My husband and I just got married this February. It is just the two of us right now. What we do is cook 3 full recipes and eat the same meal two times a week. If there are any leftovers, I normally eat it for lunch, or freeze it for a later time. It helps to cut down on meal prep time halfway through the week, and it helps us to stay on budget for the month.
Jessica Fisher
Great strategy!
vanessa
I use large muffin tins to freeze casseroles. once frozen, I pop the portions out, put them in a bag, then they are ready in 1-2 cup portions. I pour sauces into quart-size bags and soup into pint-size canning jars, label, date and freeze. The bags can be frozen flat and stacked. The jars can be pulled out and put into fridge to defrost, pour, heat and serve.
Also we use a small crock pot (1.5 quarts) that I bought at a drugstore or bargain store for $10. I’m not a big crockpot user, but it wrks well for making red sauce, cooking dried dried beans and steel cut oats. Great post!
I’ve had mixed success with halving recipe ingredients. Basically, anything that relies on some sort of reaction or rise (bread, baked goods, main dishes with complex sauces) doesn’t work well.
Jessica Fisher
What size freezer are you using? Do you find that baking and freezing works for you?
vanessa
We have one of the bottom freezers that pulls out like a drawer – not sure of the size but it:s nit apartment size. Also we have a small upright freezer leftover from the days when I lived on a farm. (We keep it because we can buy meat in bulk -and share with other families. One shelf of the upright often has jugs of frozen water to keep it efficient, we are just too small a fam to keep an upright fully packed all year).
Baked goods – not a lot…1 or 2 pies (when there’s a good deal on fresh fruit and we don’t eat it fast enough, or when I want a couple of make-aheads for dinner parties). During the holidays, I make extra batches of cookie dough and freeze them and that lasts awhile. In general, stuff lasts longer once baked (except donuts) and so there is less need to stockpile. Cooking also takes less time, so not as much reason to do things like make a stack of pancakes & freeze.
It’s easier and quieter in our kitchen but we’d have liked more…God had other plans and that’s ok.
Janet
When we were first married I was constantly throwing food away. Usually because my recipe called for a small amount of an ingredient and I was unlikely to use the remainder before it spoiled. One of the strategies I learned and still use today is freezing cooking ingredients in typical recipe amounts for MY family size. For example, most recipes only call for 1 or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. I freeze the remaining in ice cube trays, so anytime I need a tablespoon or 2 of tomato paste I have just the amount I need.
Jessica Fisher
Excellent point! I freeze tomato paste in dollops on plastic wrap and then stuff in a bag to use later. Do the same with chipotle peppers and bulk packages of crumbled cheeses.
Laura
My husband and I just got married this February. It is just the two of us right now. What we do is cook 3 full recipes and eat the same meal two times a week. If there are any leftovers, I normally eat it for lunch, or freeze it for a later time. It helps to cut down on meal prep time halfway through the week, and it helps us to stay on budget for the month.
Jessica Fisher
Great strategy!
vanessa
I use large muffin tins to freeze casseroles. once frozen, I pop the portions out, put them in a bag, then they are ready in 1-2 cup portions. I pour sauces into quart-size bags and soup into pint-size canning jars, label, date and freeze. The bags can be frozen flat and stacked. The jars can be pulled out and put into fridge to defrost, pour, heat and serve.
Also we use a small crock pot (1.5 quarts) that I bought at a drugstore or bargain store for $10. I’m not a big crockpot user, but it wrks well for making red sauce, cooking dried dried beans and steel cut oats. Great post!
I’ve had mixed success with halving recipe ingredients. Basically, anything that relies on some sort of reaction or rise (bread, baked goods, main dishes with complex sauces) doesn’t work well.
Jessica Fisher
What size freezer are you using? Do you find that baking and freezing works for you?
vanessa
We have one of the bottom freezers that pulls out like a drawer – not sure of the size but it:s nit apartment size. Also we have a small upright freezer leftover from the days when I lived on a farm. (We keep it because we can buy meat in bulk -and share with other families. One shelf of the upright often has jugs of frozen water to keep it efficient, we are just too small a fam to keep an upright fully packed all year).
Baked goods – not a lot…1 or 2 pies (when there’s a good deal on fresh fruit and we don’t eat it fast enough, or when I want a couple of make-aheads for dinner parties). During the holidays, I make extra batches of cookie dough and freeze them and that lasts awhile. In general, stuff lasts longer once baked (except donuts) and so there is less need to stockpile. Cooking also takes less time, so not as much reason to do things like make a stack of pancakes & freeze.
It’s easier and quieter in our kitchen but we’d have liked more…God had other plans and that’s ok.
Janet
When we were first married I was constantly throwing food away. Usually because my recipe called for a small amount of an ingredient and I was unlikely to use the remainder before it spoiled. One of the strategies I learned and still use today is freezing cooking ingredients in typical recipe amounts for MY family size. For example, most recipes only call for 1 or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. I freeze the remaining in ice cube trays, so anytime I need a tablespoon or 2 of tomato paste I have just the amount I need.
Jessica Fisher
Excellent point! I freeze tomato paste in dollops on plastic wrap and then stuff in a bag to use later. Do the same with chipotle peppers and bulk packages of crumbled cheeses.
Jessie
Thanks for the tip!