Cooking for One: Top Food Items You Must Have in Your Kitchen
For a single person, cooking can often be a challenge. Most food is packaged to feed an entire family. Most recipes are designed to feed several people and can be difficult to prepare in smaller portions. Leftovers can get boring after about the third serving, and sometimes freezing is not an option. It seems, finally, that some companies in the food industry are realizing that not all of us buy in bulk. Here are nine wonderful food items I’ve discovered that every single person should know about.
Pillsbury Perfect Portions Biscuits. These refrigerated biscuits eliminate the need to prepare an entire batch or tube at once. You cook just the number you need.
Pillsbury frozen biscuits and dinner rolls. Just like the Perfect Portions, only in frozen form. The biscuits take a while to cook, but are just as good as most I have tried in restaurants. The dinner rolls are quicker to prepare and just as delicious!
Green Giant Just for One Frozen Vegetables. Individual servings of vegetables, each in its own serving tray. Comes in a package of four trays which can be prepared separately. These are perfect if you struggle with getting vegetables in your diet.
Individual sized pizza crusts. Mamma Mia is the brand I usually purchase, but I have seen several others that are comparable. They usually come three to a package, at a cost of around $2.50. Each crust is approximately eight inches in diameter, and is deep enough to hold toppings without having them fall off. The topping possibilities are endless, and the crusts are pre-cooked so it’s quick and easy to warm them up.
Half-size bread loaves. Unless you eat lots of toast and sandwiches, you probably have trouble using up an entire loaf of bread before it starts to mold. I discovered that Bunny brand bread packages loaves that are half the length of a regular loaf. The size is perfect, and there is no more wasted, moldy bread.
Half-dozen eggs. Just like using an entire loaf of bread, it can be difficult to use a dozen eggs before the expiration date. Most grocery stores offer eggs packaged by the half-dozen, again eliminating the waste of having to throw out spoiled eggs.
Individually shrink wrapped chicken breasts. The uses for these are endless. They usually come six to eight in a package and may be pre-seasoned or marinated in a variety of flavors. Perdue is the brand I usually buy, but I have seen others available as well. They can be used in just about any chicken recipe and are great on the grill.
Individually flash-frozen chicken breasts and tenders. These can be used for many of the same dishes as the previous item. They come in economy-sized bags that store easily in the freezer. You simply take what you need out of the bag, prepare, and enjoy!
Sutter Home wine 4-packs. I often cook with wine and hate leaving a partially empty bottle to sit in the refrigerator for days or weeks at a time. Sutter Home has started selling small bottles of many of their wine varieties in four-packs. These are perfect! I open just one of the smaller bottles to use for my recipe, and the others will keep until I need them.
