Cooking for One: Part Two: What to Eat

Big Batches to Make on the Weekend

Make a few full-sized recipes on the weekend and freeze them in single-serving portions. You can also season and cook some proteins to save a few minutes during the week. Just thaw them and eat them on a salad or with a side of veggies, or in a stir fry or other simple recipe. Try making:

• Soup with beans or diced chicken breast and vegetables, such as onions, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, and celery.
  
• Low-fat meat loaf with extra lean ground turkey. Bake the meatloaf in a muffin tin or slice it into smaller portions after the loaf is baked.
  
• Chili with beans, ground turkey, tomatoes, celery, green peppers, and onions.
  
• A dozen or more hard-boiled eggs. If you’re eating two or three whites at a time, you’ll go through hard-boiled eggs pretty quickly.
  
• Casseroles with plenty of vegetables and one or more lean proteins such as egg whites, lean ham, canned tuna, non-fat cheddar cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese, and chicken breast.
  
• Seasoned, grilled or baked chicken breast, turkey or veggies burgers, or fish to quickly thaw and serve with steamed veggies or a salad.
  

Breakfast

Breakfast…some call it the most important meal of the day. You’re best off with at least two servings of protein, and it’s a chance to get in some extra fiber and other nutrients. Try one of the following for a quick, one-person meal.

• Microwave egg whites in a mug with some chopped veggies, such as spinach, tomatoes, or fresh or frozen broccoli florets. Add lean ham or top it with fat-free shredded cheese.
  
• Experiment to find a high-protein pancake that works for you. Ingredients like cottage cheese, egg whites, and protein powder add protein. Add more protein powder or oats to make your pancake batter thicker, or increase the egg whites or almond milk to thin out your batter and make the pancake more crepe-like. Aim for about 150 calories, or about 1 large scoop of protein powder, ¼ cup of non-fat cottage cheese, and 2 to 3 egg whites. Use ½ teaspoon of baking powder, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and cinnamon to taste. Serve your pancake with fruit or Greek yogurt.
  
• Muffins are perfectly portioned, and there are almost infinite bariatric surgery-friendly muffin recipes you can make. Try pumpkin muffins, chocolate muffins, and savory muffins with low-fat cheese and turkey bacon.
  

If you’re in a rush in the morning, you can make a breakfast that’s far healthier than grabbing a pair of Pop-Tarts (420 calories and 70 grams of carbohydrates). Make overnight oatmeal by soaking oats, sliced almonds or pecans, and cinnamon in skim milk, or put together a breakfast sandwich with lean ham, sliced tomatoes, and sliced fat-free cheese on a light English muffin and toast it in the morning.

Lunch

The same nutritional rules apply to lunch. Start with protein, and make sure you get some veggies or fruit in your lunch. You can add a starch if that fits into your meal plan.

• Salmon burgers: puree canned salmon, canned garbanzo beans, pepper, two egg whites, and a small amount of low-fat parmesan cheese. Eat your burger on half of a whole-wheat English muffin or wrapped in a lettuce leaf. You can also use canned tuna or ground turkey for your burger base instead of salmon.
  
• Salad: Always use a base of greens, such as Romaine lettuce, spinach, or baby mixed greens, and include lean protein, such as grilled chicken, tuna, canned beans, or tofu. The rest is up to you, whether it’s fat-free cheese, sliced strawberries – frozen work fine – slivered almonds, mushroom slices, or bell pepper strips.
  
• Zucchini pancakes served with non-fat ricotta cheese or cottage cheese. Grate a zucchini and half of an onion, mix them with two beaten egg whites, a pinch of salt, black pepper (optional), and a scoop of unflavored protein powder. Bake the pancakes until they are browned and firm. You can also cook them in a pan with cooking spray.
  
• A mixed salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, basil, fat-free mozzarella or feta cheese, lean ham, and a dash of olive oil. Serve with slice of whole-wheat, high-fiber toast.
  

Dinner

For dinner, you can always heat up one of your dishes from the weekend or defrost a lean protein and serve it with some veggies. These are some other quick dishes to try.

• Baked bell pepper halves stuffed with Italian seasoned lean ground turkey or non-fat ricotta. Serve with tomato sauce. Make two halves and save one for tomorrow’s dinner.
  
• Cauliflower “fried rice” with defrosted cooked chicken and a small head of fresh cauliflower or a package of frozen cauliflower. Sauté diced onions and minced garlic in 2 teaspoons of olive or use cooking spray, then add the cauliflower and diced chicken, and some soy sauce and ginger. Scramble 4 egg whites in the side of the pan, and then mix them with the rest of the dish.
  
• Pizza on a Portobello mushroom or whole-grain English muffin. Add tomato sauce, veggies, and lean ham or diced chicken.
  
• A bean burrito using a low-carb wrap, fat-free refried or black beans, salsa, diced tomatoes, and cooked shredded chicken or lean ground turkey with Mexican seasonings. You can also add grilled veggies, such as yellow squash or green peppers. Top your burrito with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
  

Quick Fixes

These can work for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks at home or on the go. They are quick to put together, give you variety without making you work hard in the kitchen, and are naturally designed for single servings.

For a meal, choose one or two servings of protein, one or two vegetables or fruits, and the occasional whole grain. You can also include a healthy fat. For a snack, choose a protein plus a vegetable or fruit. Mix and match to get infinite possibilities. For example…

• Breakfast: Egg whites scrambled with spinach and feta cheese.
  
• Breakfast: Cottage cheese and cantaloupe or blueberries.
  
• Lunch: Greek salad with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, fat-free feta cheese, olives, and low-fat Greek vinaigrette or balsamic vinegar.
  
• Lunch: Air-popped popcorn, a cheese stick, turkey breast, and cherry tomatoes.
  
• Dinner: Grilled salmon served with asparagus and brown rice.
  
• Dinner: Tofu baked with parmesan cheese and tomato sauce and served with steamed broccoli.
  
• Snack: Celery sticks or apple slices with peanut butter.
  
• Snack: Air-popped popcorn
  

Now that you have a few ideas for quick meals for one, next up is how to stock your kitchen to make those meals possible. Stay tuned for the next part of this series!