Do you have any smaller pans? How big an appetite do you have? Based on the frittata, I will stat that you can make a two egg frittata if you have the right sized pan.

I'm used to cooking large, so I get where you're coming from. Over the Summer I was making treats for a relative who had a broken leg and learning the pleasures of making bijoux meals. I have a bunch of large ramekins (hold 1 cup of water to the inner edge), which turn out to be perfect for a single portion. Little bits and pieces could become a quiche, a casserole, a "stew", or any other kind of tempting thing. You need some vegetables that you don't mind seeing in different dishes day after day. I used onions or scallions, multi colored bell peppers, tomatoes, and carrots for the basics, and only cut up the section for that day (that is, put an entire 3/4 pepper in a plastic bag in the fridge, and used one quarter, rather than chopping the whole thing up at once, and storing the bits). I also would poach a single piece of chicken, which might go into two or more dishes if it were large. It's possible to buy very small portions of ground meat. Generally, making a single portion is difficult, but I really enjoyed making the bijoux.

Another strategy is to use a freezer. Make a normal pot of soup/chili/beans/spaghetti sauce, one that might take two weeks to eat all by yourself, and free in single or double portions. If you use a vacuum sealer and lay them flat to freeze, you can make a very efficient use of freezer space. The same holds with proteins. Make a pot roast, with enough vegetables for one or two portions, slice and freeze the meat and liquid, then add fresh veg when you heat it up. Things that always seem to start large and get larger, like lasagna, actually freeze quite well. I usually have enough left to freeze some. The three cup freezer containers, which hold two large servings of lasagna, work really well for that.

You can buy half sized loaves of bread, or make your own, or buy a full size and freeze half as you're putting it away. A lot of commercial breads are shipped frozen nowadays, however, so they don't have to have preservatives, and refreezing them can have a serious effect on texture, so be careful there.

With pasta, if you don't want to see more than one meal out of it, measure out a single portion of the pasta. It's not like making pasta is a lot of work which needs to be conserved. :) With a little experience, you'll learn how much veg and sauce you need for one meal.

The hardest part, I'd think, would be trying new recipes. If you don't know the recipe it's hard to cut it down. That might be a good opportunity to invite some people over as "testers". That said, many recipes for a meat with a sauce and the like also freeze really well, so you can make more than your one or two portions, and not have to see the rest until you're ready.

I have a well-stocked kitchen in terms of pots, pans, baking dishes, ramekins, and such.

Right now, I have fennel, brussels sprouts, haricot verts, red peppers to roast, sweet potatoes, avocados, yellow onions (to caramelize), shallots, garlic. I went wild at the grocery, buying my favorites and now I'm staring at them and thinking...I shouldn't have bought so many at once!

I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat far more veggie meals than meat.

I asked my son if I could cook dinner for them to take over on Friday. It's difficult for them to come here because they have a 2 year-old and his wife is a doctor at a major hospital, so her schedule fluctuates. That may turn into a weekly thing, but carrying food away limits what I can do for them.

Since I moved 45 minutes away from my old neighborhood, I've not yet made friends here. With the house under renovation, it's been isolating to not be able to entertain. That will gradually change as I get outside in the spring and meet the neighbors.

I work (as a freelance writer) from home, so I don't have co-workers to try my test recipes!

I'll need to look into a food sealer. I've not been into freezing food in the past as it was always consumed fresh. Good idea.

I'd also like to bake more bread and I could give that away to my son. I'm known for my biscotti that I give away, so I'll get back into baking soon. There's still a week of work left before the workmen aren't here during the day.

Thanks!

I also live alone.....and find that even with a delicious sooup or stew...I can't do more than 3 meals. I give a lot of meals away and freeze a lot of single portions.
A steak, baked potato and salad leaves no leftovers if you choose your steak size wisely...chicken breast on the grill, in the oven, or split and sauteed picatta style or marsala mode...rice and a salad and vegetable works.
I make a small pan of lasagna and freeeze in single serving sizes....a side of salmon cut and frozen in single servings.
A good way to make friends is to deliver a loaf of bread or a plate of cookies....or a container of soup or stew.
And....there are other single women out there who also enjoy a good meal, and may recriprocate with an offer...

Just because there are more servings in a recipe than what you need for one, doesn't mean you have to eat it for consecutive meals until it's done. Let your freezer be your "best" friend and freeze those meals (or components of those meals) in portions and use at another time.

I cook for two, but I always cook ahead and freeze food in user-friendly size containers, and that includes baked goods and dessert items. I make mashed potatoes no more than a few times a year and freeze them. Baked beans freeze well, so make plenty. Try cooking "Country Ribs" (boneless beef ribs) instead of buying a large roast - that package of 4-5 ribs makes ever so many meals - including Mexican entrees when seasoned with taco spices, and I usually get a pot of soup out of the drippings when I cook them in the slow-cooker. I fill snack-size storage bags with enough meat for one or two, then put the bags in a plastic container so I can easily find them in the freezer.

-allrecipes - cooking for one: http://allrecipes.com/recipes/15050/everyday-cooking/cooking-for-one/

-about.com - Cooking For One or Two Recipes: http://homecooking.about.com/od/cookingforone1/

Be sure to check your local library for cookbooks specific to cooking for one or two, including recipes for using small slow-cookers, Entrees Made in a Muffin Tin, Toaster Oven Cookbooks, Meals In A Mug (these can be fun to make and here are 19 recipes to get you started - http://www.hellawella.com/19-yummy-meals-you-can-microwave-mug-minutes .....

Cooking For One: Tips, Recipes and Thoughts for the Solo Cook: http://www.thekitchn.com/cooking-for-one-the-kitchns-best-of-2012-182017

-Grainlady

I too live alone and in addition want to use mostly what is in my garden and what I can purchase locally raised. So, for example, once a year I buy pastured poultry from a local farmer. Six birds (and these are large birds-5-6 lbs) supply all I need, and I roast them whole. The first meal I eat the wings and perhaps a thigh. After that I strip the bird, saving out the legs and thigh for one more meal and perhaps a lunch, freezing the breasts separately for something down the line, and making stock of the carcass. I use the breasts for everything from chicken enchiladas to chicken salad to a variety of soups and casseroles calling for chicken. Many meals, spaced out, from one big bird.

If I make steak (again locally raised), it's usually a flank or strip steak, quite rare. I enjoy it for a couple of meals, then freeze the rest. Same with meatloaf.

Like others who posted, the freezer is my friend. I never, ever put myself through eating leftovers for days until I can't stand the stuff anymore. Once you get in the habit, it's really easy.

Two days ago I made squash soup, half of it went into the freezer. Yesterday, I made bean soup. Half of that will probably go into the freezer. For me, it's not that I can't eat the same meal over and over, it's that eating a well-rounded diet is important. Although I would like to, can't live on squash soup alone.

I've followed the Basic-4 eating plan since the 1970's. With it as my guide, and making sure I choose a wide variety of whole foods in our diet, that's how I assure myself I'm eating "well". The "Food Pyramid" and the new "My Plate" have too many carbs and total calories for our needs, but those are other choices you can use to make sure you get the number of servings from all the food groups you need.

Breads & Cereals - 4-servings (we use all whole grains)

Fruits & Vegetables - 4-servings (or more, and make sure you use a lot of colors)

Meat / Meat Alternatives - 2 servings

Dairy / Alternatives if dairy-free - 2 servings

We also have a serving of nuts each day.

I also have a theme for each day of the week so we don't get into a food "rut". I like this better than meal planning because I can skip a day, or switch days, and not screw the whole thing up. All the meat bases are cooked in bulk amounts and divided into user-friendly sizes in the freezer.

Monday - Big Meal

Includes a large cut of meat (whole chicken, beef or pork roast, meatloaf, etc.) and all the fixings that go with it. With one meal it will provide many ingredients for the rest of the week - leftovers for lunches, sandwiches, stir-fry, soup, and generally some for the freezer.... This meal can also be ready-to-heat from the freezer from a former "Big Meal".

Tuesday - Leftovers

May or may not take on a new look. It can also be leftovers from the freezer.

Wednesday - Stir-fry

Good way to clean out the vegetable drawer. I use fresh, frozen, and freeze-dried vegetables. Stir-fry can also be extrapolated to mean something that is stirred and/or fried, but it usually consists of small amounts of meat, large amounts of vegetables, and often includes beans and/or whole grains.

Thursday - International

This usually means something made with pasta or a tortilla, but any country will do - including the U.S. ;-)

Friday - Vegetarian

A good time to save money. If you don't normally have a big breakfast, now is a good time to get creative with pancakes/waffles and egg dishes.

Saturday - Soup and/or Sandwich

There is always soup in the freezer, we use chili (from the freezer) to top a baked potato or to make a Taco Salad (a la Wendy's). "Sandwich" also means lettuce wraps, tortilla wraps, sloppy joes, arepas, hot dogs, hamburgers, and even "ham buns" (dinner rolls sliced and filled with deli ham and reheated in foil in the toaster oven - before going gluten-free I always kept some in the freezer as "emergency" food).

Sunday - Homemade Pizza OR a Dinner Salad

Both of these can be great ways to clean out the small amounts of meat, vegetables, hard-cooked eggs, hanging out in the refrigerator/freezer. You can pick up small amounts of toppings at the grocery store salad bar so you don't have to have a pile of produce dying of loneliness in the refrigerator. We make "stacked pizzas" with corn (or flour) tortillas when it's too hot to bake a large pizza, and they can be made on the stove-top in a frying pan or griddle. English Muffin Pizzas are another fun way to make them.

Other options you might like: Casserole Day, Crock-Pot Day, Try a New Recipe Day, Frozen Dinner/Entree Day, Rotisserie Chicken from the Store Day, From the BBQ Grill Day....

-Grainlady

I also love using the freezer! With my kids in college, it's just my husband & myself most of the time, or just me when he travels. I like more things than he does, and having food in the freezer helps. For instance, I like lamb once a week, him not so much. I might by lamb chops & freeze them individually. I can broil myself one in the toaster oven, and if he doesn't want it there is always other cooked meat in the freezer - chicken, pulled pork, whatever. If I make a lamb roast, he might eat it with me the first time, then I'll freeze individual portions, and same thing as before - if he doesn't want it, he can eat something else. Same thing with fish - I like it more than he does - I buy things like individually shrink wrapped tuna steaks at Trader Joes', or Wild Mahi mahi from Costco packaged the same way. That way I can cook one or 2 portions depending on if he wants it or not. I also freeze a batch of meatballs on a cookie sheet so they stay separate when frozen. then put them in a ziplock freezer bag - can pull out 2, 4, whatever when I want them. Same thing with individual size meat loaves. You can also cook up a batch of your roasted veggies and freeze in individual portions - might not taste quite the same as the first time, but also depends on what you then do with them - like put them in soup, etc.- they would taste great. I also freeze individual servings of soup, homemade tomato sauce, etc. The freezer is wonderful - I always have meals ready for 1 person, 2, or all 4 when the kids come home!

The butchers in the groceries all know me: I'm the one asking for the smallest portion of any meat. One butcher at WF actually watches out for me when he has some smaller portions of meat. Over the last 4 years I've learned how much to cook for just one of me. And, like the others, I freeze leftovers in one-meal portions, and I've found a number of right-sized containers to do this.

I did get myself a medium sized Braville Toaster Oven, and several smaller baking and roasting pans to accommodate the smaller oven with the smaller portions. I found I just didn't want to heat up a big oven for my little portion, but now I bake and roast happily in the smaller oven.

I also buy the smallest size of condiments... and everything else.

I have a much smaller garden now, only one plant of everything... except beans and peas, of course.

It would be so much easier to cook if I were cooking for 2 or more people! When you are just one person, it's almost not even worth it. There should be some sort of way for 2 or 3 single neighbors to come together and cook for each other. There is something to be said for collective sharing of work. It's the economy of scale.

I'm making a double batch of Tuscan Beef Stew tonight. I'm taking most of it to my son's family tomorrow. This one freezes easily and with a minute in the food processor, it makes a good meat sauce or a topping for bruschetta.

When you mentioned biscotti - cookies freeze very well too - we always have frozen cookies in the freezer - my family even just eats them like that lots of times, and often says they just taste cold, not frozen!

One of the hard things is learning to shop for one. It's not just the small cut of meat. It's buying one carrot rather than a bunch, or a half pint of berries rather than a quart. It's buying a fancier small box of crackers for more money per cracker that you'll use up, than a normal sized box of every day crackers that will go soft and stale and require toasting or making into crumbs or throwing away. The fancier crackers turn out to be the better deal for the number of servings used in that case.

My corn tortilla experiment worked tonight. A week ago I softened several corn tortillas in hot coconut oil (because it's solid and wouldn't keep the tortillas oil-soaked). Cooled and stored in plastic bag in refrigerator.
Tonight used 2 for enchiladas. Quick to assemble and tasted great.
Shall soften the remaining tortillas and freeze. Probably need to soften them first in toaster oven or microwave before filling. Of course in the same dish as used for cooking.

Thank you, dyhgarden, for this post. My DH is dying and was just recently moved to a care center. During the last couple of weeks he hasn't eaten and the smell of food made him toss up so I've just grabbing little bits of healthy this and that. Now I know that I need to cook some healthy meals for me. I've been doing well at reducing recipes, but it will be nice to have some extra recipes and ideas.

Madonna

First of all, I think there needs to be something akin to "Meals on Wheels" for folks who are not homebound but are going through a rough patch and cooking and making food is difficult. I know all you balabustas out there (Yiddish for the person in charge, well actually master of the house or a good home maker) are always wanting to help others in times of need, there have been many threads about "what can I do, my friend is going through a rough time, etc." and believe me, at least for this household, FOOD is never a bad idea. Maybe just don't bring cookies to a diabetic or something like that, but lasagne . . . be still my heart.

Second, as folks have said, the freezer is your friend so I won't go into that any more.

Here's what I can add--some meals to make when you just don't feel like cooking or eating.

1. Boil up some hard boiled eggs and keep them on hand. Add them and those micro cans of tuna to some type of store bought salad in a bag. Can also add some garbanzo or other beans. Top with toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds.

2. Kedegree, which is curried rice, hard boiled eggs and smoked fish, can add peas and scallions or some other onion thing. Use instant rice.

3. A bagel or english muffin sandwich or melt. I'll make a bagel with neufchatel cheese and canned salmon (I can't eat lox) and pair it with some fake sausage, morningstar brand. Hummus spread is good too, and the classic egg-cheese-canadian bacon or ham combo is good too. Or a tuna melt. Pr pizza melt. Or any combo of the above. Can also use good artisan bread for these.

4. Eggs cooked in tomato sauce. Italian style, called uova al purgatorio, shakshouka in the middle east, huevos rancheros, etc. Serve with rice, bread or cornmeal mush or cornbread, or tortillas.

5. Nachos, and when the tortillas get old and stale or break up into small pieces, make migas.

6. Instant brown rice, some baked seasoned tofu which you can get at most urban higher end grocery stores, or just some type of protein, pulled pork, whatever floats your boat and the prepared foods aisle of the grocery, or shrimp, etc. Add a stir fried bag of frozen vegetables and some store bought high quality asian sauce. Voila, curry or chinese or thai or whatever.

7. Beans and greens. A can of seasoned (or not, season to taste) stewed tomatoes, broken up. A can of beans of your choice. Seasoning of your choice (see egg suggestions above for ethnic varieties). Frozen or steamed greens of your choice. Can add cream or neufchatel cheese for more pizzaz but higher calories. Serve topped with cheese of your choice, over polenta or rice or pasta.

8. Instant yummy soup. Add italian frozen vegetables to thinned marinara sauce (thin with broth) and some canned beans and pasta shape of choice. Instant minestrone. Instant chicken--Get some boneless chicken pieces, poach in hot water or broth, add bouillon if needed. Take out, shred, add some bagged frozen vegetables and egg noodles, your favorite size. Season to taste with dehydrated onions, marjoram, thyme, parsley, etc. There are other "instant homemade" versions, but these are to start, you'll come up with some.

9. Smorgasbord. Throw out a little bit of everything that is in the fridge. Cold cuts, cheese, pickles, smoked seafood, bread or crackers, open a jar of some type of spread, cut up veggies and dip, some deli salad, etc. and then have a nice glass of wine with the whole thing.

10. Who are we kidding, a grilled cheese sandwich on good bread with canned tomato soup. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a banana and some yogurt or cottage cheese. A bag of peanut m&m's. A pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream. You get to do this because you are single--yay!!

Oh, I forgot "hodge podge" or "hutspot" which is braised meat and veggies. We usually use cabbage, carrots, and potatoes for this, but you can use all kinds of things. Saute onion and veggies, add some broth and braise for about 20 min. Can add uncooked meat like chicken to this, but we usually serve it with kielbasa. I season with maybe dill and some caraway, or a little balsamic and some garlic. Can add a poached egg for a veggie version, and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream. A dash of tabasco too if you like and the sausage isn't spicy.

Madonna - I'm so sorry about your husband's declining health. The role of caregiver is difficult and then there's the grief that begins with the sad news of a terminal diagnosis. I know it's difficult to care for yourself, too. I know I didn't. Do the best you can and don't feel bad about what you can't do for him or for you.

Are there any farmers' markets or small ethnic stores in your area? I cook for two and often just for myself when my husband is traveling. I can buy one chicken breast or pork chop, 1/4 lb. of bacon, 1/2 lb. of ground beef, three cookies, or a 2" square of feta cheese at the ones within a short distance away from me.

I agree with what others have said that the freezer is your friend. When I make soup (which is often), I automatically freeze half of it for a month or two later. I always keep a few rolls of homemade slice and bake cookies in the freezer in a size that will make about six to eight cookies.

Sometimes, it's less expensive to get ingredients at a good grocery store salad bar than buying a whole container and having to figure out how to use them up. I often do that to add a bit of fresh spinach to a soup or a few sliced mushrooms or green peppers to a pasta dish.

Share baked goods. I made a coffee cake last week, kept a few pieces for us and wrapped the rest and dropped it off early the next morning at our tiny rural post office for the employees and it was much appreciated. I have also done the same with our local police department, library staff, etc.

If you're considering a vacuum sealer, may I suggest you look at the ones with the tube port that allows you to vacuum seal mason jars with a cap adapter. I use this method to prepare up to two weeks of salads at a time, and they do keep as beautifully as the you-tube videos show. That allows me to buy and use a much bigger variety of greens and salad veggies than I could otherwise eat before they spoiled, and to make a wider variety of salads at once. It really does help with appetite fatigue from eating too much of the same thing.

One other help for a single cook IMHO is the Vitamix that allows you to make single serve smoothies from your freezer, and single serve soups and sauces from whatever you have on hand.

One of the key things to remember is that you will only eat three meals a day (if that), so don't cook and freeze so much that your freezer is full of more meals than you'll ever eat! When the freezer is half full, try to eat at least half your meals from your stores while refreshing with new stuff.

dyhgarden and bcskye I am very sorry about your husbands, and I hope you have dear ones to comfort you as you face your new situations.

Go ahead and roast your red peppers! You can freeze peeled roasted peppers. Also go ahead and caramelize your onions. They, too, can be frozen.

Your sweet potatoes ought to keep for quite a while if you put them in a cool, dark place (but not the fridge) away from onions.

If you aren't up for eating all the Brussels sprouts and haricot verts you bought, blanch briefly, shock in ice water and freeze in single serving portions.

And take a walk around your neighborhood every day. You'll be surprised how many of your new neighbors you can meet that way.

It helps to keep mirepoix, stocks and stock makin's frozen so it's much easier to make your soups.

Most of my meals as a single person revolve around long storage vegetables and fruit, like apples, oranges, dried fruit, and jams and jellies, potatoes, onions, cruciferous vegetables and root vegetables. Canned corn and tomatoes, frozen corn, green beans and peas. Mostly cabbage, I eat a LOT of coleslaw variations. I buy the romaine lettuce hearts, they're more expensive but last longer and I don't eat greens up fast enough. I eat a lot of frozen greens and also prep some veggies ahead like caramelized onions, which I freeze in small containers. I freeze protein in small portions, and also do make ahead seasoned turkey burgers (you can do with beef too) and freeze in small serving sizes. One of my other dinners is a buger or sausage or hotdog on a bun, some baked beans or frozen sweet potato fries, and a deli salad or coleslaw. Can be fixed very quickly. I eat veggie burgers, so I just nuke those out of the freezer and toast the buns.

That is a lot of changes. Congrats on the new kitchen. That can often be stressful.

I still cook for an army even though it is just the two of us. But it is often planned since i have the 'while i'm at it' attitude. When making a lovely beef stew last weekend i made a veg stock at the same time on the back burner using the veg cuttings. I always make more of everything with plans for the freezer or for another dish later on.

I'm making a fish stew tonight and is not a big production as i have a pint of fish/shrimp stock frozen, smoked corn from summer harvest, salmon and scallops, wild caught. Cod we caught. Being Sunday i will start the miropoix from scratch with a nice fresh leek. A small packet of sliced tomatoes frozen from the garden.

Cherry tomatoes freeze well and stay loose in zip-locks so just a few can be taken out at a time. Nice for a fritatta.

I still often buy bulk veg for the lower pricing and usually have a plan. Like red peppers. I use fresh but will roast, then freeze in a flat-pack method so i can just take out a few slices and re-seal.

A whole avocado is too much for the two of us so i often also make a dressing with the other half but more than one purchased often gets over-ripe. They freeze ok if all the air is out of the zip-lock...i add lime juice. I do use the food-saver system for many garden produce. Air is the enemy in the freezer so it works great for that. I felt terribly/embarrassingly domestic when i bought it but does make a huge difference in the quality of frozen foods. No going back.

String beans i like fresh. Every harvest from my garden i try blanching and freezing but we never eat them. They go in the juicer or the blender throughout the winter.

As plllog mentioned, paying attention to quantity while shopping...so many things are by weight. DH does most of the shopping, (with my list). When i say 12 grapes i mean it, lol. I like the dark skinned really black big seedless. I use them for a few special salads. They freeze nice but i don't really need that big bag. He has learned to shop by weight.

We eat a ton of greens. Kale, collards, chard. After cooking...even while plating for our meal, i stuff the leftovers in waiting quarter pint containers. Top with a bit of water and into the freezer for later soups. I must have 20 1/4 pints of greens and beans in stock or water in the freezer that i can pick and choose for a very quick chowder or soup. I even put my chili in the 1/4 pints to make a richer tomato/veggie soup. (most in qrt containers for immediate heating after a 1/2 in the sink to thaw just enough to get into the pot).

Two appliances i appreciate for quick healthy eating is my juicer and my blender. The Blendtec blender and the Breville juicer. Clean easily and go in the dishwasher if i want a quick cleaning. Great for morning juices and blending soups. and so many other things....i juice my kale and collard stems with lemon and ginger, celery, carrots and beets...

Boy, am I happy that I came on this post. I have printed out a whole cookbook. I have hunted and hunted for something just like this . Someone who is in the same circumstances and understands--except I have lot of other health issues that will hamper this a little bit for me. And to think I paid out quite a bit of money for a cookbook that is "cooking for one" and it is not nearly as informative as this.

I was just going to post one when I started to read this. When we had a roast on Sunday, my Mother always had what she called "hash" the next day. Did any of you experience this? I think she cut up the remaining roast then added chopped onions, broth and whatever other veggies she had. We used to eat it on buttered bread with the broth acting as a "liquifier". Thanks all for the wonderful imput. Just made my day. Barb

ONe

Has anyone mentioned shrimp? A one lb package of frozen shrimp will provide you 2 or 3 meals. Just thaw the portion you need. I just read a recipe on Simply Recipes forShrimp with pasta, spinach, and lemons. It sounded delish and easily scalable to a single serving.

During the selling of my house last May, I didn't want to cook and smell up the house, so I ate a lot of the healthier frozen food options from the grocer. The house sold quickly.

Then, I housesat at a friend's home as the original part of the home I bought was undergoing renovations. Again, I ate a lot of frozen foods as I wanted to "live lightly" in her home and not use her appliances so much. And, because she hadn't cleared out her cupboards for me, I had to store my food in baskets on the counter.

At the first of October, I moved into my 1939 house without a kitchen, So, I ate frozen foods and canned soup (microwave and mini-fridge) or dined out until two weeks ago when my kitchen addition was finished.

In other words, I've been eating frozen entrees since May 2015! That's why frozen food, even if homemade, isn't that appealing right now. I'm sure my attitude will adjust once I've been able to cook for a few months! :-)

I do appreciate all the responses and it seems there are many others have the same issue.

Yes, but there's a world of difference between something you cooked and froze a week or two ago and even the best commercially created frozen meals.