Cooking for One

[Abiding Patience]

As the title suggests I live alone. Money is tight and free time is limited. Two jobs have me working from 6 am to 7:30 at night. I love to cook but rarely have the time. Does anyone know some good, fast, and healthy recipes.

[light4mypath]

I do a lot of stir fry (using olive oil). Sometimes with meat sometimes without. I also use my George Foreman grill (it cooks meat very quickly). I love that little grill :yay

Another option you might consider is once a month cooking (where you cook a bunch of meals in one day and freeze them for later). This has worked well for me as well.

We have a good size family, so, I too, am learning to do a condensed version of my cooking. I used to cook enough to feed an army, but now only have youngest child @ home (17) hubby and me. He isn't here much, so I am pretty much down to 2 of us.

[onesheep]

You might want to consider making something on the weekend that you can use as leftovers during the week. Also, Rachel Ray does 30 minutes meals on The Food Channel and you can find her recipes on that website. She uses a lot of olive oil which is good for you. It raised my good cholesterol to the point that my overall cholesterol is only high becauuse it's double the bad cholesterol. They're fast meals and usually pretty good.

[light4mypath]

Rachel Ray does 30 minutes meals on The Food Channel and you can find her recipes on that website.

YES!! Her recipes are WONDERFUL!!! :yeah

[smilinnow]

I remember those days well! Even now, there's only two of us...no kids yet. We've recently re-discovered the crock pot and it's great!

Here's some other ideas:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/HQ/00474.html (good tips in this article!)

http://foodman13.tripod.com/id3.html (website with recipes for one!)

Also, there are some recipe message boards out there that have separate sections dedicated to cooking for one or two. Do a Google search on "cooking for one" and a buncha fun stuff comes up. :thumbup

Have fun!! :)

[HVAC]

quick. easy. good for one or many. and you can select ingredients that you have and it will suggest recipes.

http://www.campbellkitchen.com

[Ladybug]

I'm in the same boat. If only I could get my act together. :aha

Check out Cooking for Two (http://www.cookingfor2.com/Default.aspx?r_d=y), a magazine for, you guessed it, cooking for one or two people. It's published by Taste of Home (a lot of people are familar with that name). Bad thing is, it only comes out 4 times a year. Good thing is, they provide nutrition info for all recipes.

Also, I've seen a cookbook fairly recently called 'Not Your Mother's Crockpot'. There is one that is JUST for using a 1 1/2 to 3 quart crockpot....just right for 2 people, or to have a bit left over.

[BabySteps]

Get a package a tortillas
4 boneless skinless ck breasts
1 red onion
1 red bell pepper
fresh cilantro
1 can diced tomatoes drained
lemon juice


Finely chop cilantro and drain tomatoes mix together with a couple teaspoons lemon juice and spread some on chicken breasts
broil chicken till done,
slice veggies kindof thick and and coat lite w/ olive oil broil them on a broiler pan lined w/ foil till tender or slightly chared, your preference.
Warm up tortillias as directed slice chicken and top with your favorite sour cream cheese whatever.
This is a by your taste recipe and it takes like 10min prep and 15-20 cook.
But it is very fresh tasting!!

[scrappergirl]

tastefully simple magazine has a section of recipes for one or two people, and usually they are very budget conscious and quick to prepare.
you can probably find a copy of it at the newsstand or bookstore. it is bi-monthly.

[wife]

I heard about a book the other day called the Great American Dinner Swap. Basically you get together with 5 women and each take a night to cook for all families. Sounds like too much food for me to cook but..

If you knew of a few people in the same boat as you maybe you could do something like this. Even if it were one other lady and you each cooked for 4 once a week that would give you 4 meals for the week.....

My other suggestion is get a small crock pot. I used mine when it was just hubby and I and I got a bigger one that I use for the whole family.