5 cooking tips for single people – 08/15/2023 – Cozinha Gross

In the comedy “Lonely Boy” (1984), Steve Martin enters a cocky restaurant alone and the maître d’ asks him: “Table for how many?”

Upon replying that the group was just him, all conversation ceases and a light cannon accompanies the single customer to the table.

The film is almost 40 years old and, thankfully, it is no longer a problem to go to restaurants unaccompanied. But you can’t go to restaurants all the time, right?

I don’t know about you… my budget requires that almost all meals be prepared by myself, with things I buy in the market. I’ve spent most of my adult life married, and my newfound singleness has forced me to adapt old shopping and cooking habits.

I write this post because, this Tuesday morning (15), I received some emails talking about a certain single day that is celebrated today. Silly, certainly, but a motto for me to share things I’ve learned in four years of living alone (on days when the son stays with his mother).

buy wisely

You know that half papaya that the market sells? Yes, it’s apparently stupid, but it might be just the right amount for someone who lives alone and isn’t obsessed with papaya.

When buying produce and other perishable foods, the lowest price per kilo is not always the most advantageous for single people. Because she can buy a huge bunch of broccoli, use a little bit, and leave everything else to rot in the fridge drawer.

By the way, this is the most common tragedy in the food supply of singles. Better to pay 10 for something that will be completely consumed than 15 for a portion three times the size, but which will mostly go to waste.

And you have to be careful with promotions. Taking tons of food home just because it’s discounted is the shortest path to waste.

have a scale

Culinary scales are very cheap and very useful for us to measure exactly the portion we are going to eat.

Macaroni, for example. If you eat 100 grams, you weigh 100 grams on the scale and you’re not left with half a plate of pasta taking up space in the fridge until it goes bad.

leftover management

This is possibly the hardest part. The single person who cooks knows that some recipes are difficult to make individually.

Then the way is to have an arsenal of pots and fridge and freezer space to store surplus food. Better that these pots are identified and dated.

Just as important as storing leftovers is remembering to eat them before the freezer fills up.

Giving in to shortcuts is not a sin

Cooking for yourself can be fun – I love it – but it’s impossible to prepare absolutely everything in every meal from scratch.

There’s nothing wrong with buying baked beans at the restaurant, roast chicken at the bakery and that ready-made farofa which, let’s face it, is not as tasty as yours.

Ramen noodles? Each one each one. I keep a sealed package in case of a zombie apocalypse.

force creativity

This part is tricky because, without anyone to answer to, we tend to repeat our favorite recipes over and over again.

In the beginning it’s paradise, then you find out that you got bored of what you liked the most. It’s a sad thing.

Therefore, forcing yourself to test new recipes helps a lot to persevere in the mission of making your own food.

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