How To: Cook for One

DISCLAIMER: I am by no means an expert on any topic I choose to write about from here on out, but maybe the things that I've gone through or are going through currently relate to you and can help you in some way. At the very least, you can laugh at/with me, remembering that one time that maybe you too felt like a complete moron, as I go through the many Mishaps of an Almost Adult.

I never really had anyone teach me how to cook. I was in high school and home alone one night when the sudden urge to be domestic hit me. I went to the grocery store and somehow arrived on making eggrolls from scratch. You know me, always diving head first into the deep end. My mom came home later that night, found me standing in the kitchen with a rather successful batch of eggrolls that I was pretty proud of. She just stared at me as if contemplating if she brought the wrong baby home from the hospital all those years ago. My mom's favorite part of the kitchen is the takeout menu drawer.

One of my biggest struggles with budgeting (and believe me, that's really saying something since I have a lot of struggles with budgeting to pick from) is that I spend too much on food. Its not that I eat out too much, although I do that too probably, but that I end up wasting money at the grocery store.

Even when I do go to the grocery store and decide to attempt to cook for myself, I am in a constant battle with expiration dates. Fresh produce? I don't stand a chance. Milk? Ugh.

Have you ever had milk the day after the date? Scares the heck out of you, doesn't it? The spoon is trembling as it comes out of the bowl. "It's after the day! I'm taking a big chance! I smelled it, you smelled it, what is it supposed to smell like? It smelled like milk to me." (Go ahead and watch the rest of the Seinfeld bit that this quote comes from to make your day a little better.)

Being the only one in my house, I can't possibly eat or drink all of the fresh items I purchase before they go bad. I've even stooped as low as looking up what kinds of produce dogs can eat to help me get rid of stuff... Brodie loves carrots and bananas. I know. He's weird. 

So here I am, standing in the produce section, rolling my cantaloupe down the aisle per Jerry's advice, (it's fading left, its not ripe yet) trying to come up with a way to not go broke. I'm a few seconds short of a Steve Martin, Father of the Bride-type melt down, ripping out superfluous hot dog buns from the entirely too large pack, and scrambling for ideas to avoid eating leftovers for a week after every time I cook at home. How do we solve the expiration date dilemma without returning to our never-expired college staples of Ramen, Spaghetti-Os, and Kraft Mac & Cheese?

1. Roughly plan out your meals ahead of time so that you know what you need before you go. Walking aimlessly through the grocery store is half the battle.
2. Think about items you can use for more than one meal. Going to buy ground beef? Well, lets have both tacos AND spaghetti this week then. Brown all of the meat at once and your second meal will be super quick.
3. If you know that you're going to be making something that makes too much food and aren't super excited about leftovers, invite a friend over and have them bring some of the ingredients. Split the meal and have some company at the same time.
4. Consider going to a farmer's market for produce. Not only will you get locally grown fresh produce, but they offer it in smaller quantities than the giant bag of grapes at the grocery store meant for 12 instead of 1.
5. Pack your lunches, or at the very least, snacks for work ahead of time so that you know what you're going to use before you start eating out.
6. When you do have leftovers, separate them into single servings so that they're easy to grab and go - you'll end up eating better portion sizes and are more likely to grab them if its fast and you don't have to think about it.
7. MOST IMPORTANTLY - don't go to the grocery store hungry. You'll end up buying everything that sounds good right then and there and wind up with entirely too many groceries when you get home.

Worst comes to worst, frozen pizzas and Kraft Mac & Cheese are still acceptable. And so delicious.