Dining solo? If you are, it is often hard to feel motivated to cook a full meal so maybe you end up snacking or hitting the drive-thru which isn’t great nutritionally and can be hard on the wallet.
If you do cook, it is also easy to make too much food as most recipes are developed for at least 4 to 6 servings. Then you are faced with the leftovers for days and the potential of wasting food.
Preparing recipes meant for two rather than 6 solves this issue. So, if you hate leftovers and the idea of wasting food, check out our Cooking for One or Two Recipe Collection below.
Tips for preparing smaller meals:
- Select smaller-sized items when choosing produce like onions and potatoes
- Buy smaller cuts or portions of meat.
- Unless you use them frequently, don’t be tempted to buy in bulk or the mega size for pantry staples like canola oil, sauces, frozen foods and canned goods. Even though they might last a long time, if things sit endlessly on your shelf, you’re more likely to throw it out later.
- Cook a half or a quarter version of your favourite recipes.
- Enjoy breakfast for dinner once in a while. You can also buy smaller packages of eggs or eggs in a carton rather than buying a full dozen.
- Freeze leftovers in portion size meals so they are ready to go for another meal. Freeze leftover sauces, fresh herbs in canola oil, stock, smoothie ingredients, milk, wine, egg whites, in ice cube trays to prevent waste and for when you need just a little of that ingredient.
- Try to choose recipes that use one pan for minimum clean up.
- Use the Half Your Plate rule to make sure you are getting well rounded meals. Fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables, a quarter with protein-rich foods and a quarter with whole grains or carbohydrates. Other handy visual cues include:
- Vegetable servings — the size of a baseball
- Fruit servings — the size of a tennis ball
- Carbohydrates or grain servings — the size of a hockey puck
- Protein or meat servings — the size of a deck of cards
- Fat servings — the size of one or two dice
DYK Food waste is a huge problem in Canada. According to National Zero Waste Council more than a third of food produced and distributed in Canada never gets eaten and further those consumers are responsible for up to 47 percent of the waste.
To get you started, check out our Cooking for One or Two recipe collection:
Blackened Canadian White Fish with Ratatouille