Food for thought
Cooking a delicious meal for one requires a little planning but the end result is worth it
For Valli Arlette, cooking for herself took on new meaning when her children moved away from home and her husband left.
“All of a sudden, there was just me,” she says. “And I only knew how to cook for a bunch of people. When I cooked, it was big, with lots of leftovers.”
Yet cooking for one became her priority, one she embraced full-force, not just for her but for others. A semi-retired professional chef, Arlette, 68, set up a blog, Itinerant Chef (itinerantchef.com), where she regularly posts recipes and tips for others in similar situations.
And she began to experiment, figuring out recipes, gear, ingredients and proportions that worked for her lifestyle.
Arlette isn't alone, of course. Thousands of people of all ages across Edmonton regularly face mealtime for one. What matters most is figuring out healthy options that you like and that fit your budget, she says.
Here are some tips:
• First, consider your gear. How much space do you have? What do you like and need? For Arlette, that meant a high-quality toaster oven, big enough to fit a six-hole muffin pan or a 30-cm (12-inch) pizza. She has a food processor and “a good microwave, too,” Arlette says. “Everything else is gravy.”
• Next, have a plan. What do you intend to eat throughout the week? “A plan helps you keep your fridge organized, as well as your pantry, and your shopping figured out,” Arlette says.
Then, on a day when you have lots of energy, you can cook a pot of soup, stew or chili that you can freeze for meals throughout the month, recommends registered dietitian and nutritionist Samara Felesky-hunt, who works at The Downtown Sports Clinics.
• Add an egg. “I eat a lot of eggs, not just for breakfast. They're a fast, reliable, good source of protein, and they're very affordable,” Arlette says.
• Add beans. Dried or canned beans and lentils are inexpensive and an easy way to add a slew of protein, fibre and vitamins to your soups, stews and salads, Felesky-hunt notes.
• Cook chicken. Let it cool, cut it up, measure it and freeze it in single-portion servings. You'll always have a fast, easy protein to add to a salad, a sandwich or soup, Felesky-hunt suggests. • Are you throwing out too many vegetables that have spoiled before you could eat them? Buy smaller portions or frozen vegetables, which offer similar health benefits, Felesky-hunt says. • Last but not least, if your budget allows, don't rule out meal kit services such as Hello Fresh or Goodfood, which deliver pre-portioned dishes that require cooking and assembly. They eliminate kitchen waste, “and they give confidence to the `I can't cook' crowd. They'll realize that yes, they can,” Arlette says.
• And keep trying, Arlette adds. The satisfaction of feeding yourself a delicious meal can't be beat. “People ask me: Why do I cook from scratch? Why do I bother? Because I can,” says Arlette.
“If you can read, you can cook.”