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Post by whollygoats on Sept 5, 2018 21:43:24 GMT
Well....It is happening.
Swimmer is moving out. She's moving back to her farm in Mulino, about 45 minutes drive south of my present location. She needs to live in her property for at least two years before selling it, if that is what she decides to do, to avoid hefty capital gains taxes, as she has not lived in it for twelve years and it has been an 'income property', rather than a prime residence.
I shall once again become a bachelor living alone.
I will need to start doing my own food and household goods shopping and cooking, something I largely gave up years ago. It is not something with which I am a complete stranger, as that was my portion of the division of labor during my marriage, when I never washed dishes, nor did laundry, but did ALL the cooking and grocery shopping.
It's been a while. I'm rusty, particularly for a one-man band. The cats don't count because they don't partake of any but cat food.
I need to do some meal planning and would welcome suggestions. I have my breakfasts pretty much under control, as I rely upon eggs, sausage, and the all-important cheese bagel. I have back-ups in hot and cold cereals. I'm in a rut, but it is a rut with which I'm comfortable.
More of a rut is lunch, but still doing well. Enough. Not like I wouldn't recognize and appreciate some real winners.
Dinners/suppers....that's where I fall down. Cooking for one on the dinner front is a downer. Small amounts means either paying premium prices for small amounts of goods, or fixing large batches and living on the 'left-overs'. I'm fine with a little in the way of leftovers, but dubious about it being a way of life.
Low salt, low sugar, concentrate on carbohydrates (bread, potatoes, corn, pasta. rice...starches, in other words) as the center and aim for 55 gm of carbos at each of four meals throughout the day. Of course, anything with sugar is also packing a heavy carbo load. I'm omnivorous, and eat meat, but find vegetarian cooking to be just fine in most cases. I have reduced the amount of meat I eat and tried to increase other sources like beans, avocado, eggs, and even tofu. I need to increase the amount of roughage intake....again, beans would help. Thing is, I'm not a big fan of beans or other roughage sources. Fresh fruit is a winner. I'd like to reduce my dairy intake, but I don't know as that is possible.
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Post by tangent on Sept 5, 2018 21:56:19 GMT
I don't do meals but I understand a slow cooker (a pot heated by electricity that simmers for days on end) can produce multiple meals over the course of a few days. Cooking for one on the dinner front is a downer. Small amounts means either paying premium prices for small amounts of goods, or fixing large batches and living on the 'left-overs'. I'm fine with a little in the way of leftovers, but dubious about it being a way of life. Pat makes casseroles in large quantities and places them in the fridge. I heat them up in the microwave as when needed, adding potatoes and vegetables. Each time I do that, it feels like a main meal and not a leftover. I can vary the carbohydrates (potatoes, chips, spaghetti, rice) every time and can also vary the vegetables so that I never have the same meal twice in succession.
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Post by Kye on Sept 6, 2018 1:00:15 GMT
Don't look at me. I hate cooking and do mostly low carb. Suppers for me are often a handful of nuts and a cucumber.
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Post by Mari on Sept 6, 2018 7:46:55 GMT
I don't like cooking, but when I was alone, I'd always make enough for 2 or 3 times and freeze it. I actually still freeze leftovers so we have leftover day once every so often. Easy cooking is a rich soup, you can make a soup out of pretty much every veggies+ stock + water. Change the water out with coconut milk and add some rice and you've got a curry of sorts. Add meat as you like. You can make taco filling. Add water to it the next day and you've got minestrone soup of sorts. Add pasta, put it in the oven and you've got an alternative lasagna.
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Post by JoeP on Sept 6, 2018 10:40:36 GMT
Um ... I am a lazy cook. Frozen meals accompanied by frozen ingredients (eaten after heating of course).
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Post by tangent on Sept 6, 2018 13:01:58 GMT
I'm with you on that, Joe.
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Post by tourmaline on Sept 7, 2018 22:39:41 GMT
I'm the cook and freeze type. I'm lucky enough to have access to a chest freezer. When I have time, I love to make huge batches of hearty home made soups.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Sept 15, 2018 12:53:05 GMT
If you follow Mari's soup/curry suggestion - lentils are a nice addition for some fibre. I like the red ones. Maybe a nicer alternative to beans? The are nice to thicken up a watery soup too.
I know you make lots of pesto, bit of tomato and olive oil and throw it on some pasta - delicious!
I'd also advocate freezing, whether bulk buys prior to cooking or things you've cooked up in large quantities. Just about anything can be frozen.
Lately DG and I have been meal planning, and the thing I try to do is pick meals that use similar ingredients so that I can make use of the same veggies or fresh herbs etc, and not waste them.
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Post by whollygoats on Sept 15, 2018 18:18:02 GMT
If you follow Mari's soup/curry suggestion - lentils are a nice addition for some fibre. I like the red ones. Maybe a nicer alternative to beans? The are nice to thicken up a watery soup too. I know you make lots of pesto, bit of tomato and olive oil and throw it on some pasta - delicious! Yes. A standby in this household. Sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts and diced black olives also extend a standard pesto pasta. Yes...But, for some reason, my refrigerator and my chest freezer (in the basement) are chock full. We'll see how that changes with Swimmer's departure. And, I suspect I should take to refrigerating my bread, because the amount I buy will either go stale or moldy given the amount of time it may take to consume it.
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Post by tourmaline on Sept 15, 2018 18:32:06 GMT
I must confess to cleaning out my refrigerator yesterday, and throwing out what (for me) is a totally unacceptable amount of food. Part of the reason for this is that I bought into an organic gardener's "share crop" concept. I give a certain amount of money at the beginning of the season, and every two weeks I get a bunch of fresh picked organic veggies.... just whatever is ready in that week. Its been great.... I've actually learned how to cook artichokes, which I've never actually cooked before. I've also learned about veggies I've never eaten before... collard Greens and Swiss Chard. and Pan Squash Alas... the veggies that I'm not used to tended to go bad as I have to actually look up how to cook them or use them...and that task got put off.
(WG... .I keep my bread in the refrigerator....and my onions too....
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Post by Kye on Sept 15, 2018 19:15:24 GMT
I keep my bread in the freezer since I only eat a slice maybe once every two weeks. But bread does freeze very well.
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Post by tourmaline on Sept 20, 2018 1:23:57 GMT
I find myself eating (drinking) a lot of Smoothies. All summer long I have been picking or buying the local fruits and freezing them to use all winter long. My first year separated I wanted to actually cook real meals of all the foods that Phil never like but I did.... and I did that. I am afraid I have lapsed into big egg and toast breakfast, then mainly snacking the rest of the day between various errands (like work and yoga...and work, and more Yoga... and did I mention I am dating again....
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Post by JoeP on Sept 20, 2018 7:32:23 GMT
Dating! Yay!
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Post by Moose on Sept 20, 2018 20:57:37 GMT
I missed this thread We're trying to save money right now so I have just started making big loads of things like pasta and bolognaise and freezing in portions. Seems to be working so far : )
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Post by tourmaline on Sept 29, 2018 19:56:50 GMT
Blushes... Thanks Dating again after so very long is a real eye opener. And its fun. To get back to food... I bought into a CSA which is a scheme where one pays an organic gardener for "shares" of her crop in advance, then she brings them to your door once every 2 weeks. So I got my share yesterday. There are summer squash out there I've never ever seen before. and I must admit... although I love marinated artichokes, the truth is I've never cooked them before. So I' Finally got round to actually eating the beet greens rather than throwing them in the compost heap I have a backlog of winter squash and potatoes that I've not got round to eating yet I'm hoping they don't go bad...
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Post by Moose on Sept 29, 2018 22:02:12 GMT
I don't know much about squash but potatoes should keep a fair while if they're kept cool
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Post by kingedmund on Sept 30, 2018 14:50:27 GMT
I missed this thread We're trying to save money right now so I have just started making big loads of things like pasta and bolognaise and freezing in portions. Seems to be working so far : ) I like making big portions and freezing. I took three days a couple weeks back and made home made lasagna. Sauce I used tomorrows from the garden. Are one tray and froze the other 8 trays.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Oct 6, 2018 11:44:37 GMT
I saw on a gerdening show the other day that if you keep squashes cool and keep them seperated, they should last plenty long.
We also freeze our bread, it tastes very good when defrosted. If it's a more crusty type bread or a bagel, I often heat it for a couple minutes in the oven to give a fresh crispness.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Oct 6, 2018 11:45:02 GMT
Also, yay for dating Tourm!
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