Meridian Magazine :: Around the Table: Cooking for One

“I think it is important to eat healthy,” says Gertrude Muecke, a widow, who now cooks most of the time for one. “I feel healthy because I eat right and I exercise six days a week.”

“You’re just better off if you eat at home,” she continues. “A lot of times when someone is alone, the tendency is to piece on a sweet roll or a slice of bread rather than cook a meal. Or that person runs to a fast food place.”

“My husband was diabetic, so I learned about portion size and cooking healthy. I simply continue in the same mode. I buy lots of fruits and vegetables and plan my meals around them. After our children were grown, I adjusted to cooking for two, so now I cut down, have leftovers, freeze for a later meal, or share. My children come over once a week. Many times I eat dinner with my single friends.

“Even though I may be the only one eating, I set out a place mat and use nice dishes and a napkin. I don’t plan my meals ahead all of the time. Sometimes I cook for two nights and warm up the dinner on the second night. When I go out to eat, I go to a good restaurant. I don’t go to fast food places.”

Brent Black, a widower and a gourmet cook known for his creme brulée, eats lots of salads. He’ll buy a variety of salad greens, rinse them, and put in serving size plastic bags to keep in the refrigerator. Then after a busy day at his dental office, he can come home, add other ingredients, and have a healthy dinner in a few minutes.

Karen Esler, a single, says that one of her motivations to cook is finances. She likes to stretch her food dollar; then she can travel with the money she has saved. “I love to eat healthy and I love to cook,” states Karen. “I try to make many meals out of one cooking effort. I’ll cook a brisket in the crockpot or put a roast in the oven, especially on Sundays. I do different meals during the week with the meat. When I make soup, I make a lot, then freeze portions of it. For a dinner later, I heat it and add a salad. Then I also have soup I can take to someone.”

Eating is just one of the facts of life. Alone or living with a houseful, every person must eat several times a day. The question isn’t whether to eat, but what to eat and how that food is prepared. Dinner, usually considered the main meal of the day, comes around every 24 hours. Eating well over the long-term makes a happier, more energetic, and balanced person. “We really are what we eat, and if we eat well, we’ll feel good, and you have to feel good to do anything well,” says Marjorie Tall, now serving a humanitarian mission in Hanoi,

Viet Nam

Valerie Phillips, food editor of the Deseret Morning News, claims, “There are advantages to being the captain of your own one-person culinary ship. You can decide what to cook and when. If you’ just buying a few stalks, you don’t fret over buying asparagus when it’s $3.99 a pound.

“And you get to choose the ingredients — no need to pick out the mushrooms.”

Becky Low, a featured cook on KSL’s Noon News, points out the pitfalls of eating out frequently. She says that the tab for restaurant meals, fast food and takeout adds up. “Portions are often so large that it’s easy to overeat. And the meals are usually high in protein and refined starches and low in fruits and vegetables and dairy.”

Taking the time to prepare meal for yourself sends the message to your inner being that you are significant and worth the effort. Cheryl Mendelson in her book Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House, states, “If you have satisfying, well-designed meals at home, you are going to be less prone to overeating and nibbling, not only because of the kinds of foods you are likely to prepare but because the very emotional satisfactions offered by home-cooked meals help assuage the empty feelings that make some of us eat when we are not really hungry.” (38)

· Cook the food you love. Anticipating eating a delicious Southwest Chicken Salad or Halibut Au Gratin motivates preparation.

· Do “planned-overs.” Rather than wondering what to do with leftovers, cook several chicken breasts one night, then make soup, a salad, a pasta dish during the week.

· Try new recipes. It’s fun to experiment with new dishes. Recipe sources are numerous: the Internet, television food shows, magazines, newspapers, friends, cookbooks. You’ll find some fabulous new dinners and alleviate boring meals.

· Share with friends, co-workers, or family. Invite people for dinner. Often guests offer to bring a dish and will most likely reciprocate with a later dinner invitation.

· Freeze for later use. When you cook more than you can eat one night, freeze for a quick meal another night. Carefully store foods in appropriate containers so they don’t suffer freezer burn, date, and use within a short time period.

· Cook a family-size meal and deliver to someone in need. Keep the amount you’ll eat and take dinner to a new mother, a new neighbor, or a family suffering illness. One afternoon I visited with a young single girl in the grocery store. She said she and her friends were cooking dinner to take to a family. She didn’t know who it would be but told me they would receive the prompting as to which family needed their service that night.

· Have a well-stocked pantry so that running to the store on a nightly basis isn’t part of meal preparation.

· Simply develop the habit of eating at home more than eating out.