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I often cannot be bothered cooking for just me, i only really eat a 'proper' meal when cooking for family or friends.

My go to meals are things like omelette and chips (quick chips in air fryer), straight to wok noodles with a sauce, maybe prawns thrown in.

A fave is to dry fry a tortilla, slightly brown, turn over and pastry brush some tomato puree all over, sprinkle grated cheese and diced onion over and allow to melt before folding over and plating. Tastes just like thin crispy pizza.

Any ideas for me to make quick and healthier meals for myself?

Lynibis
a year ago
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Jerseydrew

What about doung one meal and freezing some for another day? It can work effort one day but none another day.

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Lynibis

Jerseydrew yes, I do a lot of batch cooking, curry, casseroles, chilli, etc. But until recently I was doing 6 day weeks (for 12 years) so unless I had a free Sunday even cooking was a struggle. I retire end July and presently no longer do Saturdays and I really hope to regain my enthusiasm for cooking, especially baking to share at afternoon tea with friends.

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eyeballkerry

My mum lives on her own and does a lot of batch cooking. She struggles with meals from jars as they usually have to be used within three days. They need to offer smaller jars for one.

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Lynibis

eyeballkerry if you mean things like cook in sauces, chicken tonight, curry sauce etc. just use what you need and pour the rest in a container and freeze. Even small portions can freeze in ice cube trays.

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eyeballkerry

Lynibis I have never read on the jars that you can freeze these.

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Lynibis

eyeballkerry

You can freeze store-bought pasta sauce (tomato- and cream-based) for long-term storage. Frozen food will stay safe to eat indefinitely as bacteria doesn’t grow. However, pasta sauce will keep its best taste and texture for up to 6 months in the freezer.

One of the things I love about sauces is that you can buy or make them in large quantities, then portion them and put them in the freezer, saving you time to cook up easy and tasty meals for months on end.

Don’t leave an opened jar of pasta sauce at room temperature for more than 2 hours. As soon as you’re done cooking with it or eating it, put it in the fridge for safe storage. Bacteria grow quickly between 40°F and 140°F. The longer you leave food at room temperature, the less safe it is to eat.

Don’t freeze store-bought pasta sauce in the glass jar that you bought it in. As you put the jarred sauce in the freezer, the liquids contained in it will solidify, which may cause the glass jar to crack or shatter. Pour the sauce into a freezer bar or airtight container instead.

If you bought a big jar of pasta sauce, you can use freezer bags or airtight containers to portion it into small servings the size of a single meal. That way, you will only have to thaw as much pasta sauce as you can eat at a time—maximizing the storage life of the rest.

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jms19

Yeah batch cooking is the way for us singletons for sure, i agree it’s a lot of effort to cook a meal for just one person and so i don’t do it often either. I hope you fine time to be able to cook in bulk and more importantly enjoy your retirement

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Lynibis

jms19 thank you, I am sure I will as it will be a pleasure again when I am not clock watching.

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snoogans888

Lately I’ve been batch-cooking roast chicken breast in air fryer and then having that with salad as it’s been too hot to cook.

Jacket potatoes are another good one person meal.

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Lynibis

snoogans888 chicken and salad sounds good. I am not a lover of salad but eat it to be healthy lol. I love jacket potatoes when I can find good ones as I am very fussy. I got a food delivery today and the spuds had all sprouted. I have found this a lot since they stopped using a best before date.

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snoogans888

Lynibis I have to have variety when I eat salad so I’ll have lettuce, beetroot, cucumber and avocado. Julienned carrots if I can be bothered.

I’ll confess that I’ve been buying the McCain frozen jacket potatoes (when on offer - I know I should make my own 🙈) as I’m the only person that eats them in my house, so they’re handy to have on standby.

I did find one that had a worm hole in it so I complained to McCain and they refunded me the money.

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Carol73

Lynibis you can phone in at Tescos customer services and tell them you would receive a refund,hope this helps you ..

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Lynibis

Carol73 thanks Carol. My shop was from Sainsburys and they also have a good refund policy. I have had to use it several times and I don't want them to think I am cheating them. The potatoes were ok for peeling and cooking, just not as good as I'd like for jackets. I always peel and par boil potatoes and freeze for roasties, fully cook and mash to freeze and I have found that if peeled and placed in cold water in fridge they last far longer than left out unpeeled. I change the water each day.

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Nadiaparveen

The recipe you shared sounds delicious 😋 Thankyou for sharing ❤️

You might like some of these single serve meal ideas

www.buzzfeed.com/hannahloewentheil/easy-single-serve-dinners-for-one

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Lynibis

Nadiaparveen thanks a lot I will definitely have a closer look this evening while lazing in front of the TV 😋

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MrsCraig

When I was cooking for one I would batch cook and freeze, that way I could just defrost and shove in the oven. I also did baked potatoes or would use pasta sauces over a few days. I was also known to make bacon sandwiches for dinner as it was quick and easy. Not necessarily the healthiest but I didn't do it often. I also found things like frozen fish and frozen chicken goujons were really handy, especially if I had been at a parents evening.

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Lynibis

MrsCraig I often have an egg and mushroom sandwich. However being of little willpower means that a loaf of bread is gone far too quickly as I also have cheese on toast, or beans or spaghetti. I also like tomato, onion and mushrooms on toast. Then when I am dreadfully naughty I will have fried egg on fried bread, but that's about every 6 weeks or so........honest!

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MrsCraig

Lynibis I used to do a lot of cheese on toast and beans on toast too, haven't had either for a long time now. The fried egg on fried bread sounds good, will have to try that sometime.

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TheChimp

Lynibis Fried bread is definitely naughty, but great for a soft egg and some beans on top.

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TiaTia

I cook about 6 jacket potatos in the microwave, when soft half and scoop out the potato, mix with some butter and cheese, fill the skins back up and grate cheese on top, when cool pop back in the fridge, these store well or if not used pop in the freezer. Perfect in air fryer for about 8 mins.

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Lynibis

TiaTia we were taught to make them like that at school lol. But yes, good idea to refrigerate or freeze, and a good way to use up potatoes when there is only one of you.

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SamGoodship
LD Team

We have a great facebook group you could ask this in --

ldeals.uk/cooking

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Lynibis

SamGoodship thanks for that. I do have a Facebook account (and Instagram) but tbh I can't stand them, probably because I don't understand them!

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weedippyhippy

One of my favourites chicken fried rice and satay sauce .. cooks in less than 10 mins

Pkt microwave rice (flavoured if you fancy

Some chicken (I use aldis chicken slices)

Chuck into wok with a little spray oil

Cook over gentle heat ...

Meanwhile boil half a cup of water add a generous spoon of peanut butter a splodge of soy sauce chilli flakes to taste, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar or sweetner

Mix together till It thickens slightly take off heat leave to sit ..then add a splodge of plain yoghurt/ formage frais mix well

Add some soy sauce to rice to add colour

It tastes amazing can also add any veg lying around

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Lynibis

weedippyhippy wow that sounds amazing. I often make my own fried rice with either left over or packet rice, chuck in a few prawns, soy sauce and have a generous dollop of sweet chilli sauce with it. I always have frozen garlic so fry it with the rice.

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sophiereddy
LD Team

weedippyhippy Hey, thank you for your helpful comment. We've emailed you a £1 Costa coupon to say thanks! It has gone to the email address on your Latest Deals account.

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