Hi everyone,

The facts:

• I'm pre-sleeve.
• I am single and live alone.
• I don't enjoy cooking because I'm not very good at it and I don't tend to eat leftovers. When I throw them out I feel guilty about how much is wasted.

It's clear that it will be much easier for me to be successful if I can make my meals at home. But they'll be so very tiny.

So I've been giving my Magic Bullet a try with Protein shakes. This can work.

Eventually I'll be allowed to have solid food. And I expect I will probably want to have it regularly, so I just ordered an ANOVA Sous Vide Precision Cooker so I can cook small portions. Does anyone have experience with sous vide?

Also, since I'm not very clever in the kitchen, can you recommend a good cookbook/website? I'm looking for something that has real-people food featured -- the kind that calls for regular ingredients that I can find at a typical grocery store, and doesn't take hours to prepare.

Thanks in advance!

Catt

Do you live in a large city? See if they have a Healthy Meal To Go. They have a very large menu.

I live alone as well, and work way too many hours - so cooking when I get home each night is the last thing on my mind. I am pre-op, but I have aways found that I'm much more successful losing weight when I have everything pre-made.

I spend a few hours each Sunday cooking different meals and portioning them out. I keep a couple of each in the refrigerator and freeze the rest. I wash and chop all of my veggies ahead of time too. In my opinion a few hours on a weekend day saves me a ton of frustration throughout the week.

I also use a crock pot now, because it's easy. I'm not sure how I will work that into my post-op life, but it has been a lifesaver in the past.

Good luck!

You can do the same prep you do now with your crock pot. I stead of cooking and freezing things just put full meals in a freezer bag and in the morning before work.put it in the crock pot and dinner will be ready when you get home. You'll probably have more than you need for just one meal but you'll have lunch for the next day with no extra cooking.

@@laurenella82 - I've been looking into vacuum sealers to freeze small portions of my crockpot meals. I'm hoping that will be a useful addition!

@@laurenella82 - I've been looking into vacuum sealers to freeze small portions of my crockpot meals. I'm hoping that will be a useful addition!

That would keep it longer without freezer burn. I think that's an awesome idea. I might have to look into one too!

One of the things my nutritionist suggested was getting an ice tray. When you make a post of Soup freeze it in the ice tray. Pop out 1 or 2 for soup. each regular ice cube is approximately 1 ounce. Buy the covered ice trays if you are worried about freezer burn or put them in a ziplock freezer bag once they set.

I've tried a number of recipes from different bariatric sites. Then I cook separate meals for my family. I bought a bunch of little Pyrex dishes from Walmart and froze all the meals in one serving sizes. This has been great since i can just grab one, heat it up, and not get bored with yogurt and protein shakes.

Wow, what great ideas! Now I'm armed with a list of ways to not waste food AND not be bored with the same meal over and over until it's gone.

Yay!

If anyone is interested, I'll share my experience with sous vide cooking when the ANOVA arrives. (They said 2-3 weeks.) I make a mean bowl of Cereal, and I can usually get pancakes cooked all the way through, so taking on something complex like meat is a little daunting. The biggest appeal is that once I master how to do it, I can buy a fish or a steak, cut it into portions, and freeze it. Then I can grab a bag, drop in some marinade or spices, put it in a pot, and have a delicious dinner with no waste. It sounds like cheating.

For me, I found I liked leftovers. It didn't matter any more, as long as I ate.

I am single, too, and hate to cook. More often than not I pick up stuff at the local deli. But the best thing I ever did was buy a food saver vacuum sealer. That way I can buy a whole rack of ribs, or pack of brats or pork roast or whatever fish or seafood is on sale. Then I just cut them into my tiny little individual portions, vacuum seal and freeze. I've actually started to cook a little more too, knowing that it won't all go to waste. I can make regular size recipes, divide into individual portions, seal and freeze. One of my favorites is frozen homemade protein pancakes. I make a whole batch, cook em then freeze.....then whenever I want one I just pop them into the microwave and wala! 30 second pancakes.

Edited January 15, 201511 yr by Kindle

Pinterest is the bees knees when it comes to recipes

Another thing...if you have small children and have a baby bullet, that's great for pureed foods. And it cones with a tray if tiny containers with tops that you can freeze. I have one and I was just about to give it to my sister in law. She can have it when I'm done lol

I used to hate to cook too, but Pinterest.com changed that ! Even though you're cooking for one, and Im cooking for 2 ( hubby) the concept is the same. We all want healthy , quick, no brainer meals without a ton of leftovers. I love to cook now because Pinterest shows the cooking step by step with lots of pictures. Im very much a visual learner and need simple but detailed cooking instructions. We lean towards diabetic meals but they're great for WLS people too, healthy, quick and very tasty ! Give Pinterest a try !

Bariatric Foodie is another great website for recipes, even if they're not tailored to singles.

I never ate leftovers before surgery, and I eat them all the time now. I'm not sure why I changed my view on them, but I definitely have. Whatever was for dinner the night before is almost always lunch the next day. And if it's anything like chili, Soups, etc, I save individual portions in the freezer to just take out whenever I'm rushed for a meal.

So many great suggestions! Way to go people.

Ill say i happened to mention one day to a local place where they have people who actually butcher meat. About my sleeve and now if i ask they will cut up anything for me and package it in small portions. My favorite since i have a decent time digesting chicken ( which is weird for some i know) but they cut it up in small stir fry size pieces and i make packages of 3 ounces worth and freeze most put one or two in the fridge. then i can just pop em in a pan with a small bit of veg(soon) and maybe a touch of spice or herbs and bingo instant hot meal in like 4 minutes, no waste.

also i bought one of those real small nonstick frying pans, its cooks for me wonderfully and i don't have to worry about portion sizes because it won't even fit in the pan lol.

I love to cook, but my life is so hectic that sometimes, I just don't have time to prep. If you live near a Whole Foods Market, on Mondays, many of WF's have meatless monday, all you can eat for $8.99 from their salad bar. I would go and fill the tray up with fruits, veggies and other that I would eat throughout the week. This lasts me through to Monday depending on the perishability of the items. The nice part is a large portion of their food is healthy, and also I don't have to prep veggies or fruit.

I just had surgery a little of a week ago, and I'm pretty sure I will continue doing this, just loading up more on tofu and veggies than their prepared foods.