Cooking for One

Family members are all over the place. With so many sports, activities, meetings, youth group, business travel and various friends, it’s not uncommon for the family to be in different places at dinner time. On Friday evening, Chuck was at a business function, and the girls were in sleepover mode with friends. The girls wanted to order a pizza, and Chuck would be eating out. That left me. Now it may seem like the “easy solution” would be to grab a few pieces of the girls’ pizza. Oh no – go back to the posting on the 4th. Instead of viewing this situation as, “Well, why bother cooking for myself.” “It doesn’t make any sense to cook for one.” “Everyone else is busy, so why cook.” Etc, etc, I’ve heard all the rationalized excuses.

Instead, view this as an opportunity to treat yourself to a lovely little meal. It’s essential to remember that cooking for one can be delicious, healthy, easy and efficient – it’s just about being prepared. I had a few sweet potatoes in the panty, and some leftover fresh green beans that had already been cooked in the fridge. That morning, while I was out running errands, Whole Foods was already on my agenda, so I picked up a small (about 1/3 pound) piece of cod that was on sale. In the bakery department, I treated myself to one fresh cornbread muffin. On Friday evening, there was about 5 minutes of prep time. I put my sweet potato in the oven. I put a little sea salt and pepper on my cod, tented it in a piece of tinfoil and stuck that in the oven. Warmed up the green beans in microwave. The piece of cornbread was ready to go. You just can’t get much easier. This was awesome, nutritious (ok, maybe the cornbread wasn’t perfect), and with no hassle whatsoever. Eating healthy when you’re on your own just doesn’t have to be some difficult, time-consuming ordeal as long as you are prepared!