Poll of the Day > I think one of the hardest things about living by yourself is cooking.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Everything either comes in big portions or recipes yield 8 or so portions.

And things like Salad is completely out of the question since I think those bagged salads are gross and making my own will have me eating salad for the next 6 meals.

Things like Chicken? most of of the time my store I go to the smallest package is like 8 thighs and left over chicken isn't the best IMO.

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Thighs freeze extremely well

Buy mixed greens and use them on sandwiches for lunch and salad for dinner, you'll go through it fast. You can change the salad to be entirely different every day with varied dressing or add-ins

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prepare what you need, properly store the chicken, then freeze the rest
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Forgot to mention, I hate almost anything thats been frozen. I know I am a pain in the ass.

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... The knowledge of it having once been frozen ruins it for you, even if it has no noticeable impact on the taste or texture?

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If your grocery store has a meat counter, you can usually ask for specific quantities of the meat you want. If all the packaged stuff is too big, ask for a smaller package.

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find things that taste even better after frozen... like tomato icecream

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Clench281 posted...

... The knowledge of it having once been frozen ruins it for you, even if it has no noticeable impact on the taste or texture?

Freeze a steak and don't freeze another. mix them up, cook them at the same time and you will see a difference. Same thing with pork chicken and lots of other things. Since almost all shrimp thats sold is frozen unless you live on the coast, go to a coast and buy fresh shrimp, it will blow you away.
adjl posted...

If your grocery store has a meat counter, you can usually ask for specific quantities of the meat you want. If all the packaged stuff is too big, ask for a smaller package.

Can do that with steaks and some pork items, all others are whats out there is what you get.

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You can try this recipe... I use green onion tho

https://www.cuisineathome.com/recipes/side-dishes/smashed-potato-cakes/

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hypnox posted...

Everything either comes in big portions or recipes yield 8 or so portions.

And things like Salad is completely out of the question since I think those bagged salads are gross and making my own will have me eating salad for the next 6 meals.

Things like Chicken? most of of the time my store I go to the smallest package is like 8 thighs and left over chicken isn't the best IMO.

The only real problem is the ingredients, as many recipes can be changed based on the amount to feed. But some stores will seek smaller amount of certain things. Just gotta find those stores
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Cooking can be very simple and very gratifying

Its one of the joys in life for those that are willing to learn

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Make something, store left overs in fridge.
Make something else, store left overs in fridge.
Alternate between left overs each night until they're gone.
Repeat.

when i dont have anyone to share food with i just try to accept that im not gonna eat everything i cook. like i make an effort to reduce waste but its never perfect

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Become a fatty so you can eat it all at once.

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First off, for salad, get live lettuce, it's a bit more 2.99 for safeway brand 3.99 for named brand. Put a bit of water in the roots and it'll last for weeks. It's still alive and you can just tear off as many leaves as you want (very yummy as well). I generally make 2 salads over a few days with it. I add olives and some sliced cheese into my salad as well to mix it up.

For main meals it helps alot to have a bbq grill (Gas) and a insta-pot (an Air fryer is nice as well).

I have a charcole grill if i'm motivated, but a gas grill (propane!!) lets you quickly cook a steak/chicken, even hot dogs, with minimal effort and clean up.

The insta pot has tons of uses but it's amazing at making a really good soup fast. I just made a beef barely soup in about 20 minutes. Just added some oil, chopped onions (you can buy them already chopped), half a green bell pepper (Easy to remove later that way), about 1/2 a pound of T-bone steak, some mushrooms (chopped) and a head of brocolli along with pearl barely + spices + 1/2 a can of prego sauce + beef broth. It's delicious and made enough for 2 meals (gonna put the other half in the bowl and cover it and put it in the fridge.

The air fryer lets you fry things healthily, makes great fries, fried chicken (I don't make that anymore though) and tons of other stuff. With that and an insta pot there is almost nothing you can't make.

Also while you hate frozen stuff, consider doing mongolian bbq. Basically very thinlly slice your meats and freeze them, but it doesn't have the problems larger steaks etc have when frozen. Mongolian BBQ can be made in minutes and is delicious. Longest part of it is the noodles (if you make them from spagetti etc), but you can find good asian mongolian noodles at most asian markets which skips that step.

Without needing to make the noodles, if you have diced onions/bell peppers, just cut up some mushrooms if you like them, put some oil in a pan (canola at least for high burn temp) toss in onions/bell peppers for a few minutes, then toss in your frozen thinly sliced meets, spices, sauces, then the noodles and BAM your done...super fast and easy and the frozen meats can last for months without freezer burn.

Tons of other things to make as well, I live along and don't have the motivation to cook big meals anymore, but there are still many yummy things you can make in less then 30 minutes.

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Thanks @wolfy42 . Problem is I live in an apartment complex that has a strict no grills or bbqs with 10 feet of a building and I live in an apartment that would make it only possible to do it in the middle of the parking lot :(

I do cook a lot of Asian dishes, Korean style beef ribs since those come in packages of 4 which is enough for me with some rice(have one of those fancy rice cookers) and I make a lot of stir fries.

I used to eat a lot of salmon too since those almost always come portioned for one person but since covid I been getting my groceries from Amazon and whole foods and I don't trust other people picking my seafood.

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it sounds like you just keep looking at bulk packages


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helIy posted...

it sounds like you just keep looking at bulk packages

some people spend all day staring at bulk packages

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hypnox posted...

Forgot to mention, I hate almost anything thats been frozen. I know I am a pain in the ass.

You sure are

freezing things is about the only thing that makes sense. But I get the annoyance with freezing tbh

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helIy posted...

it sounds like you just keep looking at bulk packages

Nope, my grocery stores in my area mostly do family packages of everything but steaks, fish, and beef ribs. Never understood the beef ribs part.

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hypnox posted...

Nope, my grocery stores in my area mostly do family packages of everything but steaks, fish, and beef ribs. Never understood the beef ribs part.

tell the people working you want to buy less than that, theyll pack it up at most grocery stores that have a deli service counter for you, its no biggie

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Mead posted...

tell the people working you want to buy less than that, theyll pack it up at most grocery stores that have a deli service counter for you, its no biggie

They will only do that with pork and steak. Apparently they package chicken in the mornings and only ground meat in the morning and then clean the grinder for the rest of the day.

Thats why most of the protein I eat is beef ribs, steak, or pork chops.

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hypnox posted...

Problem is I live in an apartment complex that has a strict no grills or bbqs with 10 feet of a building and I live in an apartment that would make it only possible to do it in the middle of the parking lot :(

I'm also in an apartment w/o a "real" grill.
I have a George Foreman (clamshell) grill.

It works just fine. I've cooked burgers, chicken breast, skewers, steak, etc... on it.
Had it for like 15 years, too.

Can't do everything you could on a grill, and generally have to be mindful to try to keep everything close or similar in height/thickness so it cooks evenly... But it's not that bad.

hypnox posted...

Nope, my grocery stores in my area mostly do family packages of everything but steaks, fish, and beef ribs. Never understood the beef ribs part.

Well, for chicken family packs, I wrap (cling wrap, then foil) the extra and put it in the freezer for later....

LOL

How you gonna live life and not buy meats and not freeze some of it to use later

You gonna go to the damn grocery store every day?

ReggieTheReckless posted...

LOL

How you gonna live life and not buy meats and not freeze some of it to use later

You gonna go to the damn grocery store every day?

Yes, that's pretty common.

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ReggieTheReckless posted...

You gonna go to the damn grocery store every day?

Actually, some people do. But it really depends on where you live, and what youre day is filled with
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If you're really bent on not freezing ingredients or having leftovers, your best bet would probably be to try to stop cooking for one. Find some single friends that also don't like cooking for one and start sharing meals with them. If four of you each cook for four on different nights, you can all avoid the inconvenience of cooking for one and also just spend less time cooking overall.. Even better if 8 of you cook for 8.

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