Dinosaur Foodies discussion

I have read several books on cooking for one / two and often been disappointed. Perhaps those books are mostly about smaller recipes and use basic cooking equipment.

I found my favorite kitchen gadget for cooking for one / two is a Food Saver (Vacuum Pack) machine. I often buy in bulk and freeze smaller amounts that are great for cooking for one. Example: Spiral Hams often goes on sale every Thanksgiving and Easter. I will buy a ten pound ham and slice it up in half pound slices and freeze them into around twenty servings. That would include Ham bits for soups, cooking greens and a ham bone for bean soup if I have company. Same with other meats: Hamburger, Pork Chops, Chicken Thighs and Breast. The list goes on. I buy enough that will last at least six months in my small chest freezer. My one guilt about this is extra plastic bags, but the cost in savings is high. However, buying smaller amounts also tends to use more plastic. However, with the food saver vacuum pack is I do not have the freezer burn problem.

I also will add, I buy half gallon ball jars, too store dry goods I tend to buy in bulk also, rice, wheat grains and more. I use the food savor ball jar vacuum sealer with the wide mouth jars. Wheat grains can last up to ten years if kept in a dry and dark environment.

If I had to choose a cookbook for cooking for one, this would be it:
The Pleasures of Cooking for One

Mickey wrote: "I have read several books on cooking for one / two and often been disappointed. Perhaps those books are mostly about smaller recipes and use basic cooking equipment.

I found my favorite kitchen ga..."

I am so glad you get a great deal of use from your Food Saver Machine. My mother-in-law gave us one and we were so excited to get it. I really thought it would be something we would get a great deal of use from. But, honestly we have never used it, not even once! 😯 My jars, a completely different story! I don't know what I would do without them!

I still cook for a family, so unfortunatly I have no recommendation for cooking for one or two. With that said, I have found, cookbooks with a focus on ingredients, especially seasonal may be a nice comprise. One that comes to mind is The Short Stack Cookbook: Ingredients That Speak Volumes I often entertain thoughts of the day I transition to cooking for only two and what that might look like for us.
I am sure there will be suggestions for you in this area and I lookforward to seeing them as well.
Good Luck, Mickey.

sђellΐe wrote: I am so glad you get a great deal of use from your Food Saver Machine. My mother-in-law gave us one and we were so excited to get it. I really thought it would be something we would get a great deal of use from...."

I completely understand where you coming from. For a large family, such a device is useless. For the single person, it is a life / money saver. Making a small amount of soup or chicken pot pie for one is a waist of time. I make several small 5 inch pot pies and vacuum pack the others and pull them out of the freezer for later baking. At Costco the sealer rolls often goes on sale. A person who has a family might think it’s nuts for a single person to shop a bulk store, it’s not.

when I worked in a kitchen, sometimes we would make triple of a meal, and we would vacuum seal it. so instead of making something for 200 guests, we would make it for $600 and then vacuum seal the rest, which would help us for making other meals come together quicker. the vacuum sealer is also perfect if you have a Southside machine.

Good idea!!! I still have not figured out how to make a small pot of beans or spaghetti.

Mike wrote: "when I worked in a kitchen, sometimes we would make triple of a meal, and we would vacuum seal it. so instead of making something for 200 guests, we would make it for $600 and then vacuum seal the ..."

Ah, a true professional. I do find my vacuum sealer so useful for cooking for one or for one hundred people.

Diana wrote: "Good idea!!! I still have not figured out how to make a small pot of beans or spaghetti."

A small pot is what I use for soup and beans. Often I will use my small 3 quart mini instant pot pressure cooker, it is just the right size for one or two people.

My favorite small stove top pot is the 1 & 3/4 quart pot: https://www.lecreuset.com/signature-s...

For spaghetti sauce I will will make a larger amount of sauce, like cooking for for four and freeze the rest in one cup or pint jars.

I know most people will not do what I do for making pasta. Will make enough for cooking for two with leftovers. I make my noodles from scratch: One egg, 50 grams of whole wheat durum flour, 50 grams of all purpose flour (I use pizza flour “00”), tablespoon of olive oil, dash of white pepper, dash of turmeric powder, dash of onion powder and dash of garlic powder. Kneed into a ball, rest for bit, then use a pasta cutter, then… I know too much information…

I love home made pasta. So much better than the store pasta. Good for you!! I might try it again one of these days.

Yes, homemade pasta is so much better. I like to flavor my noodles that makes them taste great without any sauce. I also have the Kitchen-aid stand mixer pasta/cutter attachments, which I prefer over the manual Pasta cutter machines, because I can feed the dough with one hand and catch the other with the other hand. The manual machine needs three hands, one to turn the crank, two for feeding, third for capture.

Another device I have is a manual Cavatelli Maker for gnocchi. Yea, I have the old style gnocchi board also.