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Today’s question is from Lisa:
I love your site. I was wondering if you or your readers have any ideas about trying to shop/cook for one on a budget? I live by myself and I’m trying to save money and don’t have a ton of time to shop/cook. But I feel like I’m always eating the same things over and over!
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I have to disagree with a lot of the buy/cook in bulk comments, especially if you don’t want to eat the same thing all the time. The biggest helper for me is to buy smaller amounts of meat. I buy chicken tenders (WAY cheaper) instead of chicken breast then repackage them in ziploc with 2 or 3 per bag, more than enough for a one person meal. I buy ground beef in 1/3 or 1/2 lb. packages. I get pork tenderloins and chop them into medallions and repackage into 1 person meal bags. I find that one package of each (1 lb tenderloin, 1 pack chicken tenders, 1-2 lbs ground beef) will last me a whole month. If I have company over, I just pull extra out of the freezer.
I also started using smaller pans and reducing my recipes. I have an 8×8 casserole that I use for burritos. Instead of a big pot of spaghetti, I use a can of italian flavoured tomatoes and add meat, veggies and pasta. I do the same thing for chili. Most meals I make give me enough for dinner and lunch the next day.
Frozen veggies seem to be easiest too, as I can’t eat most fresh produce fast enough.
If you need to use the oven for a meal, throw in a couple of baking potatoes with it. They can be cooked at a variety of temps and will keep in the fridge for 4 days or so. Reheat one as a side dish later in the week and then use the other to do a twice-baked potato, hash or a loaded potato (like broccoli-n-cheese or bacon and sour cream).
I have found that it’s helpful to cook plain, large chicken pieces or whole chickens and then use the meat in a variety of meals throughout the week. My family of four can eat lunch with little planning when the meat is already cooked: add salsa and black beans to chicken pieces, roll in a tortilla and LUNCH! It works with so many recipes-anything really that calls for cooked meat or where precooked meat can be substituted.
In my single days, my George Foreman grill was my best friend. I could cook up individual portions of steak, fish, and chicken all on my grill, and just let the fat drip away while it was cooking (be careful not to overcook, though, or the meat will dry out). I also chopped up onions and bell peppers and froze them, which made meal prep a lot easier. Shredded cheese freezes well, too, although lately it seems a block of cheese isn’t that much cheaper than shredded.
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