Home Aloners who cook...what do you do with all the extra food?

[blessedandfavored 25]

I dream of the day I can cook a pot of lean turkey chili but then I thought to myself it will take 6 months to finish a pack of ground turkey meat. I'm home alone so there is no one else to cook for. How do you guys handle excessive amounts of food? (I guess my real concerns are meats because of the way meat is sold.)

Edited June 22, 2014 by blessedandfavored

[Butterflyhigh 504]

I'm not completely alone. I have two children that are here four days out of the week.

I've always made double or triple batches of food. We eat dinner and leftovers for lunch the next day, and the rest I put in gallon size freezer bags. Stew's and Soups are easy. With Pasta dishes I make the big batch of sauce/meats, add whatever Pasta we need just for that evening, and freeze the leftover sauce. I will also buy a whole chicken, roast for dinner, shred and freeze the remaining meat.

That was all pre-op. I'm going to do the same thing (as soon as I'm off pureed) but only a single or maybe double batch. A triple batch now would be more like a sextuple batch!

[NYCkindofgirl 62]

I also live alone and the freezer is my friend. I cut leftovers into meal size portions and either wrap in aluminum foil or put them in single portion plastic containers. meat is a particular problem, since the butcher shop closed and the supermarkets have pre-packaged meat at about 1 lb. The fish store will still sell me 1/4 lb. of whatever I want, so with fresh fish I don't have leftovers. Let me know if you have any better ideas, please.

[SummerWheeler 8]

Just remember your goal. I was a volume eater and still have a hard time only cooking not only for one but only half cup at a time. I don't know if I will ever be perfect. I have very small baby food containers that only hold less than a cup of food. I take one of these cups to work for lunch. I got them at Walmart. I got a great tip to buy the small ramekins to use. They are great to use in the microwave. It also gets a good visual on your proportion sizes. Give yourself permission to toss food if needed. You are worth it.

[LindafromFlorida 1,542]

We were both sleeved. I like chicken and tuna salad, while my husband prefers about 2 oz. smoked salmon. We have a salad most nights, then decide on the Protein. I bought a rotisserie chicken this afternoon, added the breast, 1/4 cup crabmeat and 1/2 lb. shrimp to a pot of gumbo. My husband loved it. I will freeze this because I love gumbo. I make small batches of chicken salad (love adding walnuts, pecans or sliced almonds, lots of celery, a little chunk pineapple, nutmeg and lowfat mayo), or tuna salad. In the past 2 months we shared a small filet mignon twice. Even at $17 a lb, two filets were $9.00, so for $4.50 we had a wonderful lean and tender steak. There are Aidells caramelized onion turkey meatballs in the grocery, very good. I have baked them (maybe 10), and we eat two apiece and they can go back in the freezer for quick thaw (a little marinara is great). Fish is wonderful in Florida, so we have that often. Slaw is a favorite side. There are so many quick options that require little cooking. Since we both eat differently, I just keep on hand what my husband likes, and my go to food, so it is like cooking for one in my house also. I am thoroughly loving the fact that meal planning is obsolete in this household. I got tired of throwing out large bags of salad mix (big expense) and now I buy small green salads in Publix, with no waste. Keeping boiled eggs on hand is a must, maybe 3-5 a week. We just drove from Florida to Kansas, relaxed and happy, no fast food, snacking on a few healthy things and a banana. No desire to stop at Cracker Barrel, LOL. Wow has life changed!!!

Edited June 23, 2014 by LindafromFlorida

[chris1142 148]

I don't live alone, but my hubs cooks for himself. (What a sweetie he is). I cook a lot of casseroles and jigger the recipes so they are heavy on the Protein. I then eat a serving and have one the next day and freeze the rest. I freeze my left overs in silicone muffin pans. When frozen I pop them out and double bag them in freezer bags. Sometimes I cook two or three at a time and. Put it all in the freezer. I always have a supply on hand that way. I get most of the recipes from the Eggface web site. I really like her recipes.

[gottagonow 82]

I don't like frozen leftovers. But say take a pack of ground turkey, I roll it into 4-5 separate balls and freeze it. Thus, I use it to make small meals.

I gained a lot of weight not wasting food, so if a little goes to waste that's okay with me. I'm funny about leftover so I try very hard to cook small serving portions.

[blessedandfavored 25]

Thanks everyone. These are such GREAT ideals. I will look for a butcher shop like NYCkindofgirl suggested because my problem is purchasing large quantities of meat. I don't have a problem with leftovers but like NYCkindofgirl said most meats are prepackaged at about 12 oz each. (That's six servings of one meat and I know I will get tired of eating the same thing.) I don't like wasting...I enjoy cooking... and I need to improve on my freezing techniques. I tend to forget what I store in the freezer but I LOVE the silicone muffin pan suggestion.

[Josh2xh 70]

Just remember your goal. I was a volume eater and still have a hard time only cooking not only for one but only half cup at a time. I don't know if I will ever be perfect. I have very small baby food containers that only hold less than a cup of food. I take one of these cups to work for lunch. I got them at Walmart. I got a great tip to buy the small ramekins to use. They are great to use in the microwave. It also gets a good visual on your proportion sizes. Give yourself permission to toss food if needed. You are worth it.

The 4 or 6 oz ramikins from bed bath and beyond are so perfect for us. Easy to weigh, store, cook or measure. They are really cheap, about $1.49 for the 4oz and $1.99 for the 6 oz. I ordered 24 and use a few a day.