It's been a slow start in this new adventure. I think the hardest part (more than the actual process of making the food) is the fact that I'm cooking and shopping for one person. It's hard to have the motivation to cook. Its also hard to have enough variety without things spoiling. And its hard to know how to shop and plan ahead.
Needless to say, it has been slow start. Lots of peanut butter sandwiches. I did have a few successes though: I made a lovely batch of chili. With the after math I learned a very important lesson of adulthood: I need to perfect the art of freezing left overs. Most sites I've read on cooking for one person agree that this is the way to go while cooking for one.
I had the erroneous thought that I would *totally* be able to eat all those left overs before they went bad.
This resulted in two things:
1. By the end of the week I got a little sick at the thought of eating another bowl of chili.
2. I may have actually gotten sick if I tried to eat the chili because it was a little past its prime
It was a good lesson to learn though. A very adult-ish lesson to learn if I don't say so myself. Mr. Freezer, get ready to meet my leftovers.
I also had my first opportunity to invite folks over to my house and exercise the old hospitality muscles. It was a beautiful time, and a sort of camp reunion for all of us Cherith folk who live in Rochester. Gotta love good food and good friends- especially when one brings a grill so you can eat grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.
I smiled inside and felt like a grown up every time I answered the doorbell and welcomed people inside.
Which gives me a little more food for thought: another solution to my cooking for one problem would be to invite more people over and plan more with my good old roomies... so much to ponder.
Needless to say, it has been slow start. Lots of peanut butter sandwiches. I did have a few successes though: I made a lovely batch of chili. With the after math I learned a very important lesson of adulthood: I need to perfect the art of freezing left overs. Most sites I've read on cooking for one person agree that this is the way to go while cooking for one.
I had the erroneous thought that I would *totally* be able to eat all those left overs before they went bad.
This resulted in two things:
1. By the end of the week I got a little sick at the thought of eating another bowl of chili.
2. I may have actually gotten sick if I tried to eat the chili because it was a little past its prime
It was a good lesson to learn though. A very adult-ish lesson to learn if I don't say so myself. Mr. Freezer, get ready to meet my leftovers.
I also had my first opportunity to invite folks over to my house and exercise the old hospitality muscles. It was a beautiful time, and a sort of camp reunion for all of us Cherith folk who live in Rochester. Gotta love good food and good friends- especially when one brings a grill so you can eat grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.
I smiled inside and felt like a grown up every time I answered the doorbell and welcomed people inside.
Which gives me a little more food for thought: another solution to my cooking for one problem would be to invite more people over and plan more with my good old roomies... so much to ponder.
Love it! If you make enough freezable stuff then you'll be able to have a rotation of food so you get variety... soups, stews, chili, pasta, even saute up a bunch of chicken with veggies and rice and portion it out in your containers. You should look into glass freezer options (think pyrex) because then you can pop them right from the freezer into the microwave if you forget to thaw it. You're such a cool adult hosting people ;o) I can't wait till you're answering the door for me!
ReplyDeleteJess brings up a good point about freezing enough stuff for a rotation . . .
ReplyDeleteHere's another idea: get together with your room mates and each of you choose a day (each week or in a 2-week time frame?) that you'll cook . . . this general concept could work even if you aren't all home at the same time on any given day, just put a suitable-sized helping in the fridge for the person who is working through dinner time - they can eat when they get home! If all of you 'buy in' to this idea, you get to have a decent variety and one of you isn't just sharing a meal, everyone gets to cook (experiment!) making bigger meals!
And don't worry - all of us go through a time of experimentation! Even now, meals for Dad and I are sometimes too big or sometimes too small b/c now I'm getting used to just cooking for the 2 of us!