73 replies to this topic

[Diverlady]

I hate to cook. I particularly hate to cook for one person. As such, I find I end up planning (and preparing) my meals for the week on the weekend before (and freezing them) because if I don't, I'll end up eating junkfood. By the time I'm home from work and the gym, I don't feel like standing over the stove preparing dinner no matter how easy it is. Last night I couldn't even be bothered to pull out a bag of salad and pour it into a bowl!!
Am I the epitome of laziness or do other single people go through this too?

Diverlady

[SuperDave]

How about a diet of Turkey chili out of a can and a bunch of saltine crackers. I think I'm up to three nights in a row now. Followed by a couple Crown and Cokes for dessert. Just don't have the will to do much more than that.

Dave

[Diverlady]

Hmmmm.....opening a can sounds more difficult than opening a bag of salad so I'm guessing I won't do it!! LOL
What I tend to do is cook up several porkchops and chicken breasts and then freeze them. Each night I pour some frozen veggies in a plastic container with the frozen meat on top and take it for lunch the next day. By the time I'm ready to eat it, it's defrosted. So, I tend to eat a bigger meal while at work and not so much in the evening. I am trying to be good and have a salad with cheese chunks or a chicken souvlaki wrap (chicken already cooked on the weekend) for dinner but really, a bag of popcorn is WAY easier!!

Diverlady

[Dejah]

I personally hate to cook also for just myself, however I do enjoy cooking, but for just myself I tend to have most of my meals out during the week such as salads or veggies and meat and do my best to stay clear of carbs, I also try not to eat anything past 6:30pm, but if I do have something I usually have fruit.
It's probably not the best schedule, but it helps me avoid eating too late as I tend to burn off most of my calories during the day while being active. Now if with this schedule if I could loose more weight... anyone have some suggestions?

[Diverlady]

Circuit training. 30min workout is great! I do PACE fitness here and really like it.
I know they have them in the US so do a search for it to see if there's one near you. Otherwise, Curves is very similar (but I like PACE better!!)

Diverlady

[Narwhal]

Lynn,
On cooking for one: My most treasured appliance for cooking is my slow cooker. When I get home in the evening, I'm hungry and if there isn't something ready, I will go for junk food. On weekends, I can prepare meals (raw) which will cook while I'm gone during the day and be ready when I get home. Soups and stews, chicken and vegetables, a small portion of roast beef and carrots, Pork and cabbage, fish chowder--all of these can be prepared and put in "baggies" on the weekend in very little time. When I have the most energy (in the morning) I dump one of the Baggies in the slow cooker, turn it to "low" and leave. When I get home, whatever is cooked smells better than the pizza or "Mickey D's" meal I would have to leave the house to go and get.

My second favorite appliance is my George Foreman grill. If I have a little more energy, I know I can throw a boneless, skinless chicken breast or beef patty on the grill, the fat will drain off, and I will have meat ready in a couple of minutes. Combined with your pre-made salad or a few veggies, it's all I need in the evening.

I agree that cooking for one can be a "bummer".

Jim

[Bubble2Bubble]

Cooking for one is a Bummer we can all agree on that! I've been doing the atkins diet before there was one. I call it the caveman diet LoL. lots of BBQ things like chicken steaks and ribs. I also eat alot of fruit mosty oranges and bananas for after meal desert or snacks. I have programed myself for 20+ years now not to eat candy, cake, chips or breads Yuke! (see it works I take a multi vitamin for what I might lack in eating everything that comes my way. My biggest enemy is this puter in front of me right now. sense i have hired people to do my job for me I do less and less things now. I think DL has the right Idea a Gym would do me good between the times I'm not diving. thats my 2 cents which equals 20 peso's and I dont have a clue how many euro's and canadian bucks that is. Mike

[Walter]

Actually, I enjoy cooking. Cooking for one is as easy as cooking for more. The problem is one of motivation. Cooking is fun and once I start, I ask myself why I don't do it all the time. What works for me is reminding myself that it is fun. It's not as much fun eating alone, but ya gotta do that even if you don't cook.

Walter

[Diverlady]

Okay I think I hit all the major food groups at dinner last night.

Chocolate covered almonds - almonds are protein.
Smarties - chocolate is from cocoa beans and so is a veggie! (I don't think Canadian Smarties are the same as US Smarties if you have such a thing)
yoghurt-covered raisins - yoghurt is dairy and raisins are fruit.

I later had a flaxseed cocktail which would be my fiber.

A well balanced meal!

Diverlady

[Bubble2Bubble]

For Single's I have only one word
Microwave

I cook more than enough for me and have the rest later. then I have the three day rule and if anything is left over then Socks my Dog get's it or Smokey my Cat.

Mike

[coppermaus]

When I was in grad school I didn't have time to cook dinner at night, which meant if there weren't chips and salsa or a jar of olives in the house, no dinner. Instead of buying more chips, I came up with a trick similar to DL's. On Sundays I'd cook up a huge pot of soup or chili and freeze half of it in giant olive jars. The other half I'd eat all that week. Then I'd thaw out a jar of something left from a different Sunday to keep some variety in life.

These dinners could be easily dressed up with some interesting bread from the bakery and some fresh spinach, broc, edamame, or whatever steamed for a few minutes. Voila, quick healthy dinner! And the Sunday cooking event didn't take too long, since I could be doing other things while it was cooking.

Being single and absurdly busy I still do this fairly often, esp in the winter when hot soup is just the thing. Even eating alone isn't so bad if you make it special for yourself. Treat yourself right just like you would a s.o. Have a sit-down dinner with some ambience. Relax. Light a candle.

Now if I could just find someone to do the dishes...

[VaScubaGirl]

Ugh...cooking for one sucks! I love to cook, hate to cook when it's just me though and usually end up eating a bowl of cold cereal or scooping peanut butter out of a jar. SO...I get frozen dinners and microwave them but they aren't particularly good. I meal swap with my mom which helps (when we cook we make enough for the other and put it in tupperware). And nearly every weekend I find SOMEONE to come over so I can cook, be happy cooking, and have a good meal. I feel for you!

[Diverlady]

This is sounding pretty good. I can go to Coppermaus' place for a week for dinners then slide by VaScubaGirl's for the next week!! LOL

Diverlady

[Walter]

Good idea! Can I join the tour?

[WreckWench]

Ok...time to add my 2 psi as DiverLady likes to say!!

1. I grill alot as that is easy and allows for a 'just cooked' dinner that we all crave when we spend too much time 'heating and re-heating' food as single people. During the summer I use my electric grill/smoker and during the dead of winter I use my George Foreman grill so I don't have to freeze my tush off the whole month of winter we have in Texas! LOL!!!
2. I scout meat sales and then immediately cut up the meat into individual sized servings which I freeze. Sometimes I freeze the meat right in the marinade and others as is. Having company? Defrost 2 vs. 1 pkg.
3. I use a BIG fresh salad as the basis for most of my meals. The trick is to buy as many DIFFERENT veggies as you can to add to it so that it will be interesting. Since Sat/Sun are cooking days for the rest of the week, I will do all the salad prep work and make a HUGE garden salad that uses spinich as lettuce and lots of sliced red cabbage, bok choy if its on sale, and a host of other salad veggies and perhaps a few non-traditional salad veggies. I will NOT put enough cucumber or tomaotes in the salad to last the week as they only last for two days before getting mushy...however the rest of the veggies are hardy enough to last all week in a tightly sealed tupperware container.
4. Every night I start with a huge salad that I then add raw pumpkin seeds and/or raw nut mix such as almonds, cashews, pecans etc. I may add finely chopped dried fruit or even few sliced grapes if I have them. I sprinkle some loose blue cheese on top and sometimes if I want the salad to be the meal...I'll add a few slices of meat and/or other cheese. At this point I will often change from a plate to a very large bowl so that I can add some dressing an toss lightly. The trick to dressing is to either put a small amount in a bowl and lightly dip your salad into it or to add very little dressing diluted with balsamic vinegar or other flavored vinegar to give you runnier dressing WITHOUT flooding your salad with extra calories. Also...make your own dressings from whatever you have in the refrigerator. A little of this and that and you've created a brand new dressing that is healthy and lo-cal while being economical and keeping the salad interesting.
5. If the salad doesn't become the full meal, then I will steam a sweet potatoe or another veggie to add to the meal. If you clean and prepare on the weekend your veggies...then it is super simple to steam them fresh for dinner in 3 minutes or less.
6. If the veggies need to be eaten to prevent spoilage...then I do a very large steamed veggie mix for dinner. Toss all veggies into a pot with small amount of water and set steamer into the pan. Fill steamer with veggies, pile high, sprinkle with some Mexican seasoning mix or something bold such as Mrs. Dash and steam until the veggies are soft but still crisp. (This retains more nutrients this way. The more you steam or cook a veggie the more the vitamins are lost.)
7. If I'm in the mood for a small steak or pork etc. then I'll defrost one of my meat pkgs while letting it marinade if not already previously marinaded. If I change my mind that evening or have last minute dinner plans...then it is ready to go for the next evening. Of course on the days that I grill a small steak of some sort, I have a smaller salad and steamed veggie serving.
8. I usually omit bread unless it is bread that I've made and I know it is full of fresh grains, and therefore complex carbs. (Refined bread is merely simple carbs and therefore the basis for everyone's compulsion to avoid all carbs. Carbs are needed for fuel for the body...however they are not all created eqaul. ALWAYS eat complex carbs found in fruits and veggies and not simple carbs such as pasta and bread.)
9. Butter vs. margarine....always use a SMALL amount of butter...preferably whipped butter which has more volume so you use less product. The body can digest animal food i.e. butter....however it can not digest synthetic foods such as man-made margarine. Forget the calories...fake calories such as maragine hurt the body whereas real calories help to fuel the body. The trick here is too use SMALL amounts....VERY small amounts as butter is not inherently healthy for you.
10. Ok ok....this has turned into a nutrition lesson...I'm sorry....too lazy to erase what I've written so I'll end with a glass of wine or beer with the meal. That would be a half a glass of wine and not half a bottle!

So....not only does this plan help me eat wisely but it is very easy for a busy single person to do. If my salad was not ready to eat every night I'd be too lazy to make it and I'd opt for popcorn or junk food. If I didn't do my shopping on the weekends and take the time needed to cook meals for the week and/or prepare food for the week....I'd never eat well nor would I eat real food...I'd be stuck with eating junk food or living off frozen meals that I used to think was god's gift to single people. And I find that it doesn't really take much time to cook and/or prepare stuff over the weekend. Plus ifyou invite a friend over...well now its fun to cook for someone! Just besure to prepare loads of extras so you don't have to prepare much during the week.

Ok now I'm hungry!!! Gotta eat! -Wreck Wench