Cooking for Two

[vlivengood]

Having a hard time adjusting to cooking dinners for two now that my son and all his friends have gone off to college..... I hate wasting and we are pretty frugal with food budget. Any suggestions, recipes or tips are appreciated.
PS allergic to fish

[Byrdlady]

Cooking for Two

You are so right, it's hard to cook for 2 people. I have a couple of thoughts...I buy a pound or two of hamburger meat and go ahead and brown it and freeze it (flat, in a zippy bag). Then when I have a recipe, I can break off how much I need for that night's meal. You can easily make cottage pies or tacos (on chips, not necessarily in shells that come 8-10 in a pack) or cabbage wraps or dirty rice with it, just as you need it. Having frozen meatballs in stock helps too...you can take out as many as you need for adding to a jar of gravy and squiggly noodles, or maranara on a sub roll. I also like to keep the puff pastry sheets on hand. You can take one out and top it with shredded cheese and sliced olives, it's a good serving size for 2.
You can always wrap a chicken breast and veggies in a foil pocket and bake it.
Just some thoughts...I don't eat fish either, so there go lots of options! What have you been doing so far? Byrdie

[vlivengood]

Cooking for Two

I love that hamburger meat idea! We have been cooking meats, roasts chickens etc that I had from freezer still but they were big portions.... so I guess I will just start portioning things out better from here. How do vegetables fair if I buy them fresh and freeze them?

[Byrdlady]

Cooking for Two

Vlive, you are talking to the FREEZER QUEEN herself!!! I freeze everything! Cakes, cookies, veggies do just fine! Just be sure to label and date the stuff or it will go into the great beyond! You can freeze loaf bread...it goes bad before we can use a whole loaf, so when I buy it I take half and put it in a zippy bag and freeze it and then I don't have to rush to try and use it up.
If you are a corn lover...try this...take the corn in the shucks...put each ear in the microwave for 4 minutes...take it out and carefully cut off the cob end...then slide out the corn. It comes out without ONE silk!
Good luck!! B

[Sunbeam]

Cooking for Two

My husband and I have been just two for over thirty years. Most of our meals are cooked in larger batches, with some getting frozen for future use. We eat soups and stews a lot, and pasta with sauce. I like good bakery bread with these meals, so when I buy it I slice it all up and freeze in a zip bag, removing a couple slices when I need it. I keep frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts on hand, with two in a sandwich bag. After defrosting these cook in a covered dish in the microwave in 3-4 minutes, add a little water to keep them from drying out. I can then toss chunks of chicken with greens and veggies for a meal salad.

[Siren136]

Cooking for Two

My husband and I are VERY busy and I am very cheap, so the freezer is my best friend for buying in bulk and quick, pre-cooked meals. My favorite is lasagna. It's just as easy to make 2 as it is to make 1 (I use the no-boil noodles). Then portion it out and into the freezer it goes.

I'll also buy large amounts of chicken and ground turkey (I don't eat beef at all) and portion it out and freeze it. Then I can pull out just what we need. Like the others, I also freeze bread and rolls.

Also, after I roast a chicken or a turkey I save the bones and then boil them down for soup or just chicken stock. You can put the stock in ice cube trays and then in a plastic baggie in the freezer so you can just use what you need for the recipe.

[phillipanthony]

Cooking for Two

Yes you are right.