Homespun

March 29, 2000



PLANNING AHEAD TO COOK FOR ONE OR TWO!


Cooking for one or two most of the time can be frustrating. Most packaged foods and ready-to-eat foods contain too much to eat at one meal. Perhaps you end up eating cereal or a peanut butter sandwich for the evening meal more often than you would like to. Maybe you even have leftovers that sit in the refrigerator long enough to qualify for toxic waste.

Today, I would like to offer you a few tips to help you plan healthful meals, cut down on leftovers and wasted food, and enjoy more variety at meal time.

Buying the large-size, "get-more-for-your- money" packages is not always a good bargain if you end up throwing away food. You will probably pay more for smaller packages, but you can enjoy a wider variety. For example:

  • Individual-size bottles or cans of juice.
  • Single-serving cans of soup, tuna, vegetables or fruit
  • Single sticks of string cheese
  • Frozen vegetables packaged in bags. It is easy to remove the amount you will eat and freeze the rest.
  • Single-serving microwavable entrees or meals
  • Pints or half-pints of milk
  • Fresh vegetables or fruit from a supermarket salad bar. Select just enough for a tossed or fruit salad, or for cooking.
  • Single pieces of fresh fruit at various stages of ripeness. For example, buy a ripe banana to eat right away and a green one that will ripen in a few days.

    Plan your meals to take advantage of cooking a quantity of food and then using in various dishes. For example:

  • Cook rice as a side dish at one meal; use leftover rice in rice pudding.
  • Fix pasta as a hot entree at one meal; chill leftovers for a pasta salad.
  • Bake chicken pieces for one meal; use leftover chicken in casseroles, sandwiches or soup.
  • Make a meatloaf mixture and bake some as meatloaf; freeze uncooked portion for meatballs or stuffed peppers.
  • Make individual-size pizza crust from a tortilla, English muffin or pita bread.
  • Use chicken salad or tuna salad in a sandwich one day and in a stuffed tomato the next day.

    In order to preserve quality and freshness, and practice good food safety habits, freeze food while it is fresh, not after it has been in the refrigerator for several days. Tips on freezing foods include:

  • Immediately wrap and freeze half a loaf of bread as soon as you buy it. Or, freeze the whole loaf and remove slices as needed. Package meat the same way - wrap in individual portions and freeze.
  • Always label and date your packages and be sure that you use the older packages first.

    Food manufacturers are packaging more and more single servings and smaller servings for this market. This makes it much easier for singles and couples to plan meals around a wide variety of foods in order to insure that nutritional needs are met.

    BAKED CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI
    2 whole chicken breasts, split
    2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
    1 (10 oz.) package frozen broccoli
    1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
    1/2 cup milk
    1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
    1/4 cup bread crumbs
    Paprika

    Place chicken in a 9-inch square pan, and drizzle with butter. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes. Cook broccoli according to package directions; drain. Arrange around chicken.

    Combine soup, milk, and cheese; pour over chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika. Bake an additional 20 minutes. Yield: 2 servings.

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