| Now that summer is here, you might try cooking on a grill
outside. That makes it real easy to cook for one. You can
throw on 1 baked potato, one piece of meat and even cook your
vegetable on the grill. Try wrapping an ear of corn in foil and
putting it on the grill to cook (put a little butter in with it
and it's ready to eat when you unwrap it). You can try
marinating some meat (there was a good marinade recipe back in
the file that could be frozen, so you can use just what you
need). Try cutting a potato in half, brushing it with Italian
dressing and cooking it on the grill.
Do you have a microwave? That makes it quite easy to cook for 1
without getting all sorts of things dirty. If you have some
freezer space, you can make larger batches of things like
lasagna, soup, stew, chili and freeze them in individual
servings. Then just thaw and heat to have a nice meal.
Hope this helps.
Cathy
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| Two points:
1) It's appropriate to make larger dishes *if* there's a good way to
divide the results into smaller portion that can be used at one's leisure.
Some dishes, such as meat loaf (see, for instance my recipe in Note 104)
are naturals for this sort of thing.
Once divided, the unused portion(s) must be preserved. A *very* good
way to do this is by plastic freezing pouches like Seal-A-Meals or the
Sears equivalent, Meals In Minutes. The food is put into plastic pouches
that can be reheated either through boiling water (such as Green Giant does
for its frozen veggies) or via microwave (after putting cuts into the pouch
so that the pouch doesn't explode. For microwave only, Tupperware or other
*air-tight* plastic containers could be used. In either case, the unused
stuff should be frozen until ready to be used.
2) The greatest single strength of a microwave is its ability to
reheat food more or less evenly. For best results, there ought to be
a stirrer or food should be repositioned somewhere in the middle of
the heating cycle to avoid cold spots (a feature of virtually every micro-
vave cooker).
Apollonius
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| re .4:
The "meals-in-minutes" or "seal-a-meal" items are both low cost and neither
requires either a barbecue grill nor a microwave. The point is, it's easier
to cook large portions that can be subdivided, then saved. Also, once you
have your stuff in that sort of freezer bag, "cooking" (reheating) is any-
where from 10 to 20 minutes in simmering/boiling water on a stove. The
only cooking implement that has to be used is a pan, and unless the bag(s)
leak, it doesn't even *have* to be washed, since the only thing inside
it will have been clean, boiling water.
Apollonius
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| I agree with Apollonius. I always cook *more* of our favorite foods,
particularly vegetables that are available only part of the year, and
freeze portions in seal-a-meal bags. (Ever cook a WHOLE hubbard squash!)
Make your own spaghetti sauce and freeze it in portions... a great way
to use leftover chicken is to seal a portion in a bag with appropriate
amounts of gravy... make a large quantity of your favorite soup and freeze
it in portions... etc etc etc. The list is endless.
Yes it might take time to make the initial meal (it takes me hours to finish
the blue hubbard squash), but once it's done I've got MEALS worth of vegs
all ready.
You might buy yourself a wok.. a lot less expensive than a microwave or
gas grill. A wok can become your favorite cooking utensil and there are
many notes in this file that can lead you to delightful dining experiences.
Enjoy!
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| Just thought of something else.... you might get yourself a crock pot.
Meals can be prepared in a crock pot before you go to work and when you
come home, all you've got to do is spoon it onto your plate!
I use the crock pot for VERY simple dishes (I can be basically lazy)
Place boneless chicken (frozen or unfrozen) in the crockpot, cover with
an undiluted can of cream of mushroom (or cream of whatever) soup, put
it on low and go to work...
Place country style ribs in the crockpot (short ribs are best because
they fit better), cover with gobs of bbq sauce, put it on low and go
to work... (when you get home you'll find that all of the meat has fallen
off of the bones and it melts in your mouth!)
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| There are lots of things that are easy to do for one serving. The
Campbell's Soup for One products are a lifesaver! Put a thick pork chop or
a chicken breast in a small pan, pour a "Soup for One" can of cream of
mushroom soup over it, and bake at 350 for an hour. Cook some rice for the
mushroom gravy, steam some frozen veggie, and you've got a really good
meal! If you buy frozen vegetables in the poly bags, you can cook exactly
what you're going to eat for one meal and put the rest back in the freezer.
I also buy fresh vegetables out of the Oriental Foods produce section.
There they often have broccoli florets and cauliflower already broken up so
I can buy 4 ounces or so. Steaming them only takes 5 minutes, and they're
really good (put butter and lemon juice on your steamed broccoli). Buy
loose mushrooms -- the price per pound is far higher than packaged, but you
can buy three or four and not have anything to throw away.
Buy a tiny skillet (5 inches in diameter -- cast iron is best). Country
style steak is quite good. Take a small piece of round steak (4 ounces or
so). Salt, pepper, coat with flour and brown in a little oil. Remove meat
from pan. Make gravy by dumping out all but a little of the oil, adding
salt, peppper, and a little flour, browning the flour, then adding water
till mixture thickens into gravy. Return meat, cover TIGHTLY, and simmer
for one hour. You may have to add water if gravy gets too thick. Meat is
so tender it falls apart. Serve gravy over rice or creamed potatoes.
For bread, I buy the Pepperidge Farms Sourdough French rolls and keep them
in the freezer. Wrap one in paper towel, thaw in microwave for 60 seconds
(or on counter for five minutes), pop in toaster oven for 3 min. and voila,
your bread is ready with no leftovers! I also make buttermilk cornbread in
my 5-inch skillet, but I'll save that dyed-in-the-wool Southern recipe for
another note!
I buy fresh fish one fillet at a time, cut it in half, and freeze the two
pieces separately. You can bake it, or poach it in wine diluted with a
little water (add 1/2 tsp. or so of wine vinegar). A delicious sauce
results from reducing the poaching liquid and adding cream. Another sauce
that's excellent is diced cucumber mixed with sour cream and dill
(proportions aren't terribly important).
I buy fresh shrimp and freeze them in one pound and half pound packages.
They take <5 minutes to boil, and with a good, hot (makes your eyes water)
cocktail sauce and a salad, it's a delicious meal. Take the leftover
boiled shrimp and saute just till hot in melted butter with a garlic clove
that has been mashed with a fork. Add a generous handful of chopped
parsley (I chop large batches and freeze it), and serve over rice (I use
1/4 c. of raw rice for one generous serving). This is not only delicious,
it's also a beautiful dish!
In the winter, I grill a ham-and-cheese or bacon-and-cheese sandwich and
heat a can of the Soup-for-One -- there are about four or five flavors and
they're all good. You can do that even when you don't get home from work
till 8:00!
There are many, many appliances people will tell you to buy. The most
valuable thing in my kitchen (including the stove and fridge) is my
microwave. The thing I use next most often is my toaster oven. My oven
never gets turned on except when I'm cooking for company.
Good luck!
Pat
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