You know what's kind of a piss off? Having food spoil before you can use it.
Specifically, sale food.
I've been trying to make a concentrated effort of buying food sale to bring my costs down. The problem is that there is only one of me eating it. I might find bread for $1 off, but I get half the shelf life compared to the bread I buy full price. I know it was at a discount, but I don't feel like I get my money's worth when I throw half of it away. The other piss off is when you avoid giving into the urge to eat out, and make the decision to make food at home instead, and find that the stuff you needed to use is spoiled. Bloody frustrating.
You might be able to tell I'm just a little pissed off about having to throw away half a loaf of bread.
I'll admit I'm terrible at cooking (and grocery shopping) for one. Its a skill I have yet to master, despite my efforts. I come by it very honestly, my mom cooks like a typical farm wife.
For example: Thanksgiving 2009. I expected to be working (out of province) that weekend, and my sister expected to be at her boyfriend's parents for dinner. My mom planned a dinner with enough food for her and my dad. The day of, I managed to get out of work and made the drive up north to my parents. At the same time, my sister and her boyfriend changed their plans and went to my parent's house as well. The dinner for 2 now had to feed 5 adults. No one, except my mother, was concerned about this. At the end of the meal, 2/3 of the food had to be packed up as leftovers.
So, all of you single ladies and gentlemen, what tips and tricks do you have to make cooking for one easier? How do you prevent food from spoiling? When it comes to something like bread, do you buy individual buns, or put it in the freezer and thaw individual slices? I could use some advice right now. I'll be set when I have a family, but for now my food budget feels like it's being unnecessarily abused.
6 comments:
Freezer... always the freezer. I do this with store bought bread, english muffins, and my homemade bread and bagels too. They all thaw really quickly and easily with few (if any) ill effects. If you're doing this with homemade bread/bagels... slice them first -- trust me on that one.
If you want toast with breakfast, just pull out a couple slices and leave them on a plate while you shower or do whatever. If you're in a rush, 5 seconds in the microwave and you're good to go.
We use the freezer a lot. When I was on my own though, I used to stop at the grocery store every few days and only pick up enough for 1-2 days at a time. That way if plans changed, no big deal, and nothing ever went bad. (just be careful you don't buy a weeks worth every time!)
I break any bread we are not going to use into lunch bags. That way we can just pull it out. I also cook ahead of time and freeze everything into containters.
Judy
The freezer is key when you're cooking/storing food for one. I find making batches of dishes on the weekend (soup, casseroles, pasta dishes etc) and freeze them in individual containers also makes cooking for one easier.
I think I need to cull my freezer containers, they seem to have grown legs :s
I'm thinking I might give the semi-daily grocery shopping a try, and try to just cook single meals. Maybe then I'll learn shopping portion control?
We try to plan our meals prior to doing our grocery shop for the week. With bread, we find that we're able to use it all up making sandwiches for lunch for the two of us. If there is any bread leftover on the weekend, we'll have it for breakfast. :)
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