Solo Dinners
 

So I am single, and I am looking for some good ideas for quick, easy dinners to make when I am on the run. What kinds of things do you like to make for yourself?

You're in New England so probably not any Trader Joe's in your area but that is where I get my food. Great tasting food and pretty healthy too. Pre-marinated salmon steaks, microwavable frozen foods, etc.

If you are really in a hurry, you can go to your local Whole Foods or Mollie Stones and buy the "preassembled" stuff like lasagna, pastas, marinated meats, etc... which only require popping into the oven or on heating on the stove.

I live in New England and there are five (yes five) trader joes within fifteen or 20 minutes drive of my living room.

If you like shrimp, there is nothing easier. If you have freezer space, cook up something on the weekends and freeze it, five minutes in the microwave and you have a meal that took hours to make but ready in no time at all.

Lots of frozen things (thinner steaks, pork, boneless chicken thighs, and many seafoods) can go directly from freezer to grill and be ready in ten or fifteen minutes.

When time allows - I try to plan getting three individual meals out of a single cooked meal. For example, when grilling a steak, I do enough for a second re-heated meal and a thrid meal of cold marinated steak slices over a salad. For a roasted chicken, a second re-heated meal and then a simple chicken salad for sandwiches.

As mentioned, use your grocery store's prepared foods. I like to supplement with fresh fruits & vegetables. Cut stuff up and put them in portion containers when you buy them, so you can just grab and go as necessary. Pick up a rotisserie chicken every couple of weeks - that thing is good for many a meal and is so easy to just slice up or use with other ingredients. Inexpensive too!

If you're into healthy, pick up some kashi bars or similar (watch the carbs and calories on the energy bars, many of them are not particularly healthy as just a snack) to have on hand with other easy to grab snacks (dried apple snacks from costco is a personal favorite at the moment).

Zip-Lock, and the George Foreman Grill are your friends.

I make pasta sauce and freeze it into one or two serving portions (doubled zip lock bags or containers). Serve over pasta, potatos, squash, or my personal favorite ... polenta.

packages of individually frozen pieces of meat/fish are great.

I'll cook 2 or 3 different cuts of meat on a Sunday, then just reheat through the week.

One of my friends is actually paying me to make him a batch of homemade pasta sauce and a big layered enchilada to freeze in individual servings.

1. eggs, bacon, toast
2. burger/hotdog, bun
3. any recipe that you find divided by the # of people it was ment to serve...

We have quite a few of them, actually. I have had mixed luck - don't like most of their frozen stuff but am addicted to their frozen snickerdoodles as a nibble. I have been a bit more put off since a couple of reports about bad cheese experiences and meat experiences with them. Is it just ours, but have you noticed a lot of their stuff is always just about on the expiration date?

I wish we had more semi-prepared stuff at our markets. We don't have whole foods this far out, but I try and make it to one once a month.

I tend to get on trends - Grilled cheese (with real cheeses and good bread), baked chicken breasts with stuffing, beef and noodle dishes.

I do something with asian noodles (any kind really works) stir fried with bits of chicken meat and heinz 57 sauce. Used to use H&P Curry until that dissapeared.

Hehe, need to make a mileage run out there so I can be better informed.

The ones in my area on west coast are well stocked with freshly dated foods.

I like to make a nice stir-fry. Throw in whatever is currently on sale that week. I like broccoli, peppers, asparagus, etc. then just throw in chicken, steak, chicken sausage, etc. Season with a nice teriyaki sauce, garlic powder, crushed red pepper flakes (my favorite),etc. Maybe put it over some brown rice or whole wheat pasta.

Depending on the amount of veggies and meat you throw in there, you should have enough for at least 2 meals.

The various warehouse club stores have a good selection of semi-prepared frozen foods, although personally I like to cook from scratch. Some grocery stores have salad bars (pay by weight) that make a great alternative to fast food, and you avoid the problem of having salad items spoil in your fridge before you use them up or while you’re travelling.

1 bag of asian style frozen vegetables + 1 pkg top ramen + a little soy sauce/oyster sauce/black bean &garlic sauce = easy (but sodium loaded) stir fry.

You can't beat hash - plus it's a great way to use up roast beef or cold potatoes, and easily made by an ordinary cook.
Bread pudding is a practical way to make use of older bread.
There are frozen turkey breasts.
Omelets are appetizing.
A light, summery dessert is always within reach if you keep a box or two of jello in your cupboards. It's expiration date is usually really good.

+1

If there are meal you like, you may want to invest in 10-12 sealable "sandwich" size containers, aka 23-25 oz. which you can find at a dollar store for the best price, generally 3-4 for $1. A recommended protein, carb, and vegetable serving generally fit in these containers

Then get the recipes you like and just spend a weekend afternoon and cook. Freeze them immediately, then nightly while you prepare your salad, microwave the entree, generally 5-7 minutes. Depending on what you like to eat, this could take under 3 hours including preparation. If you like beef, then definitely undercook. Now I generally take 5-6 hours to do all my meals, but I freeze 24+ meals at a time.