Cooking for One: Being a Single Cook

When you are living alone, cooking dinner for one just seems like such a hassle. It doesn't seem worth the time and effort. Plus, there is always the space and the storage issue to deal with especially if you live in a tiny studio apartment. Here are some reasons why you should stop giving the take-out guy all your money.

First, we are heading toward the recession. The money you spend can put to better use like saving for an uncertain future. That fifty or hundred bucks you spend on eating out your meals can add up quickly to a nice tidy sum when it is put in the bank.

If you have no knifes or no knife culinary skills then there so many options now for the knife impaired. There are loads of pre-cut vegetables and frozen vegetable that are great to use for stir-fries or to put into pasta. Also, lot of stores offer pre-cut vegetables in their salad bars.

If you don't have the room in your small NYC apartment then there so many cooking websites and magazines that are devoted to people who don't own cookbooks. Also, go to the food channel website and see the wide selection that you can print out for free.

If you don't like eating alone that have some friends over and just have a simple meal of pasta and good conversation. You cook the pasta and your friend can provide the wine. It not a good idea to be drinking a whole bottle of wine alone so why not share a bottle of wine with your friend. It's also a lot cheaper to buy a bottle or wine or bread then eat a whole meal out. Also, if you have leftover bread they are great for sandwiches the next day or you can freeze them also.

If you bake you can freeze some of the muffins or cake or just be nice and bring some to the office.

Speaking of cake, if you feel like eating it for dinner then do. As a single girl you control the food you consume whenever you want to eat it. There are no rules when it comes to nourishment when you are the one footing the grocery bill.

Try new recipes,borrow recipes from Mom, or just experiment. Making some new dishes just for yourself will give you chance to test which recipes work if you need a dish to bring to a party.

If you bring leftovers for lunch to work the next day it's a great way to impress people with your cooking skills. People at work from a mile away will smell a good dish heating up in the microwave. Just make sure it's the new office cutie that sees what a great cook you are.

Cook all the meals in one day. Then you can just freeze the meals for whenever you want to eat, Think of it as your own frozen dinner line without all the sodium and calories.

Support the farmers and just buy what you need. It is easier to buy small portions at the farmer market. Sometimes at the end of the day you can get some fruit and vegetable bargains. Also, go the produce market in your supermarket to look for reduced priced vegetables. Sometimes the fruits are not damaged or spoiled but that the supermarket has a surplus that they want to get rid of quickly.

If you find you have a lot of fruit you can freeze them just like the muffin, cakes and bread. You can use the additional fruit for smoothies, toppings for yogurt or you can even use fruit like plums and peaches for a nice summer chicken dish.

Also, if you worry about having the cabinet space to store all sorts of jars of spices for recipes,then just like the fruits and vegetables there are places that just sell you the portion you need. There are shops on 23rd and Lexington in NYC that sell nuts and spices by the pound.

Once you start cooking for one then it become a habit just like exercise. If you become really good you may one day be in the bookstore and venture into the cookbook section.