Groceries for the single guy/gal

[DWGal210]

I'm not sure if the Budget Board is the right place for this - but I have a question.

For those of you who live alone, do you find it difficult to make yourself cook instead of just getting a takeout sandwich/ meal? I want to do more cooking @ home, both for health & budget reasons. What are your go-to easy meals? Do you make smaller versions of recipes or just have lots of leftovers? I don't mind leftovers but I find I don't eat it in time before it goes bad.

I'm very open to tips, tricks or any info you can pass along. Even at $6-7 per Subway, Panera, McD I know that can add up fast.

Thanks!!

 

[ashley0139]

I cook probably 85% of the time. Some weeks I do better than others. I never cooked growing up, and my skills are improving a bit. I make a lot of pasta. Chicken cutlets and baked potatoes. Crock pot dinners are great. I love having leftovers because I eat them all week and bring them to work. I make chili in the crock pot that is delicious. I eat a lot of sandwiches for lunch. Great money saver. I don't make a lot so any way I can save money is good. Most of the time, I spend about $40 a week at the grocery store and then buy food once or twice. I think that's pretty good. And in NYC our prices are super high.

Sometimes, though, I splurge and buy a few times in a week. Or spend more than I'd like on a single meal. I think I'm relatively good about spending money on food though.

 

[luvtheworld16]

I've been horrible this summer on cooking, last night I never even ate dinner - I made popcorn but ended up throwing most of it out. It's been hot and I am not motivated to cook, perhaps because I do not have air conditioning.

That said, usually I cook 2 nice dinners on the weekends then eat leftovers for dinner during the week. I pack a lunch for work. I do use the crock pot too. I may make chicken breasts on the weekend, have it as leftovers a night of two, then make a salad with chicken another night. If I have meat for leftovers, I use different sides so I don't always have the exact same meal.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm not sure if the Budget Board is the right place for this - but I have a question.

For those of you who live alone, do you find it difficult to make yourself cook instead of just getting a takeout sandwich/ meal? I want to do more cooking @ home, both for health & budget reasons. What are your go-to easy meals? Do you make smaller versions of recipes or just have lots of leftovers? I don't mind leftovers but I find I don't eat it in time before it goes bad.

I'm very open to tips, tricks or any info you can pass along. Even at $6-7 per Subway, Panera, McD I know that can add up fast.

Thanks!!

When I was single I got some cookbooks for dinners for two and the compartmentalized plates with the covers for the freezer. I'd make it and immediately freeze one portion. The only thing I find that doesn't freeze well is baked or boiled potatoes. Mashed is fine. I'd try to cook quite a few meals over the weekend. When I got home at night it was really easy to pull something out of the freezer and reheat it. I also cooked crock pot meals, ate it once or twice and froze the rest in individual servings.

 

[ceecee]

My mom gets chicken breasts and fish individually packaged from Swann and she really likes them. My sister cooks on the weekend and puts meals in single serve portions in the freezer. When I was single my favorite dinner was a pack of frozen veggies!

 

[Nalila]

I generally cook a big meal on Sundays to make sure I have leftovers: a small ham or roast beef or chicken.

Then, the rest of the week, I'll use the leftover meat with different sides to make other meals or even to eat as sandwiches. Pasta, casseroles, on top of baked potatoes, as bbq, on a salad or just as a cold meat side are my favorite ways.

It ends up being economical because you're buying the meat in a large portion instead of individual portions. Plus, having the meat already cooked speeds up dinner prep on work nights and helps me not give up and go out to eat.

 

[DWGal210]

Awesome ideas, everyone!!

I also love the divided plates idea - awesome!!!

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

I cook up a bunch of chicken breast, shred and freeze it. Do the same with ground turkey (or burger), brown it all up and freeze. Then you can quickly thaw enough out for one meal, mix in different seasonings, canned sauces, pastas, any variety of things and make a quick, cheaper meal than eating out. A microwaved baked potato, some frozen or fresh veggies to round out the meal... staying healthy!

Yeah, we're a family of four but DS's can be picky, DH isn't always home for dinner (and often doesn't eat at all) and there are days I just don't want to cook a nice meal and have it not eaten. So I find myself wanting a "real meal" for myself that's easy to do and I'll whip something up for the boys. This is what works for me!

 

[mdrob214]

My mom loves her George Foreman grill. She can cook a burger, chicken breast, steak, etc. without too much trouble. Add a salad or side of veggie and she's good.

 

[Forevryoung]

I make sure that I always have easy favorites in my apartment for those nights when I would be tempted to get take out-

-spaghetti
-chicken nuggets and fries (It's what I would get if I stopped at McDonalds...)
-garden burgers (Morningstar Farms are amazing)

I keep frozen veggies in my freezer (usually broccoli)

When they go on sale, I purchase the salad kits in a bag ($2 each). I'll eat the whole bag for lunch or dinner with some chicken on top.

During the winter I made vegetarian chili several times and ate that nearly the whole week for lunch or dinner.

I've used a heartier (low sodium) canned soup and put it on top of brown rice as a quick meal

I'm all about easy especially when the lure to grab something on the way home is there.

Personally I'm not a big meat eater so the chicken would sit in my freezer forever before I ate it- even if it was already cooked (been there done that)

 

[cglaura]

I don't have too much issue with take out, just cooking. I'll usually gravitate to something I can just open. Like last night I had yogurt for dinner.

I do keep bags of frozen chicken breast and turkey burgers on hand. I grill them up on my handy dandy George Forman grill Seriously though, that is a great little appliance for a single person.

I also always have frozen veggies and salad fixings, some sort of fruit (usually red grapes), and egg whites or eggs, tuna.

 

[DWGal210]

Awesome ideas, thanks! I think I'll be buying myself a George Forman tonight! Great idea!

 

[fall08CP]

I live by myself and cook 95% of the time- I love it!

Now I don't eat meat, but that means I have to be more creative than the average Joe to get all my nutrients in. I try not to eat anything frozen either.

I shop mainly at the farmer's market because I can get only as much as I need. I often cook for 2 and eat the leftovers at work the next day.

Tonight I made rice and bbq bean tacos. While the beans were cooking, I whipped out a sweet potato casserole (had sweet potatoes that were about to go bad) and threw that in the oven while eating the tacos. When I was done eating, I took the casserole out and had some for dessert.

Easy meals- crescent roll pizza, boxed pasta w olive oil and sauteed veggies, roasted potatoes, homemade burgers (black bean for me), lots of beans in crockpot recipes, etc. As you get more familiar with spices, you can stop using recipes and make anything to your taste. I also bake several times a week- brownies, breads, casseroles- and bring the extras for my coworkers.

I follow food blogs so I constantly have fresh ideas!

 

[prncess674]

the other thing to consider is how much is your salty calorie laden take away costing you in the waistline. Also even though your take out meal may only be $5 I can easily cook a fresh chicken breast, starchy side and cut up roasted fresh veg for that price. Even if I throw a bit of away, it is still less than a take out meal. More and more take out meals are in the 10-15 range and for $15 I can grill a nice steak and veggies.

Don't worry about the waste, just look at the total cost of what you cook verses a single take out meal.

One of my fave freezer type meals is to make a big pot of spaghetti meat sauce. As soon as it is ready I freeze it in small single serve containers. I then don't have to eat the big meal at once. Having homemade meat sauce (noodles cooked the evening I eat it) I have a yummy home cooked meal with nothing more than a few minutes of boiling noodles.

 

[Plumeria9]

Although I have kids and a husband, I understand your situation completely. One site I like to search for recipes for is allrecipes.com because you can alter the serving sizes, and the ingredients are magically altered to fit your needs. Cooking at home saves so much money. When I cook, I like to cook enough to have leftovers the next day so I don't have to cook again! Good luck!

 

[squirrel]

I'm rather picky, especially when it comes to meat and veggies.

I do have one of those little grills (not a George Foreman) that I cook chicken breasts on.

For dinners I make rice with cashews or chicken, salad with tofu, pasta with cheese and olives, wraps with chicken, lettuce, cheese, olives. I also love cabbage salad. I usually have pizza (homemade) twice/three times a week as I make my own whole wheat bread and just take some of the dough for pizza. Then the bread is finished by the end of the week for lunches.

As you may have noticed, I don't like cooked veggies-only corn and potato (but I consider the potato a starch).

I've also not cooked anything and had some veggies and cereal (mostly in the summer when it's too hot to turn anything on).

 

[Swmr359]

I usually cook for two and then save one portion to take to work as lunch the next day.
When I buy a pound of ground beef, I'll seperate it into four portions and then freeze it so I'm only cooking what I need.
For me pasta or canned soup are the fastest, easiest meals; I throw in some frozen veggies to fill up.

 

[Sagginit]

I always try to buy foods that multi-task. pantry staples are pasta, canned beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce & paste, and rice. i keep my freezer stocked with veggies, gluten free pizza crusts, frozen shredded cheese, meat, and leftover soups/stews. i keep parm/reg. cheese, fresh mozz, eggs, tofu, polenta (i get a log at TJs), and long term veggies (onions/potatoes). i the supplement with whats on sale or what i feel like that week. typically i have fresh red peppers, greens, and carrots in the fridge since they multi-task.

last week i cooked a chicken, it came in a roasting bag pre-seasoned, washed, and ready to go. i got it at target for $4.99 (9.99 on sale 7.99 - $3 managers special discount). i made some gravy with fresh thyme/parsley i grow in my living room. i ate that over rice with the chicken and veggies for a few days. i then cooked up some pasta and fresh zucchini in sauce i had in the fridge and put in some chicken. i ate that for two days. i used the carcass to make stock (threw in carrots/onion from fridge). i shredded the meat i had pulled off before putting it in the pot and threw in random half bags of frozen veggies. i ate that for a few days and will now freeze the rest since i got a ton. i also froze some of the stock. once you learn how to get one item to do multiple things and not waste as much you will find costs go down. i also find i get good prices on the little meat i buy at target if i find those managers specials/last day discounts. the packages are sometimes too small for a family and their prices are higher so not everyone looks.

in the winter i make veggie chili, rice & beans (jambalaya mix with kidney, yellow rice with black, brown with white kidney beans and pasta sauce), and soups. stir frys are year round, tofu and whatever veggies i have in the fridge. i love my rice cooker. i also can use it to steam veggies. so if i am doing stir fry and have time, i will steam frozen veggies, take out, add rice to water, cook rice and then mix tofu with sauce & veggies and heat up while rice finishes. i always seem to have more rice than stir fry so i store seperate that way i can use the plain rice for something else once the stir fry is done.

polenta i can make into polenta fries to eat with tofu nuggets, or slice and cook up with eggs for breakfast. i make my own bread crumbs with ends of bread and keep it frozen. when i buy them in the container i never use it all before they go stale.

for lunches i keep bread, one kind of lunchmeat, hard boiled eggs, and salad basics on hand. i work in NYC so this saves me a ton of $.

 

[karice2]

I am a single and a huge fan of cooking once or twice and saving meals. I am also doing the couponing thing. I am lucky because I have a really big deep freezer that came with the house.

I make a pot roast in the crock pot including veggies and potatoes. That gets separated into individual meals.

Sam's club has a big organic baby salad mix for $4.99. I pre make a couple of salads so that I can grab when I am walking out the door for lunch.

I poach a couple of chicken breast in chicken broth and pre cut that up for easy meals.

You may be interested in trying Diet to go. www.diettogo.com.

They have delivery or pick up of fresh meals in a couple of areas and the products are portion controlled.

 

[Wishes Count]

Bump! I need more ideas, I'm tired of eating Ramen and Hot Pockets!