Cooking for Two - Recipes & Cooking Advice - Eat Your Books

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#1 Posted : Saturday, August 29, 2015 5:36:19 PM(UTC)
As newly minted empty nesters I am looking for advice on cookbooks which will help me adjust to cooking for two. I am trying to think back more than 20 years to B.C. (before children) but cannot remember many things I made. I think I will look through Judith Jones' book about cooking for one, but any suggestions would be welcome.
#2 Posted : Saturday, August 29, 2015 7:23:18 PM(UTC)
#3 Posted : Wednesday, September 2, 2015 6:33:22 PM(UTC)

Honestly 95% of the time I'm cooking just for my partner and I, and I have relatively few issues with using any of my cookbooks/recipes just for us. Sometimes I simply half the recipe (while adjusting for cooking oils as necessary.) I also am happy to have leftovers on hand for lunches during the week, or to freeze extra servings for when I'm away so my sweetie has something homemade to eat.



If I'm buying something like a large roast or pork loin, I'll also try to cut it into smaller sections before freezing so I'm not cooking like a huge 6-8 pound roast that'll take us days to eat.

#4 Posted : Thursday, September 3, 2015 1:06:13 PM(UTC)

Like Nicole I have become quite adept at just cutting recipes in half for two people instead of four.  If something looks like it will be good leftover, I don't bother to cut it in half because I count the leftovers as treasure to save me time the next night.  When it comes to soups or stews that can be frozen, I go ahead and make the big pot of whatever recipe and then freeze the extra in 2 people-size portions.  My freezer is also full of halves of packages of things like flank steak, chicken and pork tenderloin.  I even go ahead and buy the economy size package of nice lamb chops at Costco and then use the vacuum sealer to divide them into smaller packages that are the right size for us.  This has all allowed me to keep cooking from all my cookbooks without looking for cookbooks just for two people and made for a freezer full of wonderful small packages of finished dinners and raw ingredients.  I can't tell you how many times this has saved me when I come home after work only to realize I forgot to stop off at the store and pick up some vital ingredient for dinner.

#5 Posted : Thursday, September 3, 2015 4:27:18 PM(UTC)
Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement. We are pretty good in the left over department- I almost always use some for lunch, or try to get creative with repurposing. Great ideas about the cuts of meat- I will have to try portioning them out before cooking. Tonight I am trying one of Judith Jones' recipes for stuffed eggplant -though I couldn't bring myself to buy just one eggplant so there will be a lot of left overs :/
#6 Posted : Saturday, September 5, 2015 11:25:20 PM(UTC)

I use all recipes from all sources.  I use to adjust for 4 servings when I was still working (leftover for lunch), but now always for 2 servings unless we are entertaining. 

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