[Closed] Single men of STW - help me with food!

Ta! I do eat posh ramen sometimes but really - is it a life of pot noodles for me?

For the time being treat yourself to meals out, you deserve to spoil yourself a bit and it’s one less thing to have on your mind for the moment. Once you get appetite back then can plan and prep your meals without leftovers or prepped meals going to waste. Maybe invest in a juicer/food mixer type thing so any left over fruit and veg can be made into smoothies or soups

Fajitas, chuck in whatever you fancy and have a filling meal ready to eat in ~10mins.

do the likes of Hello fresh etc cater for single portion meals (it's not going to be economical but be nice to add some variation to the standards)

I hear you TJ, its nearly 2 years since Carolyn died and I used to love cooking for us both and she said I was a much more adventurous cook than her!

I go through phases of cooking being enjoyable or a chore, forgive me for being blunt but Julie only died very recently and you shouldn't be troubling yourself overly about this right now, I know your a tough sod but trust me I did the being pragmatic and strong about it and it nearly caused another death 🙁

I will say that cooking something big on a Sunday (joint of meat if your not veggie) means you can make stuff out of it for a fair few days, and stir fry's use lots of veg and are quick.

Don't know why you don't like the freezer! Most things will happily stay frozen for three months allowing for rotation.

I tend to spend one or two days a month and make several dishes that contain 3-5 portions of fruit and veg and freezer, I then defrost a bag add a bulk carb and eat. Meat, veg and sauce all together tends to freeze well.

Cooking for one then having to wash up afterwards just seems more effort than its worth.

You don't have to wash up after every meal, or every day. Keep it in a neat pile in the sink, wash when there's a sink full.

Its also so tricky to use fresh stuff. One persons portion of broccoli is 1/4 or less of a head – the rest ends up rotting!

Broccoli, in fact pretty much all veg will keep a good week or so the fridge. It doesn't 'rot' for a very long time.

I have tried cooking 4 portions and freezing 3 but then I don’t want to eat the same thing again that week.

It's frozen, you don't have to eat it that week

I have got some frozen veg but its not as nice as fresh

See above, veg keeps fine in the fridge (although frozen peas need to be, you know, frozen)

any tips? any good ideas to help?

[tough love]There's just a touch of woe-is-me about this

You're in a rough place at the moment, totally, but this could be one of those areas where you give yourself a metaphorical slap in the face and tell yourself to just get on with it[/tough love]

Also **big hug**

what works for me is slow cooker for large batch cooking and keeping something in the freezer. I've also recently signed up to Gousto which I'm finding good. I get a box for two, three meals a week. I'm finding I'll cook the meal for lunch and this will do both my lunch and dinner, nothing gets thrown out and I'm eating quite a varied menu as a result

I'm a bit surprised your broccoli's rotting before you can eat it, I very rarely have to throw out veggies. If you buy them in good condition peppers, broccoli, all that sort of stuff will usually last a good couple of weeks in the fridge.

I have tried cooking 4 portions and freezing 3 but then I don’t want to eat the same thing again that week

Why eat it again that week if you've frozen it? Eat it next week or next month! Can't suggest anything about washing up though, that'll always be a PITA.

Or, at your age……

https://www.wiltshirefarmfoods.com/

They do softer foods that are easy to eat without your teeth in

Tried one of the recipe box things (Gousto, following some recommendations on here as probably being the best one) due to Covid. Was always very sceptical of them as I enjoy "proper" cooking, but actually it's been really good and we've kept it up (not every week though). You'll get 2 portions, so one for dinner & one for a lunch in the week, and you get to try 4 new recipes per week without having to actually think about it (definitely underestimated how big a deal that was!) or physically do the shopping/online ordering of ingredients. There are a lot of 1 pot meals too which saves on the washing up.

any tips? any good ideas to help?

Tonight I am cooking chicken katsu - very easy to make for one. The panko breadcrumbs can be bought if you don't want to make them, and they last for ages. The katsu sauce can be bought in inexpensive packets, or made and frozen. Miso ramen soup is also very quick, very easy and uses odd fresh ingredients you may have hanging around. I love omelettes as an easy meal, as well, normally with a good salad but occasionally with chips or crusty bread. Or all three! And stir fry - so many possible variations of this, and so easy for small portions.

Don’t know why you don’t like the freezer! Most things will happily stay frozen for three months allowing for rotation.

And this - I'd be making a family portion of curry/bolognese/chili/fish pie/whatever, something different next week, different again the following week, and eating the frozen portions over the next few months, not over a week.

Yeah cooking for one sucks a bit, but if you're determined to cook from scratch then resolve yourself to eating from the freezer pretty regularly.

I (used) to make much curries, soup and and rotation of stuff like that that I knew I could put up with if I had to eat the same thing twice in a week, I also relied on stuff like omlettes, stroganoff and so on that you can make cheaply and in smaller portions from ingredients that you can keep for longer and make in 2 mins when you're not feeling in the mood.

HOuns - I have been going out and having posh brunch in a posh cafe but I cannot face going into restaurants on my own right now as we used to go to all the local places together

Wheeliedirty - thats a good idea. My issue was I only did it twice and each time one dish so the next few days there was nothing I wanted to eat in the freezer. Your way I would have a choice

No problem with the bluntness mr overshoot. Its how I roll. Its a month now - I have lost significant weight ( mind you I had put a load on the previous month weirdly)

Edit

this post I was slow in writing so a few more appeared and Houns I am going to slap you 🙂

some good tips there folks thanks

I am struggling with decision making and seeing the wood from the trees and one thing I cherish this place for is the directness and diversity of answers and ability to call out nonsense in a way pals might not

I'm the same. Find it hard to be arsed some of the time at least.
I find having, or having in use, very little crockery and cutlery helps. Saves the washing up getting too out of hand.
I've not got a dishwasher though, would just let it stack up in there if I did.

Food wise, I do a lot of one pot meals. I use my wok a lot. And I eat a sandwich with lots of salad if I really can't be arsed. Or a tin of soup with some fresh veggies cut up really small in it.

Re food waste, I just try to use the same veg in different ways. And I try to make a dish with few fresh ingredients but just have more of it.
So a head of broccoli could be used for a stir fry with some noodles, garlic, ginger and tofu.
Steam some (and some extra) and eat it as part of a roast type meal.
Steam the left overs and fry it till it crisps and eat it with salad and some protein.
Chuck some in a bubble and squeak.
You can eat it with pasta (garlic, olive oil, steamed broccoli, lemon juice, pine nuts) or rice: cook the rice till about half done, drain, add ginger, garlic, coconut milk, tofu, chilli, soy sauce, lime leaves, lemon grass, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, let it simmer, add shredded raw broccoli, simmer for a couple more mins, add spring onion, lime juice and coriander and serve.
Tastes pretty good, one pot and the rice dish has a fair few ingredients but most of them are dry and won't go off.
Buy coriander (and other herbs) in pots to save them going off.
Hope that helps.

As above, frozen stuff will keep for ages, you don't have to have the same thing three days in a row, freeze a good variety and just eat what you fancy.
Also, treat yourself to a dishwasher

PS. Don't buy snacky treats, biscuits, chocolate etc, buy fruit instead. Easy to be disciplined in Tesco.
Then, when you are hungry and you have a melon but no hobnobs you will eat a melon. I find this works for me as a way of improving my diet.

Taking the thread title literally, you could keep cooking for two and we could have a rota to pop round and help you with the second portion?

I have tried cooking 4 portions and freezing 3 but then I don’t want to eat the same thing again that week.

Yeah, but do it for a week and you've got a month's worth of meals. That's the point of freezers over fridges.

Sorry for your change in circumstances, dude.

I mostly cook for myself as my wife eats what she likes and I eat what I like, we do eat togther but probably only at weekends. I prefer home cooked rather than ready meals but I also seem to have the capacity to eat the same thing across the course of several days, I'm not sure if this is something you can develop or maybe it's just I'm greedy and like eating anything as opposed to nothing!

Got any friendly neighbours you could cook for or swap meals with?

Happy to help TJ 🙂

have tried cooking 4 portions and freezing 3 but then I don’t want to eat the same thing again that week

^ Poncense is yr enemy.

Am away on tod for 7 days straight so I’m cooking and freezing 8 portions of dal fry for next week.

- Porridge for breakfasts. ‘instant’ ie boiling water, oats, salt, sweetener, chopped apple. Soak 5 mins, stir, eat. Nuts and or blueberries on alternate days

- Finn Crisp, cheeses, cucumber, pickles and toms for lunches.

- Prepped brown rice and dal for microwaved/reheated dinners.

- Beer and/or cider is from local pub via bike, so no washing up there.
Instant hot choc and/or dark choc square for evening snack. Or chilli nuts. Or bag of space raiders.

Productivity is not going to be slowed by cooking.

Back in the day, Delia's One is Fun book - I still cook out of it sometimes, the recipes are all single portion.

Don't treat every day or every meal as something that  you have to cook. Sometimes beans on toast, a salad, a ready meal are fine.

Got any friendly neighbours you could cook for or swap meals with?

Not really and I am being careful about asking friends - as they cooked for me for the weeks Julie was ill - hence I put on weight and I need to find a sustainable solution

dishwasher is on the list

Batch cooking and a menu plan, then you only need to shop for the menu plan ingredients. Less waste and after the first big batch cook it's just topping up. Washing up, get a dishwasher ,use when full.
Back up plan --->>> Tefal Optigrill ..they are Totzamazbalz 🙂

If you want a bit of variety without too much hassle then Jamie Oliver 5 ingredients and 7 ingredients books are very simple, quick and very tasty. Might provide some inspiration.

Also if you batch cook a Bolognese sauce then you could have it with spaghetti, lasagne, tacos. One base with many options

Treat yourself to a good wok, learn a simple stir fry sauce. I had a very limp head of broccoli to use up last week, easily chopped up in florets, cut some strips of pepper, sauce comprising soy sauce, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, sunflower oil, and gave it all what-for in the wok for not very long at all. Healthy, cheap, tasty etc (think I had it in a wholemeal pitta rather than faff about cooking wholegrain brown rice for a week and a half...).

Salads for the win as well, toss through cooked pasta, warm boiled eggs, chopped sausages from the Foreman grill etc. etc. eat out of one big bowl. Minimum dishes, still reasonably healthy but can be eaten from lap in front of TV 😉

Oh, and for batch cooking goodness, try the BBC Good Food three bean chilli. It's delicious and goes so well with all the usual chilli acoutrements like guac, salsa, sour cream, coriander etc. but can also be used on top of an omelette as a sort of bastardised huevos rancheros, on top of baked potatoes, in a pitta bread etc. etc.

Is vege but works so well with a chorizo chopped through it also

Some very good advice up there - also start to rethink how you cook. Find recipes that use fewer fresh ingredients and more cupboard staples such as chick peas, lentils, chilli flakes, herbs etc so they don't go off before you can use them.

And you mention broccoli - it is a very versatile vegetable and can be used as an ingredient in anything from a traditional Sunday lunch through to a cheesy pasta bake, stir-fried in an oriental dish, thrown into a pho or even in a Spanish omelette/frittata. I think it would be easy to make enough variety in meals to eat a whole one before it rots.

I usually find the BBC Good Food site very good for recipe ideas and they have this section on 'Five ingredients or less' recipes.

I haven't been through what you have, although I was single for a long time. Perhaps it's not the cooking that's the problem? I was always happy to cook for myself but I doubt I would be.

Anyway, I eat half a broccoli at a time, so it only has to last two goes. I've also found that frozen broccoli used to be awful but it's improved a bit lately, the last brand we bought was ok. Also more expensive brands are a bit better. Frozen beans and peas though, they work well. How cold is your fridge? Broccoli goes softer for me in the fridge and it starts to yellow slightly, but it works. Also try cooking hot food for lunch as well as dinner, you go through it faster and you end up eating a lot more veg and being healthier. Doesn't need to be a big meal either, just some meat and veg with something saucy or spicy. But then it comes down to personal menu preferences. Also remember whilst it'll keep for a week in the fridge, if you cook it it'll keep for another week. I often cook double veg at dinner and eat the leftovers with some sausages or leftover ham chopped up with something on.

Use frozen instead of fresh? We'd never use peppers before they went off so now buy frozen which works fine for us, sure I've seen frozen broccoli in the freezer section.

I can live very happily on very simple food - if I've got frozen peas and sweetcorn and a tin of tuna, that and some noodles are a meal for me, if I CBA to do anything more interesting. 🙂

I have bought a bag of frozen peppers and mixed frozen broccoli and cauli

Ta folks - some good stuff in there which will help. I was just in the " this doesn't work for me and I don't know what else to do" sort of state but this gives me a road out

I'm not in your shoes so not sure if this will be helpful. I find if I'm home alone its hard to get excited about cooking - which is odd because I love cooking for other people.

Are you still planning a big bikepacking trip? What food are you going to take there? Would test / practice runs for that food help? I've got a dehydrator and there are crazy American prepper types dehydrating backpacking food... I could probably get far more motivated around experimenting with that and preparing food for the road (and tonight's tea at the same time)...

Oh, and frozen onions! They were a revelation - if you are cooking in quantities that won't justify a whole onion. Ready chopped (albeit quite big). If you aren't getting through garlic, chilli and ginger at sensible rates then "lazy" chilli and garlic (jarred) and ginger paste (tube) last for ages in the fridge and make quick cooking easy.

Hey TJ I think I have a free go fresh box to send to someone.

Gives you some inspiration for smaller meals etc. Nothing taxing but if you pick we'll you do get some genuinely refreshing ideas.

Bigger freezer. Portion up, you don’t have to eat it again that week, it will keep for months. I do large quantities and save in double portions for my wife and I. I have some stuff left over from last year I think. A nice surprise when I find it!

Also, feel free to treat yourself. Leftover takeaway is always good 🙂

Do you like Indian food and is there a local Indian community near you? There's usually a few houses that do batch cooking and deliver. They do this in Filton near where I work. I had no idea this was even here until I hired an Indian intern and she introduced me to the community. It's cheap, tasty and fresh every day.

You don’t have to wash up after every meal, or every day. Keep it in a neat pile in the sink, wash when there’s a sink full.

Avoid this.

Cooking for one can be challenging, being a slop is a non debatable life choice.

mixed frozen broccoli and cauli

If you can, see if you can buy these separately next time. I don't know how often you eat broccoli and cauliflower together, but I know I don't, and I'm not sure why supermarkets are keen to throw them together like this really. invariably I end up just picking one of them out of the bag... But generally speaking frozen veg is actually pretty good these days, and at least as good as fresh.

On a dishwasher practical note, make sure all your cooking equipment is dishwasher safe. There's nothing better than throwing it all in the 'magic cupboard' during the day and taking clean stuff out later or the next morning.

Another vote for HelloFresh - I get 3 meals a week which feed 2 people each meal. Cook them together and have the second one for lunch the next day or freeze for another week. Loads of options and can pause/change each week as I need.

I've got a free box code if you want to try it - PM me if you do

I seem to eat a lot of steak. Got a great butcher down the road. Quick, minimum washing up. Add an egg, some oven chips. Also keep brown rice in so I'll sometimes have strips of steak with rice and frozen veg. I keep a lot of frozen basics, mixed veg, chips, kievs etc. Then sometimes mix it up with something random from the supermarket, a decent lasagne for example. Or a takeaway, (rarely these days as I'm trying to be good). I could do better but I'm much better than I used to be, pizza every night.

Tbh, I eat much better when I'm single. When I'm shacked up the boozing always gets out of control, plus the treats, crisps and chocolate, ice cream etc. Takeaways every bloody night etc...

Pick stuff you like, have a cooking day. Spend the afternoon making it. For me it's stuff like lasagna, channa masala, chili and the like. I actually make the meat base for lasagna and chile etc. Thaw it and add whatever you need to make it into chili, etc. Keep one portion of one for dinner. Freeze the rest. You've got 3 months worth of stuff to eat that just needs microwaving. Fantastic when you don't feel like cooking. Make some bechamel and freeze. You can make all sorts out of that. Add cheese you've got mac and cheese, wine and garlic a. Nice pasta sauce. Keep some pesto in. A sausage, pesto, mushroom and a bit of pasta 20 minutes = dinner.
Frozen veg often keeps the nutrients better than fresh, unless it's really fresh at the shop and you eat it quick.
Some people I know even cook a whole package of bacon and freeze it.

Firstly big hugs..I mercifully haven't been in the position of loosing a partner of so many years, but a separation/divorce throws up a very similar situation

I found that a routine was helpful, as was a menu. Pick a time to shop, have a menu of meals to shop for until next shop.. obvious.
I found this not only helped with actually having a decent meal to look forward to, it stopped me buying rubbish.
Veg lasts longer than you think.
Back to the menu, can you have a meat/tatties/two veg one night and the rest of the veg becomes a stir fry the next night or night after?
Batch cooking/frozens massively helped me as well. Takes a bit of time to get up and running but when you just can't be arsed, back from work late, whatever its good to have something in the freezer

I wasn't much of a cook, i'm still not but I found having to go and actually prepare a meal and cook it, and eat it took up a chunk of time that may otherwise have been spend moping around.
Meal was planned, ingredients bought.. radio on and while away a pleasant hour doing something useful.

Treat yourself occasionally, get a take away!
BBC good food is a brilliant resource, I quite liked (still do actually) playing the invention test.. pick something in the fridge/cupboard and make a meal around it.. sometimes it works!

For added meal excitement don't mark your frozen dinners, and guess at what carbohydrate goes with it.. pasta and black bean sauce, yes please, rice Bolognese..mmm
(this was a tip from IHN.. its not the best tip..;-)

Washing up.. get a dish washer.

until then stack it neatly by the sink, soaking stuff that may become harder to clean if it dried out and do it every couple of days. Or wait until you are eating out of the container the food came in with a tyre lever as a spoon and then do it...

Same. Recently single. Normally healthy diet totally gone out the window. Seem to get by on packets of crisps, apples and the occasional Chinese take away. I wonder if some of it is depression...but anyhow...feel your pain.

For added meal excitement don’t mark your frozen dinners, and guess at what carbohydrate goes with it.. pasta and black bean sauce, yes please, rice Bolognese..mmm
(this was a tip from IHN.. its not the best tip..;-)

LOlz!

Sounds like I really need to get organaised for the monthly cooking day. I like that idea.

Ta again folks

BTW - I'm not really in pain - more a bit lost on this subject

I can also recommend the Economy Gastronomy cookbook as it suggests a big meal for Sunday followed by mid-week meals to use up the leftovers.

have got some frozen veg but its not as nice as fresh

Just nip out regularly on the bike if you have a greengrocers/supermarket nearby ie <5 miles?

I often just go and buy 2 carrots, an onion, half a head of broccoli or similar from the fresh/non-packaged aisle. Basically just buy what is required or a little over.

Another trick with fresh veg including broccoli, cauli etc is to roast it and then refrigerate pieces that you didn’t use. They make great cold healthy snacking.

Pataks Madras curry paste, you can knock up a curry in minutes be it still feels a bit home made, but less faff

Few super quick things:

Get cuts of steak sliced thin. A minute on each side and your done with some bagged salad on side. Last in fridge for quite a while.

As above but with fish. Sea bass doesn’t go bad when frozen and can even be bought frozen super cheap, only takes a couple of mins to cook on each side.

If desperate slice either of the above into a quick noodle soup (pot noodle will do if you have nothing else), bonus if you add a hard boiled egg and some diced spring onion. Alternative to go with them is cous cous that can essentially be cooked by covering in boiling water a left for a few mins. Some good easy ready packs available for under a £1 and flavoured with tomato or herbs.

Also just add anything green to the above. Broccoli or green beans cook in a few mins boiled in water.

Kelp stack of healthy snacks around so you don’t OD on crap. Hard boiled eggs, peeled carrots, trail mix, sliced cooked meat.

I found when living on my own it helped having things that were quick / easy to cook but still semi healthy with mix of protein / veg. Lazy can still taste nice.

TJ, I haven't said so yet but very sorry for your loss.

Thank you very much for posting this thread though, and everyone else for the input. As per a previous poster, situation similar due to separation and imminent divorce and other than weekends when the kids stay, I'm finding it very difficult to do the whole cooking for one thing. Especially as I used to do a lot of the cooking previously.

Will be keeping an eye on this thread for some more gems from you lovely people!

It's a bit outdoor activity based, but tinned fish, pasta and a stir-in sauce make a quick meal that feels a bit like you've made an effort when you really can't be arsed.

Sea bass doesn’t go bad when frozen and can even be bought frozen super cheap,

+1 sea bass fillet and greens (with potato or pasta salad) for quick easy meal.

often get the bass fresh from end of day bargain shelf - then freeze immediately at home.

There was a good book I had, I'll see if I can find it. It was one dish dinners or something. Mostly stuff that you could cook in one pan, a lot of it was prep, put in pan or oven, come back in 1/2 hour. Simple stuff like breaded pork chop, potato and carrots roasted with cumin. Really good for when you are not motivated to cook.

Leek and potato soup in the freezer is fab

Fish Pies in the freeer also great

Shepherds/Cottage Pie fried in the pan the next day is even better than in the first place.

Off no use to you but at a low point in my life living in a shity bedsit with no cash or fridge I created the spambhuna...

I hate cooking for myself when shes away and as shes veggie I go meat heavy. It's not healthy

But minute steaks on morning rolls..... my word

hello fresh stuff is available for 1 person.

me and karen get it for 3 people. and it is barely enough. :o)

Find two groups of four people in a similar situation. Then do a ‘come dine with me’ type thing where you each cook for the other three on rotation. That’d sort out two meals a week and be a bit of fun.

Going back to the freezer roulette mentioned above, take a leaf from my parent's book.
60 odd years ago he would drag her out on weekend sailing trips. After a "blustery" bit of weather the contents of the cupboards were floating around inside the boat, so tinned food became label-less. They had a two tins rule, whatever came out of the first two tins opened was the meal.
Grapefruit and baked beans anyone?
No end to the culinary excitement TJ 🙂

Reminds me of Polish roulette in a shop in poland in 1990. All the tins had hand written labels in polish. NO pictures. we had no idea what we were buying

For emergencies I always have some Uncle Ben’s rice packets. Throw in some veg, chorizo and feta you can’t go wrong. Frozen corn, peas and edamame beans are fine. Softer stuff like peppers etc aren’t great frozen. Cooking a whole chicken then bagging up the rest in individual portions is great for curries.

A couple of thoughts. Firstly, get a bread maker. Fill it up at some point in the day, takes about 2 minutes. Set it to finish just before tea time. Fresh bread with butter is a meal from the gods. Suddenly things like homemade soup, which of course you would have batch cooked some weeks ago, turn into a fantastic delight when eaten with fresh bread.

Secondly, for making batch cooking super easy, buy a pressure cooker. Well, actually buy a one-pot cooker that does pressure and slow etc. Pretty sure there was a thread on here a while back with ideas of what to cook. But super easy to just load it up with things, set it going, and come back sometime later to finished food. The best ones come with amazing recipe books.

You could take a leaf out of a Welsh farmer’s book. He was featured in the Guardian recently. He has the same meal every day.

I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
I have two pieces of fish, an onion, an egg, baked beans and biscuits.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/apr/16/experience-ive-had-the-same-supper-for-10-years

They had a two tins rule, whatever came out of the first two tins opened was the meal.

Haha I was going to suggest tin roulette 😁 Chicken tikka masala with rice pudding was surprisingly good. Meatballs with custard was "challenging".

On a sensible note though, I used to do a roast chicken with veg, the next day was a salad with the drumsticks, then a curry, then pick the chicken and do a risotto. The next day boil the carcus to make stock, chuck in all the left over veg, blend it and you have a tasty soup and an empty fridge /veg rack. I'd do that every couple of weeks.

black bean sauce

This is my latest enjoyable eat.
Pretty much a stroganoff, using one slice of fillet steak, cut into strips, which makes quite a lot.
an fry the meat and when its nearly cooked, and still a bit pink on the outside, I add the black bean sauce, cook that off for a few minutes then pour in 1/3 of a tub of double cream.
Served with microowave mash - Very nice 😀

Theres nothing to it, and its all made in the one pan, which means washing up is a minimum. Literally takes about as long to cook as the microwaving the mash, so about 3, maybe 5 minutes from in the packet to on the plate.

Well I just weighed myself - I have not lost as much weight as I thought.

Buy a mini slow cooker.
Bung in what you like and let it cook all day.

Not so much recipe ideas but I find that having a well stocked basics cupboard is a big help so you've always got stuff like rice and pasta around which you can knock something up by adding in a few ingredients. There's plenty of tray bake style meals that save cooking time and washing up. You can bulk these up by adding rice/pasta etc.

When you unpack the shopping cut half an inch off the stem of the broccoli, then place in bowl with a little water and pop in the fridge, it's now drawing up water, firming up and staying fresh for you, and should last just fine.

Being single for me means I can eat what I want when I want without questioning it, fav at the minute is just sourdoe bread, proper butter and olives, with beer, no cooking required, I feel a Greek salad coming on though.

Post separation/divorce a long time ago I ate out (friends and colleagues) and had take out a lot in the first few months as life settled down.

I've always liked cooking so might have helped me get back in to cooking for one when the bills for above started to make me wince. 😯

Lately as a family we've gone for more veggie and vegan meals and at least that way you rip through the veggies faster.

On the batch cooking, the aim for me was never to eat it next day or week. Give it a good couple of weeks in the freezer. Build up some stocks of different stuff and then go back to it later.

Stuff like sausages and meat I'd cook up some for hot some for eating cold (also as I'm dirty a left over curry sandwich is great).

I wish I'd had a smallish slow cooker (a device that Mrs gd introduced me too). The throw it in and it be ready at the end of the day thing was a revelation for me. Low effort, big reward. Lots of things you can chuck in that are one pot.

On the rare occasions I'm home alone for a few days now it's risotto, noodles, simple pasta or rice dishes for the most part and I might get a steak in and do with a jacket.

Make spag bol (enough for 4 portions). Eat a portion, freeze a portion. Turn remaining 2 portions into chilli the following night. eat one freeze one. 2 night's worth of teas. 2 in the freezer. Tbf, when you add extra peppers and beans to make chilli you end up with more.

Couple of years ago I too couldn't be bothered, not worth the effort for one, too much waste etc.

I took HelloFresh boxes for 2-3 months for 6 meals a week. The cost and non-stop nature forces you to use them, and the instructions and lack of ingredient-hunting removes a lot of potential excuses. Cook every other night, pop half in the fridge for the next evening, plan ahead so you're not cooking if you're riding that evening. Quick rinse and brush the dishes if you cba, wash properly on non-cooking nights.

After a few months you'll have the hang of it and have formed the habit (my intention from the start). Now cancel that expensive box, get the ingredients yourself (you can swap/omit many and it'll still work) and continue.

Also after a few weeks get good kitchen tools and proper non-stick cookware that remains non-stick. Cooking with crap equipment is less enjoyable, much like biking on a Halfords BSO.

Buy a load of different dried fruit, rolled and organic oats, seeds, nuts and blue milk for ever-changing DIY muesli and/or snacks. Add in a few espressos you'll be a bolt of greased lightning irrespective of the subsequent (or not) meals being of the short commons/cheese sarnie variety. Despite its sugar content, I seem to be able to eat loads of fruit without putting on the suet but sadly bread is a different story.

Also.

Sometimes the answer is beans on toast.

Or a fish finger sandwich.

It might also be worth getting some quality microwave meals in as a backup to when you really can’t be bothered. Mark’s and Spencer’s are really good (their paella I love) and I like the sainsburys currys - the fridge stored chicken jalfrezi is gorgeous even compared to some Indian takeaways we have here in West Yorks.

At least you have discipline. If I cooked for 4 I would eat all 4 portions myself - I know this from bitter (but tasty and very full feeling) experience.

Also.

Sometimes the answer is beans on toast.

Or a fish finger sandwich.

I’d agree! I want a fish finger sandwich now, and I’ve only just had breakfast.