Dinners for One? Any Ideas?

[littlefranciscan]

I live alone..and have two cats..

I am looking for dinner ideas for one person...

I do not have children..and my cats..are pretty much trained to eat catfood

[Mama Mangia]

I know what it is like! I used to get the dirtiest looks at the meat counter when I would ask for ONE porkchop, ONE chicken breast, ONE small steak - it was like it was beneath the butcher to wrap one of anything for me! Sometimes I would cook for 2, 3 or 4 and make my own TV dinners so that I could just pop them in the oven. As far as diesserts - well I found that I could bake cakes and pies and muffins and I could portion them, wrap and freeze. Before I went to work in the monring I would take one out of the freezer to thaw for dinner time. Just because it is just you - you deserve to enjoy any meals you want! You just need smaller portions or you need to freeze some for the next time. I would get a nice big roasting chicken and pop it in the oven - make a nice big pan of gravy, mashed potatoes and a veggie (frozen veggies are nice - easy to portion) and I would enjoy a nice meal. Then I would turn around and freeze portions of chicken and gravy for an open faced sandwich at a later date; make TV dinners for a later date and toss the carcass and skin in a large pot and boil it with onions, carrots and celery and chicken bouillon; strain and freeze some for making soup later and keep some out and add veggies, noodles, barley, couscous or rice and make myself some soup. I even cooked myself a 22 lb. turkey and had a ball making meals out of that - as well as soup stock for the freezer and soup for the next day or two. Many people feel that since a person is alone they don't have to worry about things - people who live alone can do anything they want - cook as much as they want and no one complains about the cooking!!!

[Mama Mangia]

Make a huge lasagna and enjoy all you want - then portion the rest and freeze. Ditto with ravioli, manicotti, baked ziti - you name it!

[sarahlorrain]

You can make hamburger patties/salibury steaks, freeze them individually and then you can thaw them and prepare with different sides. A baked potato is a great side for just one person; you can make just one. They also carry the small cans of veggies at the store; they are great for just one person.

[pinklife]

I do not eat a lot when I'm alone but when I'm on the mood, I cook my own version of porkchop, pork in vinegar and salt coated with egg alone, along with fried rice topped with boiled egg and tomatoes. Give it a try.

[medako]

cooking a turkey is a great idea. I have one in the freezer and I've been tossing around the idea of cooking it up. Although there's not just one of me in the house, there would still be plenty of leftovers and I'm getting some great ideas of what to make with them.


I used to HATE cooking for just myself. It almost seemed like a waste of my time and energy, so I ate a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches, salads, and instant foods. When hubby came around it was great because I finally got to actually cook again. I don't know why I was so stubborn and wouldn't just fix myself a nice meal once in a while.