Cooking for One or Two

We are so blessed to have so many great resources for wonderful, yummy recipes to fix, but there is a problem.  Most recipes make enough to feed a whole family.  Therefore, if you’re a single person, empty-nesters or a young couple without children, you can end up with enough leftovers of that one dish to make you never want to eat that food. ever. again!

I thought it would be good to give those needing smaller portions some ideas today to help cook great meals without having leftovers for a week. Ready?

Taste of Home is a great resource. They have recipes especially suited for one or two. Look at this great recipe for Crumb-coated chicken with Blackberry Salsa!

Stir-Fry is an easy one to get carried away with and have enough to feed all of China! But here they give exact amounts so you’ll end up with enough for ONE!

How about Apple Cobbler for two?! Obviously if you’re single, you’d just have to cut the recipe in half to end up with only one serving (but since it’s dessert, it would be nice to have one for tomorrow, too, right?!

You can go to this page for the list of other recipes including, side dishes, breakfast, appetizers, soups, and so on!  It’s a great list of recipes!  They even have a magazine for Cooking for Two that you could subscribe to, if you desired that.

Kraft has a page for Recipes for Two that look good.  I haven’t tried theirs as I have the Taste of Home, but it looks like something I’d like to try!

From my own experience, I’ve found that it’s best not to make casseroles dishes.  I choose to make a meat that I can portion out for us – Two chicken breasts, two hamburger patties, half a pound of Kielbasa, etc.

Other tips:

• Avoid using jars of things that have to be used up at one use.
• Buy tomato paste in a tube so you can just squeeze out what you need and not have a can half full left over.
• Make your own sauces and cut the recipe in half or even fourths so you won’t have excess.
• Use fresh vegetables,  rather than canned, so you can cook only what you’ll eat at that sitting.  (My mom freezes the leftover spoon or so of vegetables in a bag, mixing the different veggies, and then adds them to soup when she has enough!)
• Make salads on individual plates or bowls, rather than a serving bowl so you can see how much you need to make.
• Here is a great chart to help you know how much pasta to cook!

I have another post here related to this topic. hope that helps and keeps you from dreading to get in the kitchen because you only know how to cook for an army. Cooking for one or two can still be delicious and easy, without a week of leftovers!

Anyone have tips on how they cook for one or two?