Empty Nest Hacks: Cooking for Two
Going from a large family, or even a small family with one hungry teenager, can present a difficult transition for those new to an empty nest lifestyle. You’re used to cooking significantly larger portions, which, if you continue doing, you’re left with only a few options: throwing away food, eating leftovers, or freezing extra food. You just have to decide what’s preferable for you. So, let’s share a few hints and helps for both new and “seasoned” empty nesters.
Tips and tricks in cooking for one or two:
Use smaller recipes (Reduce them to half or one-quarter.)
Make regular size meals, and eat on leftovers for a few days.
Make regular size meals, and freeze the leftovers. (Carefully wrap and identify what’s in the package.
Buy something pre-prepared (for example, boiled shrimp or a rotisserie chicken at Costco), and add it to it.
Subscribe to a food delivery service, such as Hello Fresh.
Have another couple over to eat dinner with you, so you’ll have fewer leftovers.
Do a cooking co-op, and share the food you make three times a week. Remember, someone else will be making your dinner on the other three nights.
If you decide to go it alone (not regularly invite guests or pursue a coop), and cook all of your own meals while keeping in mind the bottom line ($$$), you have a few options:
Eat as cheaply as possible throughout the week and splurge on weekends.
Use up all of what you make with some recipes that allow you to use leftovers (soup, tortillas, quiche).
Look for sales, particularly on meat, which is typically the most expensive component of any meal.
Use up all of what you make with recipes that allow you to use leftovers. Soups, tacos and burritos, or quiche are all wonderful options for making the best use of your leftovers.
Cook large portions and freeze the leftovers
Understand that the freezer will be your friend, especially if you choose to cook the same size portions you’ve been cooking while your kids lived at home. Here are a few examples of meals that freeze well or still taste good left over.
Soups—Most soups can be frozen for a couple of months and still taste just fine. Chili included. The exception might be cream-based soups, as the cream might “break up” and turn into water and curd, which wouldn’t be very appealing.
Lasagna—Homemade lasagna requires a lot of work, so freezing the leftovers in an airtight container or freezer wrap makes a lot of sense. And, somehow, over time, the flavors meld even more. Delicious! Unfreeze overnight in the refrigerator, reheat, and serve with a side of broccoli, garlic bread, and a Caesar salad. Many other Italian dishes freeze well, too.
Barbecue brisket (or pork or sausage)—Because barbecuing or roasting a brisket (or other barbecued meats) is expensive and time-consuming, we really want to know we’ll get a good return on our investment. The great thing about brisket is that it’s so versatile. We eat it as barbecue, naturally, including BBQ brisket sandwiches, but we also use it as the basis for the following meals: stroganoff, brisket tacos, hash, taco salad, Asian broccoli beef, and Shepherd’s pie. Put it on or in a grilled cheese sandwich, pizza, fried rice, nachos, or quesadillas, and as the meat in soup.
Added bonus! Here’s an inexpensive meal option that you have probably never seen, much less tried to make yourself. Meatloaf tends to get a bad rap, understandably so. My husband hated meatloaf when we married. He said the meatloaf he had growing up was really a meatLOAD! Dense and lacking flavor. My mom made terrific meatloaf—not dense, thick, and tough at all. Her trick? Use Rice Krispies instead of breadcrumbs. She also laced the top with several strips of bacon. So yum! I enhanced her meatloaf further by adding A-1 steak sauce to the meat, egg, canned milk mix before molding the meat into loaves. Double yum! See below for the recipe.
MOM’S MEATLOAF
By Leslie Wilson
INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs, beaten well
½ can evaporated milk (not the smallest size)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ -2 lbs. ground chuck (Don’t skimp and try to get by with ground beef.)
1/3 c. A-1 steak sauce
2 c. Rice Krispies
½ pound bacon (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix all ingredients—except the Rice Krispies—with a fork. (Add extra canned milk if it’s dry.)
Add the Rice Krispies and any extra liquid as necessary.
Shape into loaves and place loaves on a rack above the baking pan so they can drain. (I use aluminum foil on the bottom pan for easy clean-up.) If you like, place strips of raw bacon on the top.
Cook at 350 degrees until done (approx. 30-40 minutes).
Use A-1 sauce as a dipping sauce on the plate.