Cooking can be a very tedious activity, especially for working professionals. Deciding what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is a hassle on its own, aside from doing the actual cooking and washing the dishes.
Also see: 5 Healthy foods South Africans can enjoy this Heritage Month
Thus, many people find themselves swinging on a pendulum, moving from girl dinners to eating the same meal all week from the Sunday meal prep.
Surely there has to be a middle ground between putting together scraps of food you found in your fridge and slaving away on Sunday, just to be turned off by eating the same thing all week.
Here are five tips for cooking for one without repeating meals.
1. Start planning meal building blocks
Instead of prepping full meals, create a plan to turn each ingredient into more than one combined meal. For example, avoid making a big batch of pasta and make a big batch of pasta sauce to add to different meals.
Moodish suggests starting each shop with three anchors:
- A protein
- Flexible carb
- Two vegetables with different shelf lives.
They also suggest adding a flavour shortcut, such as ready-made sauces that are enough structure for several dinners.
2. Make one portion on purpose
Do not strive for leftovers; rather, make meals that fit for each for now, and turn the leftover ingredients into something different. For example, with a dense bean salad, use the whole can of beans to avoid them spoiling. So you can use the rest of the ingredients as a sandwich.
Also see: Foods you should never put in the fridge: What belongs in the cupboard instead
3. Build a rotation
You don’t need to cook something new every night. You can stick to three formats that you like and simply change the flavour:
- A bowl: You can do a salad or rice bowl with different ingredients.
- A pan meal: This can be pasta or fried rice, and change up the toppings.
- A no-cook or low-cook fallback: Like wraps using leftovers, toast, or soup.
4. Be mindful
Check the ingredients you already have, and see what needs cooking, how much you want to cook, and how you can change up the meal for tomorrow.
Also see: 5 High-protein foods to keep in your spring diet
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