing is caring!
@sherrme You took the words right out of my mouth! I thought, 'Who ever has THAT problem?!' :)
The solution I prefer for tomato paste? I buy it in the tube rather than in a can. Then you can squeeze out what you like, seal the tube back up, and pop it into the fridge. Keeps forever!
Veggie prep when they are first brough in the door SAVES me! I literally toss a handful of each item into my lunch bin for the day and off to work I go. For dinner, I usually keep tortillas and potatos on hand. No matter what I buy for my lunch salads, they can be toasted or cooked with a touch of olive oil to make super yummy tacos :) Planning ahead and keeping things SIMPLE are my key tricks. Buying what you actually want to eat is also key.
in australia we can buy tomato paste in foil sachets of about 2 tablespoons' size. perfect. i don't drink milk, but i keep powdered milk in the pantry for visitors (mix up a small jug; they cant tell) or for baking. i also freeze any leftovers and then regularly have a leftover week, which gives me a break from cooking and cleans the freezer out! http://www.diginhobart.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/leftover-week.html ...but i'm a big believer in only buying perishables in small portions of what you'll use in a week. anything else is a false economy.
I cook for the week on Sundays. For instance, I'll make a batch of turkey burgers, bake a pan of chicken thighs and roast a pan (or two) of vegetables. I then have all the meals I'll need for the week. I don't eat grains so these dishes are breakfast, lunch and dinner for me plus I don't get bored eating the same things during the week.
As for milk, I buy 1% or 2% organic lactose-free milk. It has a sweeter taste than "regular" milk and lasts a lot longer.
So apparently I'm the only one with difficulties finishing wine. :)
I just buy smaller bottles at the liquor store -- they make a few varieties of single-serve (two-glass) bottles and while the selection isn't very broad, it's enough for me. Incidentally, the bottles fit in an average purse for easy sneaking into the movies...
vacuum sealers. buy a family pack, seal it up in individual portions, I highly recommend the marinating dish for it too. Forgot to drop that chicken breast to marinate before work no problem. or fish which tends to turn into ceviche if marinated too long.
I like wine, but I can't imagine finishing a whole bottle all by my lonesome. Not only would I get insanely drunk, but I'd feel like sh** in the morning (especially with red). I'll sticking with enjoying copious amounts of wine with friends/family and having a glass or two by alone. To each his/her own :-)
I buy milk and soymilk in little single-serve containers (the ones that come with their own straw), which has cut way down on milk waste.
I agree Piccola about mini bottles of wine. I'm teetotal, but like to cook with wine. Demi-bottles are perfect for most recipes that call for wine.
I can't either finish a bottle of mine by myself (I don't drink much and don't like to drink alone) but either red or white wine freezes very well in ice cubes trays for sauces and stew, like Katybelle mentionned. I never found cooking for one was a problem, I rather enjoy it, you can have so much fun and try some many things ! But of course the freezer is your friend :- ). So are tupperware boxes to give leftovers to friends & family (mainly for cakes as far as I'm concerned).
I'm having this very same problem at the moment. I just moved out on my own, renting a room in an apt. I share the kitchen with the landlady and her son. I have my mini-fridge and I'm having trouble being a creative cook without much storage space. Idk which vegetables to buy bc I'm afraid they might go bad. I have 3 tilapia fillets, 4 chicken legs and 2 pork chops and I don't know what to pair them with bc of storage. I can use their fridge, but it's kept so cramped and filthy.
Milk hasn't been an issue bc I cereal for dinner (I'm a 23 y.o. college student). Neither has been yogurt or fruits bc I take them to eat in between classes.
Hmm I'd like to know what recipe that photo is form ;)
you can freeze milk i also freeze tomato paste chicken broth etc