Does anyone bother to cook if they live alone?

cas1977 · 16/12/14 - 12:45

Don't get me wrong, I am very happy living alone, but the thing with living alone is the cooking and shopping........

I dislike cooking..One because I'm no good at it, and I'm not interested in it enough to learn to do more than I already know how to do, and two, what is the point when it's only you?

So I swing from either simply choosing to buy frozen dinners, and slam something into the microwave, but then the guilt kicks in and I think "what am I putting into my body" so then I decide to just cook simple meals that are at least good for me. I buy vegetables ( mainly salad stuff) and I end up eating them every day due to the fact that I can't get rid of them!

I tend to chuck away a lot of fresh stuff, as there are only so many times a week you can eat peppers....for example

Believe me, if I thought for one second, I could live on eating "something on toast" for most of the week, then I damn well would!

I think the simple thing is, that I just actually am bored about having to think about meals and what to cook etc, when it's just me!

Does anyone else feel the same?

TrollHunter · 16/12/14 - 13:20

I work away during the week and thankfully my wife prepares food that I can bung in the oven because left to my own devices, something-on-toast would be my meal of choice. On the few days I don't have meals, I eat eggs for tea, 5 of them.
Boiled.

I don't like cooking.

Andrue · 16/12/14 - 13:22

I do, although during the working week it's often just picking frozen food out of the freezer and sticking it in the oven. But sometimes a microwaved casserole. But at the weekends I have 'proper' meals. Classic meat and veg and often a dessert I've baked myself (I do a mean Lemon Meringue Pie and my Cottage Cheesecakes are good as well if a little unhealthy).

It is tricky to manage fresh food but I find that most vegetables will last two weekends in the fridge if kept in the crisping boxes. As for cooked meat that goes in sarnies (sometimes with a several month long wait in the freezer first). I'm not a chef by any means but preparing a traditional lunch time menu is easy. Even the Lemon meringue pie isn't really that difficult - the trick is not to try and whisk the eggs by hand

WhatJoeThinks · 16/12/14 - 13:31

cas1977 wrote: »

...Does anyone else feel the same?

Yes, hence the sharp decline in public health and rise in obesity.

Personally, I love eating delicious, nutritious food without breaking the bank, so I learned to enjoy cooking.

EvieJ · 16/12/14 - 13:34

Andrue wrote: »

I do, although during the working week it's often just picking frozen food out of the freezer and sticking it in the oven. But sometimes a microwaved casserole. But at the weekends I have 'proper' meals. Classic meat and veg and often a dessert I've baked myself (I do a mean Lemon Meringue Pie and my Cottage Cheesecakes are good as well if a little unhealthy).

It is tricky to manage fresh food but I find that most vegetables will last two weekends in the fridge if kept in the crisping boxes. As for cooked meat that goes in sarnies (sometimes with a several month long wait in the freezer first). I'm not a chef by any means but preparing a traditional lunch time menu is easy. Even the Lemon meringue pie isn't really that difficult - the trick is not to try and whisk the eggs by hand

Feeling you pain but I'm getting better. The freezer is now my friend. I make casseroles and freeze 3 portions, also potatoes. A home cooked meal in 15 mins. Throw much less fresh food away now.

annette kurten · 16/12/14 - 13:36

i love cooking and i use to do pretty much everything from scratch when i had others to feed but i don`t often bother for just me.

cnbcwatcher · 16/12/14 - 13:36

I'm a postgrad student and don't bother cooking much. I usually eat in college every day and at weekends I might either eat out or grab ready meals or something quick. I like home cooked meals but I don't have the time to make them.

An Thropologist · 16/12/14 - 13:42

I live alone and almost every meal is one I have cooked from scratch. I also make jam, chutney and preserve vegetables and fruits when in season. Leftovers and squishy veg are used to make soup. I waste hardly anything., I estimate I spend significantly less that £3 per day on my groceries and this includes toiletries, household essentials and cleaning materials and inexpensive table wine.

I do pick things out of the freezer put they are things I put there. So a casserole made for 4 provides one dinner now, one chilled for later in the week and two frozen for the future.

barbeler · 16/12/14 - 14:31

The best thing you can do is to cook with frozen vegetables. This means that you are always eating food that is totally fresh and you never have any waste. If you steam them it keeps washing up to a minimum and encourages you to go for for more healthy recipes. I often go to the houses of people who are rather snobby about frozen veg, yet if you look in their fridges you will find yellowing broccoli and limp, rubbery carrots. It's very cheap and easy to cook healthy meals with the minimum of effort.

Radiomaniac · 16/12/14 - 14:38

I now live alone after losing my OH. I take it day by day, depends whether I feel like cooking, what I fancy and how hungry I am.

Sometimes I make a stew or a stir fry, other times a nice salad with chicken or salmon, other days toast and fried tomatoes or sandwiches. I no longer take notice of the 'you can't have that for your dinner' nonsense.

I buy a mixture of frozen food (big bags of peas and sweetcorn, for instance), tinned goods (carrots and potatoes, because I like tinned carrots, hate fresh ones when they stay hard and woody) and fresh (onions, garlic, turnips etc).

I also buy special offer chicken fillets and divide them up in little plastic bags in the freezer, so I can get just the amount out that I need, without it all being in one huge unbreakable clump!

bobcar · 16/12/14 - 14:41

The most important thing from the health point of view is the vegetables and considering how easy it is to stem up a load of veggies there's really no excuse for not doing that whatever you eat them with.

[Deleted User] · 16/12/14 - 14:54

So you can't cook. That's essentially what you are telling us.

Muze · 16/12/14 - 14:58

I live alone and cook most days, usually just one-pot stuff as washing up gets tedious.

It's cheaper, tastier and healthier than ready meals and snacks IMO.

Jambo_c · 16/12/14 - 14:59

It was when I lived alone that I actually learned to cook. I couldn't be bothered at uni and then when I lived at home my mum did all the cooking. Once I was living alone I began to realise that ready meals were crap and I wasn't enjoying my meals. In my book food is something that should be enjoyed so I decided I was going to enjoy every meal so taught myself to cook. If what I was cooking was for numerous people I'd just save some for the following day and re-heat it. It turned out I really enjoyed cooking and now I live with my wife I still do all the cooking in our house. I'd class food and cooking as a hobby though so it's not a chore for me. If for any reason I went back to just cooking for myself I'd still make the effort for sure. There's nothing worse than having a meal and not enjoying it.

Andrue · 16/12/14 - 15:09

EvieJ wrote: »

Feeling you pain but I'm getting better. The freezer is now my friend. I make casseroles and freeze 3 portions, also potatoes. A home cooked meal in 15 mins. Throw much less fresh food away now.

I have it on good authority that I'll have a slow cooker soon. Should be interesting to see how I get on with that. The downside for me of casseroles is that even with a microwave a beef casserole takes nearly two hours to prepare and cook. I leave for work at 6:30am and don't get back until 6pm. Having to wait another two hours to eat is a problem. Hopefully the slow cooker will address that and the idea of arriving home to the smell of a casserole ready for the eating sounds wonderful.

The lemon meringue recipe I use is great because it uses an exact number of eggs. I love the way it works out like that. The only thing I change about it is that I don't use golden caster sugar. As some of the posters in the comments section say it produces an unappetising green/brown filling :-/

DaisyBill · 16/12/14 - 15:30

If I lived alone I wouldn't cook much, but I wouldn't eat ready meals either. I'd just eat things like cheese, smoked mackerel fillets, granary bread, pre packed salads with cherry tomatoes and beetroot, assuming I could afford all these types of food. I prefer cold food to hot and I'm not keen on cooking either. I don't think it matters as long as you get the required nutrients.

Mmmbop · 16/12/14 - 15:33

Yep, know exactly what you mean. I basically live on my own midweek as mine and my flatmate's working hours mean we don't even see each other on weekdays. I'm a garbage cook, all I buy is frozen stuff and ready meals. I've found I'm eating the same three or four meals every week and can never think of anything else to get.

I try to get vegetables in me too, usually frozen vegetables that just go on the side of my plate of chips...

[Deleted User] · 16/12/14 - 15:33

I love cooking; trouble is I love cooking crap food like bacon and chips so I don't cook very often.

Radiomaniac · 16/12/14 - 15:34

DaisyBill wrote: »

If I lived alone I wouldn't cook much, but I wouldn't eat ready meals either. I'd just eat things like cheese, smoked mackerel fillets, granary bread, pre packed salads with cherry tomatoes and beetroot, assuming I could afford all these types of food. I prefer cold food to hot and I'm not keen on cooking either. I don't think it matters as long as you get the required nutrients.

I do that often, and not because I can't be bothered either, but because I enjoy cold food too. A typical meal for me would be sunflower seed topped bread with butter, a tin of red salmon (I prefer that to fresh), tomatoes, cheese and some type of pickle or chutney.

BellaRosa · 16/12/14 - 15:40

annette kurten wrote: »

i love cooking and i use to do pretty much everything from scratch when i had others to feed but i don`t often bother for just me.

I am the same. I rarely have a proper meal now.

Madridista23 · 16/12/14 - 15:50

I have always cooked for myself, and for my mother when she was alive - wouldn't have it any other way. I do things a little differently now that she is no longer with us, but all of my meals are home cooked, from scratch, so i know exactly what's in them. I cook once a week, usually on Saturdays and make 4 or 5 portions that can be frozen and then defrosted as and when needed. :cool:

EvieJ · 16/12/14 - 15:56

Madridista23 wrote: »

I have always cooked for myself, and for my mother when she was alive - wouldn't have it any other way. I do things a little differently now that she is no longer with us, but all of my meals are home cooked, from scratch, so i know exactly what's in them. I cook once a week, usually on Saturdays and make 4 or 5 portions that can be frozen and then defrosted as and when needed. :cool:

Me too, but mainly casseroles, chilli. Anything else freeze well ?

Andrue · 16/12/14 - 15:58

Mmmbop wrote: »

Yep, know exactly what you mean. I basically live on my own midweek as mine and my flatmate's working hours mean we don't even see each other on weekdays. I'm a garbage cook, all I buy is frozen stuff and ready meals. I've found I'm eating the same three or four meals every week and can never think of anything else to get.

I try to get vegetables in me too, usually frozen vegetables that just go on the side of my plate of chips...

Here's an idea to improve on your meals a bit. Buy some larger potatoes and zap one or two of them in the microwave for ten minutes. Then stick them in the oven instead of your chips. Jacket potatoes are at least as nice as chips and as long as you don't go too mad with butter more healthy

Oh and frozen peas can be cooked in the microwave in three or four minutes.

barbeler · 16/12/14 - 15:59

My problem is that if I cook something for myself, I hate to waste electricity, so make huge portions. The intention is to get three or four meals out of it, but sometimes I make a curry, lasagne or casserole that tastes so good that I scoff the whole lot in one go

Takae · 16/12/14 - 16:02

I lived on raw vegetables, sandwiches (usual: Vienna seed rolls with beef slices and salad), dirty quick rice dishes, and a good old beef stew that usually lasted three days.

Before that, I survived on my gran's dishes for every few weeks. She let herself in at my place while I was at work. Cooked some dishes. Left them on the counter or in fridge, and went home. It ended when she decided I was old enough to survive on my cooking alone.

Sometimes she made desserts and cakes, too, but only when I was in her good books (translation: not very often). I could tell she was pissed off. Usually when my least-favourite dish (miso soup with seaweed) was on the counter. This was her way of saying '**** you', I suppose.

I still miss her cooking.

geos · 16/12/14 - 16:03

I couldn't eat ready made meals every day, thats a really grim thought.
Like most people buy a mixture of frozen/fresh veg, salads, eggs, chicken. Its really not difficult to make a nice big pot of soup or casserole.

Much cheaper and healthier

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