Why is it so hard to cook for two people?!? I mean really people. I have cooked for myself and my companions for 1 1/2 years and now I do most the cooking for Matthew and myself and all I find myself thinking is that it is terribly difficult to cook for two.
My sister, Addie, recommended dividing recipes the only problem with that is when you now need 1/2 a teaspoon of some random seasoning or 1/2 a can of tomatoes. What can I do with the other half of Italian seasoned tomatoes that won't taste almost exactly like what I am cooking with the first half?
So this is why I come to you my friends to beg for your help. Anyone who has any good small quantity recipes I am begging for them. Help us to eat smart and eat healthy and not let all that extra food go to waste!
Most desperately yours,
Hannah White
7 comments:
Hannah! I totally had the same problem when we were first married. I always over-cooked. Just keep in mind, leftovers aren't so bad. :)
One of Clark's and my Favorite Dinners is Stormy Dinner. It's highly nutritious and QUICK & EASY to make :)
If you have any leftovers, freeze them and when you reheat them to eat later, they taste just as good - if not better!
Don't be afraid to experiment with recipes, I hardly follow the ones in the book. I just add whatever looks pretty and smells/tastes good. I probably run on luck more than others - but I've hardly messed up on anything I've cooked - I just had to learn to not care ;)
Wish I could help Sister, but I am struggling with the same thing. I was so excited to cook when we got married, but now it is just TOO much of a chore to cook for two that I just leave it up to Greg! :) Sorry!
My trick is to cook the full recipe and then divide the leftovers into lunches for the week. I also do a lot of cooking on the weekend and freeze as much as I can. Soup freezes really nice in zip locks and then can be frozen flat. Pancake batter, casseroles, and enchiladas also freeze well. Divide the recipe after you cooked it and freeze it in smaller portions. Everyday foods just recently did a week long special on recipes that freeze well. I get a lot of ideas from cooking blogs. Smitten Kitchen is my very favorite cooking blog.
I'm such a leftover person -- I don't like them, but my husband does. It saves so much money! You can repurpose things too -- like don't buy the italian tomatoes, buy the plain ones and add italian seasoning to one half and then use the other half to make enchiladas!
I had a bit of a hard time with this when Ben and I first got married. I have a couple of suggestions.
1) Plan to use leftovers for lunch.
2) Make "normal" sized meals, but bake them in two separate dishes, and freeze one.
3) Have company over a lot.
4) It sounds like you've tried this -- if you have to use half a can of tomato sauce on Tuesday, plan a meal for Thursday or Friday that uses the other half. There are a lot of possibilities. With this example, you could make spaghetti on Tuesday, and chili on Friday. Totally different!
Oh, and someone else mentioned experimenting with recipes. I love it! I would recommend not adjusting a baking recipe too much, though (like a sweet thing), but for cooking food as opposed to desserts, it's pretty hard to really mess something up.
Let me share with you the solution I choose for cooking for 2 people.
I don't do it. :)
Really it is one of the most difficult things in the world.
So we have cold cereal for dinner a lot. Healthy, huh!?!?
LOVE YOU and love that you're back a bloggin'!
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