Going from a unit of two to being alone takes getting used to. You're kinda "hanging out" in life. No goals, because.... what's the use, nothing to look forward to, because everything you had planned went to shit in a heartbeat (or the loss of one) no schedule, because there's only you to make decisions for, and that seems a concept you don't seem to be able to get your head around.... but life keeps knocking on a door you want to nail shut, it keeps intruding into your pain, your memories, your thoughts and utter hopelessness. It keeps knocking in the form of people lovingly checking on you (YES they Are appreciated!!), bills that need taken care of, things that need figured out but you don't comprehend what needs done, a house that is filling up with dustbunnies, and your body telling you to keep it going, while all you want to do, is hold your heart just one more time, see that dimple when he's teasing you, feel his arms around you when you're having a touch time, which, is all the time at this point.
So, the first couple of days, you give in, and eat what's in the house.... when the fridge is empty, you "upgrade" to the freezer mixed with what's in the pantry and when the freezer only has icecubes and coolpacks, kept company by some mystery meals, you really don't want to get acquainted with, you go to the store, and buy for 2. During the week that follows, you throw part of it away, because it went bad, since you didn't feel like eating. You realise your freezer is still empty, so you freeze the rest and you try to figure out what to do for food, go to the store and do it all over again, only this time, you remember to freeze at least some of the stuff in smaller portions and before it goes bad... The cracker isle becomes your "go to" followed by the meat and cheeses, yoghurt and packaged soup, so things don't go bad if you don't want to eat for a day or two...... Yep, it's a thing. You're not starving yourself on purpose, eating is just not a big thing in your life. You have more time than you know what to do with, because the caring for your loved one is not necessary anymore, the hobbies you used to enjoy together, don't have ANY appeal, and none are feeling the same as when they were shared. Your voice becomes rusty, because there's no one to talk to in the house and sometimes you go days without speaking, you're not letting anybody into the house anyway, if anybody shows up at all, because their life goes on after the initial mourning and they get busy. Going out is too much of a chore, even though you have nothing to do and are just floating around alone in a space meant for two wondering if this way of living, is actually living or just waiting to be reunited with the other half of your soul...
And than after a while, survival instinct kicks in.... the house is still too quiet, it's still a mess, you still don't feel like "peopling" but you finally figure out, that you're going to have to eat, if you want to keep "being here", however miserable your existence is, you're gut tells you to "move it" so you pull some of the stuff from the fridge, throw it together in a pan, and eat.... you do this for a while before you realise that trying to figure out something to eat, takes a little bit of the time you're dreading, and your shopping lists become more structured. I still buy for 2, because that's what I've done for the last 40 years and my head's not really in the game or even functioning, but I started making smaller meals and freeze half of it for a day when I don't want to think and just feed my body. Quick warm up and be done. And as for an eating schedule? Forget it! I've been cooking "dinner" anytime between 2 o'clock in the afternoon till 4,30 in the morning. I eat when I'm hungry, sometimes once a day, sometimes 4 times.... but I'm eating and cooking most days.
One tip I can give you... Find smaller pans for daily use. It's very easy to cook for 2 if one portion doesn't cover the bottom of the pan, and you're ending up eating the same meal for the next 3 days, again....
I'm going to try and write the recipe's down, because talking to friends that are also cooking for one, it turns out that a lot of them don't, because it's more work to fix than to stuff it down and get on with the day, so they do take-out, or don't eat at all, unless they have company..... If you enjoy cooking, keep doing it. If you don't maybe having a couple of recipes with "regular" ingredients and not a whole lot of cooking or prep time may just be the little kick in the butt to start cooking your meals instead of literally, phoning it in....
It's usually a pretty simple tactic....
- - look at what's in the fridge
- - decide if I want to do an oven meal, or stovetop,
- - Do Iwant rice, pasta or potatoes
- - what kind of meat do I have that sounds good
- - put on the counter what sounds good, cut up stuff, season to taste, engage preferred cooking method and I have a working plan. It doesn't take much, but that one decision, is still a decision made towards going forward.
The one thing I cannot get my head around, is freezing bread. I just cannot stomach the stuff that comes out, so, I either buy a small loaf and eat bread for 4 days straight until it's done, or I get bakable bread, you know, the stuff you finish off in the over for 20 minutes... It's great when I make soup for lunch or dinner. One corell cup (oven proof), 1 bag of soup, 1 small loaf of frenchbread, in the over for 20 minutes, or until the bread is brown, drag it to where you want to eat, and dig in... one meal, 1 dish. Perfect.
I'm telling you in advance, there's a lot of "repeat ingredients" because there's only so much energy to figure out new things, but that also means, that you can eat different meals with the same ingredients during the week and not waste food, and keeps you from cooking everything into one meal, and eating the same thing for 4 days straight..... That's no way to treat good ingredients and keeps you from getting bored and phoning it in again...
In this way of cooking, I get about 3 meals out of a zucchinni, eggplant or bellpepper, about 6 meals out of a basket of mushrooms, 1 meal out of one belgian endive, 5 meals out of a head of broccolli (or a beg of florets) 3 meals out of medium leak, I use about half a cup of uncooked rice or pasta per meal, and I generally look for the smaller onions, because they don't keep once cut.
A friend of mine throws all the "left over" fresh vegetables Including the washed and cleaned off stalks from the broccolli) in a big freezer bag, adding to it as time passes and when the bag is full, he makes a vegetable soup with it, adding meatballs and thin pasta or noodles. No waste, and it doesn't take long to upend the bag in a pan of water, add the meatballs and pasta, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for an hour or so
I am NOT going to put pictures with the recipes for the simple reason that what I envision it to look like, rarely pans out, even though a lot of the times, the taste is perfect, so..... if you expect apetizing professionally looking pictures of great dishes and intricate recipes.... you're on the wrong blog page. If you just want to look at food-for-one a little different.... come on in! And the good thing? It's easy to scale up for when you have company, or want to freeze a couple of servings for those days you really don't want to do anything but turn a knob, get comfy and sit down to eat.
I will list "approximatee) measurements, because, what fills me up, may just be a tease for someone else, so, as you know how big of a portion you may want to make, adjust the measurements. Usually, my measurements for dinners will provide me with about 3 cups of food. I have to tell you though. Most of the time I big time wing it in the measurement department. I look what I've got, start putting stuff on the counter, and cut up what I think I would be able to eat. Sometimes I misjudge one way or the other, and I either snack the night away, or I have just enough left for lunch the next day, leaving the evening meal that day to a sandwich and a bowl of yoghurt.
Steak, vegetables and rice/noodles
ricebowl with apple vinegraitte
Originally published August 27, 2025 but publishing date updates with every recipe addition
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