Cooking for just yourself can mean a lot of eating the same meal over and over. This makes the prospect of eating chicken and rice five nights a week absolutely soul sucking. BUT – life does not have to be that way.
With just three simple changes to your prepping routine, you can take your everyday ingredients and flex them into different meals throughout the week. Plain chicken and rice is cancelled… Here comes creativity.
- Divide the recipe to get ONE portion – If you know what meal you are in the mood for, find the recipe and then pair the amount of ingredients down to just one. Usually the recipe will say how many portions it makes. So, if it says “serves 4,” then just divide all the listed ingredient amounts by 4. Viola! You’ve got everything ready to portion for just you. Okay… But, now I have half an onion just sitting here… I see you.
- Prep full ingredients and store in separate containers – So, let’s say the paired down recipe calls for ¼ onion, sliced. What I will do is slice up half of the onion and dice up the other half. After using the ¼ onion sliced, I will store the remaining of the sliced onion in one container and all of the diced onion in another. NOW, here comes the flexing… what to do with the leftover onion:
- Sliced Onion
- Top a salad
- Add on top of (frozen) pizza
- Pickle with red wine vinegar
- Diced Onion
- Start a risotto or pasta sauce
- Use raw on a taco
- Create a base for soup with carrot and celery
This technique is really useful for tomatoes, citrus, meat, broccoli. I wouldn’t use it for potatoes, apples, avocados or anything else that browns really easily.
- Don’t have a plan for the week – I know this sounds crazy, especially if you’re just starting out. But, if you buy the freshest looking ingredients at the store and have a well stocked pantry, you will be able to cook whatever you’re in the mood for that moment and, most importantly, NOT have the same leftovers day after day.
I hope these three simple tips help with making dinner time less monotonous and more flexible. Follow, subscribe and share for more Cooking for One content.
-Fiercely Freckled