Food

[wallwalker]

I don't like convenience foods. I don't want to eat them anymore. But every time I try to cook from scratch - or from "scratch," even, using a few shortcuts - we end up with more than we can eat. Every recipe I've tried to make ahead has resulted in more waste than I'm comfortable with, because we just can't eat it in time. That's why my attempt at make-ahead slow-cooked food hasn't lasted. Every dish I've made I had to either throw away or give part of it away! (The pot roast was quite a hit.)

How do you cook for two using fresh ingredients, not spend a ton more money than necessary on small amounts of produce and whatnot (so that they don't go bad,) and not have leftovers to the point that everyone gets sick of them? I seriously do not know.

Comments

[lassarina]

I'll second all of this about freezing and also there are some really great cookbooks for two (and also an entire magazine from Taste of Home publishers called Cooking for Two that is in fact precisely what it says on the tin.)

That being said, what I'll generally do is find multiple meals that use a similar theme - several things with carrots in one week, or whatever. A lot of fresh produce either is sold in large packages but keeps well (carrots, celery if you chop it up and store it in water) or can be bought in smaller amounts (one sweet potato at a time, etc.) and I plan out my meals based on that. Husband and I will usually make one Big Meal that has leftovers for carrying (a chicken pot pie casserole that has 6-7 servings, stew which serves 5-6, chili which serves 7-8) and then Small Meals the rest of the week - salmon fillets with rice and a frozen veggie, pasta with sauteed veggies, sautéed shrimp with pasta - the kind of stuff that can be easily portioned up and prepared in small amounts.