So, kids are gone, ex and I are no longer together (hence ex i guess lol) and I still find I over cook, I try to use less but it seems if I cook much more than a box of macaroni its too much. Sure I save leftovers, but one can only eat so much leftovers.
How have you dealt with over cooking? Or maybe I’m the only one?
That’s what the freezer is for. I still cook for four, because most ingredients are packed in a way that favors making a meal for four people, but that just means there are two helpings that can get into the freezer for another day.
I’ve found smaller portions to be a waste of time. It takes just as long, but you don’t get as much out of it.
Yes, the freezer is one key. I’d actually like to get a chest freezer too.
Another trick is re-use. I’ll cook a steak, save half for stir fry, ramen, nachos, sandwich, etc. A chicken gets legs and thighs used for dinner, breasts for chicken salad, and bones and bits for soup.
Cans are also great. They serve a dual purpose of emergency-kit food and (since they eventually need to be rotated) super-lazy meals. I generally keep, maybe 20 various cans of chilli, soup, beans, spam, tuna, crab, tomatoes, etc. and make a point of using a couple every month, just to keep things from getting too old.
The real difficulty I run into is making good salads. It takes just as much time to make salad for six as for two. I often just settle for the bagged stuff, but it feels wasteful and uninspired.
We have a box of quart-sizes freezer zip bags. Whenever you make food, immediately separate half of what you made and freeze it. You can always thaw it later when you don’t have time or energy to prepare food.
Dairy tends not to freeze well. Most other foods do. You can freeze pasta, rice, and bread easily, so make a bunch to mix in to future dishes, and if you can’t get through a full loaf of bread before it spoils, freeze half the loaf as soon as you bring it home.
There are a lot of meal prep tips websites, and it sounds like you are inadvertently meal-prepping. See what tips they have for storing food.
I’m having the same issue: ex left a couple years ago but I still had a couple teens to feed. Now both kids are away so it’s just me, and I have no idea how to cook
First battle is to continue cooking. Most of my motivation was to feed them either stuff they liked or new foods for them to try, and that motivation is gone.
Portions. I wasn’t thinking and bought a gyro platter at Costco. I guess that’s my dinners for the week. The guy at Costco was trying to sell me on the executive membership based on how much I’ve spent this year: nope, maybe I shouldn’t even keep the membership
Before Family, I had been in a habit of going to a farmers market, then making a big salad, big pasta salad, and big fruit salad for the week. Just add protein and you have a meal. That might be a good idea to return to
I’m not an empty nester just live alone but I just make enough for 2/3 meals so I can have days off from cooking. If a recipe serves like 6/8 I cut all the ingredient measurements in half. I don’t really do box mac and cheese as a side because it’s too much for just me. I suppose you could try making half a box at a time but I don’t know how well the powder would keep.
But did have to scale up and down several times as my family grew and then shrank and now we are at 4 people in the house, no more bulk buying.
I will say the freezer is your friend, and cook like my grown kids who don’t have kids yet (or ever). Bowls. Rice bowls, noodle bowls. Make what you want but keep the parts separate, basically, then combine the leftover stuff with new stuff throughout the week. Use sauces and spices to change the flavor of the foods. Rice cooker will hold cooked rice for several days if you cover it with a damp paper towel and keep it damp, or noodles are quick, buy the package that has them in little serving sized nests or bundles.
And if you can, have dinner parties sometimes, invite people over and cook the way you enjoy, for others.
I had to work on this issue. I used to massively overcook. My house was always the place people just showed up. I had two kids, friends, family, so I was constantly ready to feed an army. Now one is out of the house, the other isn’t home most of the time and husband works evenings. We don’t have company like we used to before Covid, so unannounced guests happen rarely.
I have to be conscious at all times about what I’m cooking. First I had to admit that my perception of how much food I needed was just wrong and could not be trusted. I started using recipes - even for things I know how to make- purely to reference serving sizes. And when all else failed, however much I felt I needed to make, I’d just make half of that
It took some practice but now I make reasonable sized meals and have few leftovers.
Lunch the next day. I fail to see the problem. It’s a massive time saver. You need to join a meal prep community to fully appreciate it! It’s a time and money saver
I would consider Norwegian taco night to be really similar to white American taco night. I can make some pretty authentic street tacos but this culturally adapted taco meal still hits hard.
Freeze leftovers. If food is too much, put 1-2 meals in a freezer-ready container, put it away. Eat it a few weeks/months later when you’re too lazy to cook.
Measure ingredient amounts. Usually, I don’t bother, but if I don’t want leftovers, it’s necessary.
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