# Cooking for ___ and balanced meals?



## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Most retirees are only cooking for two or one mouths and maybe some leftovers so cooking is held at a minimum. The question comes up - do you plan "balanced" meals or just cook whatever?

Case in point, yesterday I made a roast with roasted potatoes, carrots, onions, and steamed Brussels sprouts. Wife decided to eat a hot dog with pickle relish instead......
Now I'm not saying my prepared meal was "balanced" but compared to a hot dog??????

I do admit I do at times cook for me, well, most times I ask if there is anything she would like for a meal and then go from there, but other times I just toss something, a some what a "balanced" meal, together.

So, do you cook for "balance", taste and enjoyment or just to fill the void of hunger?


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

I will make a steak and get 2 or 3 meals from it. A big baked potato goes for 2 meals. Open a can or two of something and get several meals out of them. My tasters went haywire with radiation treatments to my neck, so grilled meat is my favorite.

Made up a big bunch of chipolte meatloaf last weekend. Made three loaves and sent two of them to my DD and her family. I had mine on Sat, Sun., Mon, Tues, and finished it on Wed. One more day and it would have gone to the dog or cats.
Last time I made a ham was Christmas Eve for my traditional ham sandwiches. Nice big spiral. I ate on that thing for a while, then cut it up and put in smaller portions in freezer. Took one out a few months later and gagged on it. I way overdid it and it was nasty. Don't know when I will make another one, but might be for Christmas Eve. Maybe in a year, I can stomach it again.
Cooking for one definately is a challenge. Always have leftovers, well almost always.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I do not see why the roast with veggies was not balanced? It has meat and vegetables, also known as protein, vitamins, and carbs. People very often get their dairy in the form of a glass of milk or milk substitute.

Sometimes a hot dog just sounds good: after reading your post I went in and got one for my breakfast.


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## kinnb (Oct 23, 2011)

I eat as balanced as possible--my health requires it, along with multiple food allergies. every once in a while, I just say the hell with it and if I want all protein, I eat all protein, or pasta, or whatever, couple times a month. I cook to make several sets of meals for either the week or the freezer, so when I am in a flare, I just need the microwave--already did the hard parts


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Hot dogs are balanced meals.
There are lots of things in them
(Some you don't want to know of)


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

When I make roast (steak) , put potato(1) small bag of carrots(snack size) celery stalk(1),small quartered onion(1), garlic (couple of cloves). Then first night I have as roast, next night or two make into stew, by fourth night it's made into homemade (tart) size pot pie for the freezer for future meal. So the same with chicken. Just cooking for one most days.


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## vickinell (Oct 10, 2003)

I mainly eat balanced, especially at home, but sometimes at school or church it gets unbalanced. I buy organic and non- gmo. Living alone and keeping broccoli and cauliflower, I don't want it to go to waste, so I eat it a couple of times each week steamed and use the rest in soups and other recipes I can freeze for future meals. Same with cabbages and other large vegetables.

I am fermenting beets for the first time now. I get so tired of packing my lunch. I usually pack a weeks worth every Sunday eve. I am so glad I only have a few days till summer break.


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## Jlynnp (Sep 9, 2014)

There are 3 of us here now - myself, DH and my sister is living with us right now. As I just had surgery on my foot the cooking is up for grabs. Fortunately we can all cook. Tonight will be BBQ chicken breasts, potato salad which y sister made yesterday and cucumber/tomato salad DH made yesterday. If I get some energy maybe I will make a desert of some kind.


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## Dutchie (Mar 14, 2003)

I had this conversation with my mother who was taking some meds that interfered with her taste buds and she lost her appetite. However, she insisted she HAD to cook every day. I asked her why? If she made herself a salad with a variety of veggies and some protein she would have a balanced dinner. A sandwich for lunch with lettuce, tomato and some protein. 

When I am home alone I don't cook ..... just a sandwich and/or some soup is good enough for me.


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## FCLady (Jan 23, 2011)

My DH likes to cook, so I let him. Usually he makes a too big of a meal so I have left overs for lunch the next day. He's big on peanut butter and jelly for lunch. I got him hooked on oatmeal for breakfast, so we're now buying 50# bags of oatmeal at the store. We do breakfast and lunch on our own when we feel hungry. He gets a shower and eats breakfast, where I like to get up do the animals, shower, then eat. We do lunch individually too, whenever we're hungry. We sit together and eat supper.


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## pixiedoodle (Sep 24, 2014)

i live on fruit & vegs with little protein unless it is a slice of cheese or spoon of peanut butter. dh thinks meat is a daily requirement..& i fulfill his need for it in one form or another. older i get the smaller the meals become for the most part. once i get the big frzr cleared out i don't expect to see much in there like it use to be. i think i am the queen of leftovers around here.. try to avaid tossig & leaning to cook smaller has been a challenge, however i keep working at it.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Have to admit we eat pretty crazy. Eat supper out or carry in once or twice a week, and probably only fix a real square meal supper 2-3 times per week. We're pretty content eating leftovers too.


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

I cook for one and try to eat balanced meals. Lots of vegetables and small portions of meat, usually in casseroles or soups. Thankfully I don't mind eating the same thing several days in a row. I do splurge on Church's fried chicken one Tuesday a month and a frozen pizza once a month. But I primarily cook my own meals.


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## Nsoitgoes (Jan 31, 2016)

I live alone and generally cook everything from scratch. It is fairly well balanced over time... I tend to cook fancier meals when my SO is visiting. He takes pride in his cooking so always cooks well balanced meals when I visit him


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## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

I get a basket of organic fruits and veggies delivered every Tues. so eat around that all week. I don't eat much meat although I have plenty of venison in the freezer from one of my boys. If I eat meat, it is usually chicken.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

I only cook for supper and I usually ask hubby what he wants because he's the picky eater. It is definitely not balanced but every once in a while I get sick of eating nothing but junk and make a good meal. Meat, potatoes & veggies was the way I was raised and what I still like to have with an occasional pasta meal or eating out thrown in for variety. In his perfect world there is only sandwiches, preferably hamburgers, toasted cheese and blts. I actually ate better when I was young and single because to eat his way never even entered my mind. I'd cook a couple of big meals over the weekend and then make up plates with the leftovers, take one kind with me to work for lunch and the other I'd have for supper for the rest of the week.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

A decent diet doesn't demand that every meal be balanced in and of itself. But a good variety of meals can go a long way towards balancing things out. A meal with mostly hotdogs and mac-n-cheese is ok from time to time but wouldn't be a good thing if that's all a person ate meal after meal. A meal with mostly some bread and veggie soup might be lacking in protein but there's nothing wrong with eating that for a meal. Ect., etc. 

We just have two in our household but we tend to overcook, especially vegetables. The leftovers don't get thrown out or go to waste, though. For instance, when we have corn for supper, there will almost always be leftovers. Those will go in the refrigerator and within a few days, there will very likely be corn fritters for breakfast one morning. 

We eat quite a variety of foods from a lot of different styles... Mexican, Italian, American, occasionally Chinese or Thai. We tend to get bored easily and that's probably a good thing. Our meats are generally chicken, fish or turkey with the occasional buffalo. Our veggies are too numerous to mention. Our fruits are a little thin compared to what some would think would be good but we don't have any fruit trees or berries of our own. (Hoping to change that.) We probably eat more with a "meat as a side" than "meat as the main part of the meal", when we have meat, we don't always. Dairy we tend to use more as a condiment than a food group. We do use eggs, probably more than many, but I try very hard to find eggs from true free range chickens. (I'd like to have chickens of my own again, too.) Desserts come in spurts, sometimes most days, and then rarely. The "rarely" is best for us but we don't deny ourselves if we really want it. I do try very hard to avoid having anything from the bakery section of the grocery store jump in the cart.


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