Meals for One !

[blunomore]

Since I am normally alone 3 to 4 nights a week, I cannot be too much bothered with cooking.

When I am in the mood, I will eat healthy, even though it is a meal for one - fruits, roasted veg, etc.

1. What do you eat when you are alone for dinner?

2. Do you have some recipes to share in this regard?


Thanks :)

[Ecco]

tea and toast

[kiepie]

I make a meal for 3, when it's only me. So then I have left overs for the next day as well. ;)

[porn$tar]

tea and toast

Welcome to the club.

[porn$tar]

I make a meal for 3, when it's only me. So then I have left overs for the next day as well. ;)

Only when i feel like cooking, and when budget allows of course.

[kb]

Pretty ill disciplined in this regard.

If I get it together and think "healthier", fresh salad ingredients, some tuna, herbs, get a little experimental if one can with a tuna salad hehe.

Lazy route, though expensive the Woolworths meals work for me.

Also can only get motivated to make a meal if there's more than one, in fact more than two usually.

[blunomore]

tea and toast


Thanks.

I've got the recipe for those :D

[Keeper]

Just deep fry anything you feel like having...

[blunomore]

Just deep fry anything you feel like having...


Then going to the gym would be all in vain!!

[alf101]

My 4 or 5 times a week...

Got a George Foreman grill.
Make steak, kebabs, toast, whatever.
Heat up frozen veg in the microwave.
Pizza now and again.

[SYNERGY]

Samoosa's :D
Milo (Raw)
These are just snacks lol

[Nanfeishen]

I am a fairly big eater, so quantity may vary:

Roast a chicken in the oven with your veggies and a few potatoes for one evening, take the left over chicken and turn it into a chicken a la king for the next night, chopping up the left over veg and adding that to the pot as well.
If you have leftovers from the Chicken a la king, freaze it and warm it up another night, voila 3 meals of one.

Easy fish dish: piece of kinglip, in boiling water in pot, steamer above pot with peeled baby potatoes, and a marrow mix, melt a little butter in the micro to pour over the fish, or a small white sauce.

[Keeper]

take the left over chicken and turn it into a chicken a la king for the next night, chopping up the left over veg and adding that to the pot as well.

or, make a 1kg steak on night 1, on night 2, take the leftovers and mince it to make meatballs, recook in oven. on night 3, take leftover meatballs, flatten out and place on buns - burgers! on night 4, throw it to the dog, you can't do anything further with it now...

[Devill]

I make a meal for 3, when it's only me. So then I have left overs for the next day as well. ;)

x 2 :D

I will either make chicken salad, Tuna salad, 800g rump, Chicken breats filled with Creamed spinach, Pizza or if im lazy I will just drink a shake :D

[Nanfeishen]

or, make a 1kg steak on night 1, on night 2, take the leftovers and mince it to make meatballs, recook in oven. on night 3, take leftover meatballs, flatten out and place on buns - burgers! on night 4, throw it to the dog, you can't do anything further with it now...

The 1kg steak will only last me 1 night especially with chips and 2 eggs :D

[Keeper]

would 5kg's get you to step 4 then? i am allowed to change the recipe because it's my own recipe...
(c) Keeper's top-class Recipes 2008

[sn3rd]

Roast chicken pieces is a nice easy one for a meal for one. Add your favourite starch (potatoes is easy for this) and veg (roast veg is easy for this), and you have a meal. Takes a while, but it's usually unattended. A rough-guide recipe follows:

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces (I use thighs)
Marinade (given below)


1) Marinade the pieces for a few hours (I've done as little as 1.5hours with good results). Butterflying drumsticks helps get the flavour in there.
2) Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.
3) Whack the marinaded chicken and potato in for 30mins. I usually use a roasting tray with a grid. For tasty potatoes (and unhealthy, unfortunately), position the potatoes below the chicken so they get coated in the fatty goodness (drool). For a healthier option, par-boil the potato then add them to the grid-area when you turn the chicken pieces.
4) Turn the chicken pieces (and if going for the healthy route, add the par-boiled potatoes).
5) Add the veg to the grid and roast for another 30mins or until done, using the leftover marinade to occasionally keep the chicken moist.

Quite a rough guide, I know, but that's the beauty: no thinking "hmmm I need xyz for this to work". You just add whatever you like and it always turns out great.

The marinades I often use (with no specific quantities... I just wing it)

1) BBQ: Enough tomato sauce to coat the chicken pieces (with about a tablespoon or so extra), a few tablespoons of chutney, some Worcestershire sauce (to taste... Some people don't like it, but I like a LOT), salt, pepper and sugar to taste. To marinade, dump all your chicken pieces (did you clean them? :D ) into a container that will allow you to coat the pieces quite easily. Add the marinade ingredients in whatever order you feel like. Close the container and shake around while watching TV for like 30seconds. Place in refridgerator until you're ready to cook!

2) Lemon chili: Olive oil, lemon juice, chillis (spelling??). Finely chop chillis. I find that it doesn't matter what chillis you use, as long as you're consistent (i.e. don't mix different chillis). If you use the same chillis, it turns out well no matter what you use, but if you mix chillis, I find the actual chilli flavour gets drowned out, and you're left with lemon that burns your mouth. To marinade, dump all your chicken pieces in a container that will allow you to coat the pieces quite easily. Add the marinade ingredients in whatever order you feel like. Close the container and shake around while watching TV for like 30seconds. Place in refridgerator until you're ready to cook!

[porn$tar]

Shwarmas (spl.?) are easy and quick to make.

Chicken, beef or pork filling with lettuce cucumber and Rosa or Bella (never ate tomatoes before i tasted these) tomatoes, and a bit of salad dressing.

pack of 6 pita normally last me 3 days.

Hint: bake all the pitas the first night, then just reheat as you need them. No need to turn the oven on every night just for one or two pitas.

[Keeper]

pita's need to be baked? hmmm.....

[Nanfeishen]

would 5kg's get you to step 4 then? i am allowed to change the recipe because it's my own recipe...
(c) Keeper's top-class Recipes 2008

Rule changer :p

in that case, day 2 slice up some of the leftover steak into thin strips, flash fry it in a hot wok with some diced veg, day 3, dice remaining and make a casarole, which should get you to day 4 ;)

[eaglebeaver]

Shwarmas (spl.?) are easy and quick to make.

Chicken, beef or pork filling with lettuce cucumber and Rosa or Bella (never ate tomatoes before i tasted these) tomatoes, and a bit of salad dressing.

pack of 6 pita normally last me 3 days.

Hint: bake all the pitas the first night, then just reheat as you need them. No need to turn the oven on every night just for one or two pitas.

try snipping a little off the side of the pita and then it fits in the toaster

[porn$tar]

pita's need to be baked? hmmm.....

nah, they're premade, you just need to toast them in the oven a bit. Takes about 3min per side. To big to fit in a standard toaster, might work in a 4 slice, with a bit of rotation.

[porn$tar]

try snipping a little off the side of the pita and then it fits in the toaster

never thought of that... :D thanks for the tip

[sn3rd]

Easy pasta:

Ingredients:

Mince
Oil
Chopped garlic
Can of tomato-and-onion gravy or seshebo, or whatever
Pasta


1) Heat pan
2) Add oil to pan
3) Add garlic to pan
4) Add mince to pan
5) Brown mince
6) Add can of tomato-and-onion gravy or seshebo or whatever
7) Mix well and simmer, stirring occasionally
8) Pasta!
8.1) Boil water in pot
8.2) Dump pasta in pot
8.3) Add like a teaspoon of oil
8.4) Remove from heat when Al Dente
9) At this point, mince has been simmering for a good 15mins at LEAST (mince is often from quite a tough cut, and I'm told the classy restaurants simmer mince for close on an hour). Taste the sauce and add salt, pepper, sugar to taste (sugar works REALLY well here).

Variations:
1) Add some chilli @ the garlic-phase
2) Add some herbs at the end
3) Sprinkle with cheese when serving

[porn$tar]

Some good ideas here:

http://www.food24.com/Food24/

[blunomore]

Some good ideas here:

http://www.food24.com/Food24/


Love these sites, thanks!

[Bernie]

When in need of emergency meal and one is alone - Cereal FTW!!! Coco Pops to be exact :D:D

[porn$tar]

When in need of emergency meal and one is alone - Cereal FTW!!! Coco Pops to be exact :D:D

Assuming you've got milk in the fridge that hasn't gone south. Bachelors are apt to make sure their weekly supply of beer is cold before they check the milk stock. Guilty as charged. :o

[spiderz]

blunomore - why you alone at home so much?

ok, sandwiches, toasted or not...
tuna salad, tuna rice salad.
look st these new microwaveable rice in the bags, very fast, and a meal on it's own.
just a steak or chicken fillet.
these kingklip fish in the cheese sauce, you get them in the bag, microwave it, and them put it on a slice of bread.
microwave chips for a side dish.
and if i'm really not in the mood for cooking, soya milk, the chocolate type.... :D


ask a batchelor...we know all the short cuts :D

[porn$tar]

microwave chips for a side dish.

:sick:

Tried this for week, microwave pies and chips. Except for the heartburn, the pies were of okay, but the chips tasted like cardboard and never cooked all the way through. So you'd end up with overdone chips on the outside, and soggy, cold chips on the inside. Oven baked chips are better.

[HavocXphere]

Had great success with a DIY sub the other day. Just buy a french loaf from Spar (R5), cut it open and throw in some stuff + cheese. Oven @ 180 for a bit and good to go.

Else tuna sandwich. (with lots of pickled gurkens {sp?})

[porn$tar]

Else tuna sandwich. (with lots of pickled gurkens {sp?})

gherkins :p

and if you're tired of tuna, then the canned sardines are also good, with chopped onions, tomatoes and chillies on toast.

[Nocturnity]

The bones in the sardines freak me out too much... Can't eat it...

[porn$tar]

The bones in the sardines freak me out too much... Can't eat it...

Cos you're s'posed to take the bones out...

[Devill]

Shwarmas (spl.?) are easy and quick to make.

Chicken, beef or pork filling with lettuce cucumber and Rosa or Bella (never ate tomatoes before i tasted these) tomatoes, and a bit of salad dressing.

pack of 6 pita normally last me 3 days.

Hint: bake all the pitas the first night, then just reheat as you need them. No need to turn the oven on every night just for one or two pitas.


When in need of emergency meal and one is alone - Cereal FTW!!! Coco Pops to be exact :D:D

Love both of these :D


Had great success with a DIY sub the other day. Just buy a french loaf from Spar (R5), cut it open and throw in some stuff + cheese. Oven @ 180 for a bit and good to go.

Else tuna sandwich. (with lots of pickled gurkens {sp?})

Yeah that does work really nicely.... All I do is add meat + sauce + 1 ton of cheese.


The bones in the sardines freak me out too much... Can't eat it...


Cos you're s'posed to take the bones out...

You can eat those bones, they are so soft.. :D

[Slootvreter]

Get a slow cooker. Put the meat and potatoes, carrots and green beans in in the morning and when you're home the food's done. Use the remaining sauce for stock (for making soup) the next day :D :D :D

[bwana]

On the rare occasions I'm dining alone I go off in the kitchen :D

Five alarm chilli being my favourite (too spicy :rolleyes:) or pork medallions in creamy whole grain mustard sauce (too rich :rolleyes:), or a fillet steak stuffed with stilton wrapped in bacon with a port sauce (too rare :rolleyes:).

[porn$tar]

On the rare occasions I'm dining alone I go off in the kitchen :D

Five alarm chilli being my favourite (too spicy :rolleyes:) or pork medallions in creamy whole grain mustard sauce (too rich :rolleyes:), or a fillet steak stuffed with stilton wrapped in bacon with a port sauce (too rare :rolleyes:).

recipes pls? :)

[porn$tar]

Chicken livers on toast has got to be my fave "quick" meal.

[blunomore]

This thread made me think (yes, it happens on occasion).

I have never used my slow cooker for a curry - always do it on the stove top. I found a nice recipe for chicken curry in the slow cooker and will attempt it on Thursday !

[porn$tar]

Had colleague visiting from India, around Sept last year. He was Durbs before he came down to CT. Brought a coupla sachets of ready made Indian mix stuff from Durbs. Now I'm NOT a mix with water sachet kinda guy (Knorr, Maggi, etc.) but this stuff was amazing! All natural ingredients with f-all preservatives, starch or flavourants. Just mix with a bit of water, add chicken or beef and microwave or bake in oven.

I was happy to find the same stuff at a little Indian place in Ottery the other day, and some of the Spars stock it now as well.

[Nicci]

I normally just baai a piece of steak, fry it quick quick, and boil a potato in the microwave. Takes 10 minutes in total :) I also buy steam veggies from Woolies, put in microwave and then fry a piece of wors. Or when im really lazy, hotdogs :)

[Nicci]

Had colleague visiting from India, around Sept last year. He was Durbs before he came down to CT. Brought a coupla sachets of ready made Indian mix stuff from Durbs. Now I'm NOT a mix with water sachet kinda guy (Knorr, Maggi, etc.) but this stuff was amazing! All natural ingredients with f-all preservatives, starch or flavourants. Just mix with a bit of water, add chicken or beef and microwave or bake in oven.

I was happy to find the same stuff at a little Indian place in Ottery the other day, and some of the Spars stock it now as well.

name please :)

[porn$tar]

name please :)

Eish, the name eludes me now, will have it tomorrow ;)

[blunomore]

Eish, the name eludes me now, will have it tomorrow ;)

I prefer using the spices and cooking from scratch, but maybe you're thinking of Packo or Parampara?

[AcidRaZor]

1. Anything
2. 0800-MrDelivery

[porn$tar]

I prefer using the spices and cooking from scratch, but maybe you're thinking of Packo or Parampara?

Nope it's none of that packet stuff with additives, not a name I've ever seen on a shelf before. Manufactured in India and the ingredients listed claim to be all natural, but who believes everything they read, right? ;)

I also prefer making everything from scratch (hate that powdery, starchy texture you get using that packet stuff), which is why I was impressed with this stuff.

Will post the name tomorrow.

[blunomore]

Nope it's none of that packet stuff with additives, not a name I've ever seen on a shelf before. Manufactured in India and the ingredients listed claim to be all natural, but who believes everything they read, right? ;)

I also prefer making everything from scratch (hate that powdery, starchy texture you get using that packet stuff), which is why I was impressed with this stuff.

Will post the name tomorrow.


Ooooohhhhh, I think I know what you refer to. We also bought it in India, you just take it out of the (foil) container and heat it up. Let's see what you info you give us tomorrow.

[JungleRumble]

You guys seem to be serious chefs. When I am too hungry to wait - I make "growwe" mieliepap. Or oats in the microwave.

Or sardines and avo on toast - with balsamic vinegar.

[porn$tar]

You guys seem to be serious chefs. When I am too hungry to wait - I make "growwe" mieliepap. Or oats in the microwave.

Or sardines and avo on toast - with balsamic vinegar.

Oats is my staple man, every morning for breakfast. The proper kind, not the oatso easy *bleh*. Can't function properly without it, that and the first cuppa coffee.

For supper it's toasted low GI bread (zero crumbs :D). Unless I feel like cooking (which I enjoy), then anything goes. My wifey's gonna have it soooo easy...

[Keeper]

Or sardines and avo on toast - with balsamic vinegar.

Worst combo i have ever heard of! wors than nesquick + condensed milk on toast!

[JungleRumble]

I am a bit lazy to cook - or, maybe I am reluctant to try new ideas in the kitchen. I have been staying in the Cape since 1987 - and I only started experimenting with fish last year. Found a nice little fish shop called Fish for Africa who sells fresh fish for very reasonale prices (especially when compared to Fruit and Veg in Willowbridge. They sell Dorado and Black Marlin for R39/kg. Cutting it to one's liking is free.

Now I eat fish often - do it in the Weber for 20mins while basting it with a basic lemon/butter sauce. never had a flop!

So - do one marlin fillet in a pan or on the weber, add avo and enjoy. Perfect batchelor dish.

[JungleRumble]

Worst combo i have ever heard of! wors than nesquick + condensed milk on toast!

Not that bad - the balsamic makes up for it!

[porn$tar]

JR, Where be Fish for Africa? Do they sell shellfish also?

[JungleRumble]

One branch (bigger one) in Woodstock. Tel 021 448 5258. Smaller branch in Monte Vista, just off the NI close to the small Vruit and Veg.

Unsure about shellfish - but give them a call.

[porn$tar]

Thanx JR. If you enjoy fresh fish, then you should go to Houtbay harbour once in a while. You can buy fish straight off the boats at ridiculous prices.

[porn$tar]

Ey Blu, you were right. It is the Parampara stuff. I'm sure there are are brands as well, but that's the one I saw at the Indian spice shop.

[Kim_Webchick]

Woolies premade dinners the Indian ones are pretty good or just pasta and sauce.

[DJ...]

Pasta - the easiest meal to cook for one and very versatile.

Or if quantity and health are important aspects, then try steaming veg, wine, lemon, balsamic and fish in a tin-foil bag ala Jamie Oliver. This is also pretty versatile and really tasty...

[Hosehead]

Meals for one when there is no time to waste, nobody else around, and preferably eaten over the kitchen sink.

1. Baked beans on toast
2.Brie/Camembert, cranberry jelly and toast.
3.Toasted cheese sandwich. (toast bread, nuke cheddar and pour molten mass over toast.)
4.Bread, butter and marmalade sandwiches.
5.Instant soup with braed and butter and a hunk of cheese
7.Crispy bacon sandwiches - fry whole packet of bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels and sandwich between slices of fresh soft white bread.
9. Avocado halves with salad dressing.
10.Ramen noodles with chili sauce

[porn$tar]

Meals for one when there is no time to waste, nobody else around, and preferably eaten over the kitchen sink.

1. Baked beans on toast
2.Brie/Camembert, cranberry jelly and toast.
3.Toasted cheese sandwich. (toast bread, nuke cheddar and pour molten mass over toast.)
4.Bread, butter and marmalade sandwiches.
5.Instant soup with braed and butter and a hunk of cheese
7.Crispy bacon sandwiches - fry whole packet of bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels and sandwich between slices of fresh soft white bread.
9. Avocado halves with salad dressing.
10.Ramen noodles with chili sauce

Toast...

[Office Furniture]

Meals for one when there is no time to waste, nobody else around, and preferably eaten over the kitchen sink.

1. Baked beans on toast
2.Brie/Camembert, cranberry jelly and toast.
3.Toasted cheese sandwich. (toast bread, nuke cheddar and pour molten mass over toast.)
4.Bread, butter and marmalade sandwiches.
5.Instant soup with braed and butter and a hunk of cheese
7.Crispy bacon sandwiches - fry whole packet of bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels and sandwich between slices of fresh soft white bread.
9. Avocado halves with salad dressing.
10.Ramen noodles with chili sauce

I like some of the things you have mentioned, but I think that you are addicted to bread!!!!!!!
You should read this thread
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=132925

[blunomore]

Sadly, today I had to resort to baking a Pennywise frozen mutton pie in my oven.

[Hosehead]

Sadly, today I had to resort to baking a Pennywise frozen mutton pie in my oven.

That must be one of life's more depressing moments. Was there meat or gristle?

[porn$tar]

That must be one of life's more depressing moments. Was there meat or gristle?

What i affectionately call "gristle n gravy" pies.

[blunomore]

That must be one of life's more depressing moments. Was there meat or gristle?


Actually, it was not too bad - it had some veg which made up for ... err ... the other stuff. Oh, and I put some chutney and pepper on top - that saved me

:)