{"id":2078,"date":"2014-07-06T22:19:46","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T22:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=2078"},"modified":"2014-07-06T22:19:46","modified_gmt":"2014-07-06T22:19:46","slug":"cooking-just-for-one-or-two-tips-tricks-and-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/cooking-just-for-one-or-two-tips-tricks-and-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooking Just for One (or Two)? Tips, Tricks and Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Table
Cooking for One? Who says it’s not worthwhile?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chatting with a neighbor yesterday I learned that she was feeling anxious about her son’s imminent departure for college–for all the usual motherly reasons, of course, but also because she would be left cooking just for one. “I’ve already noticed I can’t eat like a teenager any more,” she bemoaned while patting the little midriff bulge that begins to happen around midlife.\u00a0 She wondered what would happen without a growing teenage boy propelling her to make good meals.<\/p>\n

As a 25-year veteran in the healthy meal making area, I’ve heard the “cooking for one” lament hundreds of times. And for the longest of times, I indulged the common assumption that it doesn’t make sense to cook just for one.\u00a0 I readily handed out free passes to any and all single householders. “Sure,” I would commiserate with them, “you can munch on miserable crackers and cheese and call it dinner.”<\/p>\n

I get it, having a one-person household means your body no longer needs healthy meals, right?<\/p>\n

And having only one at the table means you don’t deserve freshly-prepared meals, with inviting colors and smells.<\/p>\n

And certainly, you’re not entitled to relax, put your feet up and savor the flavors.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As I began looking at things from these perspectives, the common assumptions about cooking for one started sounding pretty silly. So I started doing what all educated people should do with any common assumption heard more than ten times: Question it!<\/p>\n