One of the biggest things we hear is that it is very challenging to cook for one or two people.
Many people are used to cooking for a family, so scaling back how much food they make is difficult.
Most recipes serve 4-6 people. Ingredients in the store tend to serve more than 1-2 people (ex. 1# of ground meat).
Easy to get in meal “ruts” or stuck with too many leftovers.
Because of this, people sometimes resort to using more processed convenience foods (which can be used in moderation, but generally are not the best choice for health).
Brianna Wolfe, registered, certified dietitian, is here to offer suggestions on how to cook for one or two with a healthy flare.
Selected Podcast
Healthy Cooking Ideas for One or Two
Featured Speaker:
Brianna Wolfe
Brianna Wolfe is a registered, certified dietitian. She has worked in food service, corporate wellness, and now currently at Aspirus Wausau Hospital as a Clinical (Inpatient) Dietitian. She works with adults on a daily basis regarding diet and nutrition. Transcription:
Healthy Cooking Ideas for One or Two
Melanie Cole (Host): It can be tricky when cooking for one, or even two, to make the most of your ingredients and to minimize dishes particularly when many recipes focus on making a meal for a family and serve four to six people. Just because you have a smaller household doesn’t mean you should abandon the kitchen for take-out. My guest today is Brianna Wolfe. She’s a Registered dietician/nutritionist with Aspirus Health System. Welcome to the show, Brianna. What are some of the challenges that people face when they’re trying to make recipes for just one or two people?
Brianna Wolfe (Guest): Well, most recipes tend to serve four to six people and on top of that, many people whether it be empty nesters or just older adults are used to cooking for a larger family. So, all of a sudden cooking for one or two can be quite challenging. Grocery stores, too, tend to cater to those larger numbers. So, there are a couple challenges there that are upfront right away.
Melanie: What would you like people to do? To begin, let’s start with the grocery store. When they go there and they see these big bags of things or these huge things of rice and pastas, how do they scale that down? Do you buy the big bags and store them or do you look for smaller containers which can sometimes be more expensive?
Ms. Wolfe: Sure. I think part of it, too, all starts kind of before people even step foot in the grocery store. They need to do some meal planning and make a grocery list so that those items that they do buy don’t go to waste. I think that’s one of the missing pieces, too, between good intentions to eat healthy and actually doing it at home is that missing meal planning which can make things a lot easier when it comes down to it. So, when you’re going through the grocery store at least if you buy that rice, whether it be a smaller package or a bigger package, at least you have a plan for it and less goes to waste. Again, if you’re planning next week meals, you can find another way to use some of that leftover rice.
Melanie: So, when you’re planning your meals, you’re thinking about all the different aspects. Give us an idea of planning.
Ms. Wolfe: Sure. Let’s say you’re planning for a week at a time which tends to work pretty well for most people. So, Monday night through Thursday night, let’s say you plan your meals. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It can be something as simple as spaghetti or one night you plan for having leftovers or maybe there’s kids practice one day, so you know that you will be on the run. Planning for those things can make sure that you’re buying the right things at the grocery store so you’re spending less money and wasting less. Also, while you’re taking that step to plan, you can plan for health. You can plan to make sure there’s a vegetable as a side at every meal and things like that. It really kind of streamlines that process and then, once you get home after a long day, cooking a meal from scratch seems much easier because you have that plan in place.
Melanie: What about if you’re making that plan but some of these things, like you want to make a lasagna or something along those lines. Those are big dishes.
Ms. Wolfe: Yes.
Melanie: So then, do you carry them over? Do you freeze them? Because food goes bad pretty quickly.
Ms. Wolfe: Yes. If you are making a big dish like that lasagna which is kind of difficult to scale down in some ways, I would definitely recommend freezing half of it or sometimes you might have friends who are kind of in the same situation. Maybe plan to share that meal with them and kind of swap meals and that way less goes to waste and you have a good opportunity to get together with friends.
Melanie: That’s a great idea. Kind of everybody can share those bigger meals. Give us some tips for going to the grocery store and buying those smaller amounts.
Ms. Wolfe: I like to tell people to kind of think outside the aisle. There’s lots of resources in the grocery store that people kind of forget to take advantage of. So, things like the salad bar – you can buy smaller amounts of pre-cut vegetables and then you don’t have a huge bag of lettuce that goes to waste or kind of half rotted cucumbers in the crisper. Use that and it’s much easier. Same with the deli counter or the meat counter. You can buy things like one or two pork chops instead of buying the whole big package. So, using some of those resources can really make it a lot easier. If there’s a bulk section, sometimes you can buy small amounts of rice or smaller amounts of nuts and things like that which, again, will cut down on that waste.
Melanie: Give us some healthy quick cooking ingredients that you would like us to keep in our refrigerator or in our pantry for the smaller meals.
Ms. Wolfe: Absolutely. One of the biggest things, I think, that can help people a lot is frozen vegetables. It maybe sounds a little bit silly but if you think about it, frozen vegetables are pre-washed and pre-cut; they don’t spoil and they’re also very economical. So, if you have a frozen vegetable in your freezer there’s no excuse not to have a vegetable at your dinner meals. Same with things like quick cooking rice or they make frozen brown rice now. That’s in the freezer aisle. Same thing--it steams in a couple of minutes and it’s done. Having other whole grains like whole wheat tortillas or whole wheat wraps – those can be a foundation for a lot of quick, easy meals, too, such as wraps themselves or personal pizzas and things like that. Frozen fruit, too, can be a really nice thing to have on hand especially in Wisconsin here when there’s not quite fresh fruit available all year round.
Melanie: Now, we’re in the cooking process and, again, sometimes it’s hard to bring down those recipes a little bit. Give us some tips for during cooking that we can make those smaller healthy meals.
Ms. Wolfe: I think lots of times people are used to using a 9x13 pan but if you use that for one or two people, there’s bound to be leftovers. So, using something like an 8x8 pan or a loaf pan can really kind of make sure that you’re not making too much. Also using things like your toaster oven or microwave or counter top grill can make the cooking process much quicker.
Melanie: Salads are one of the things you mentioned. Getting things at the salad bar and salads are such a healthy thing to use--fresh vegetables and to use raw things and even to sauté. That seems to be something that keeps people from eating healthy. Give us some tips about vegetables if we want to get them fresh – how it takes so much time to cut them up.
Ms. Wolfe: Right. One of the best things I think people can do is once you buy, let’s say, that celery and those carrots is to wash and chop them right away and put them in a visible place in the refrigerator. That way it’s easy to grab for snacks or for lunches. I think just having them ready to go makes people that much more likely to actually eat them rather than kind of letting it sit in the freezer for a couple of days and watching it go bad.
Melanie: What about things like, you see pork tenderloins at the market and they’re pretty big and two people, or even one, doesn’t necessarily--you can’t finish one of those. Can you cut those in to useable things and freeze them?
Ms. Wolfe: Absolutely. You can, again, right away when you get home kind of cut that into your serving sizes. If it’s a large portion of tenderloin, you might be able to get almost four meals out of that for one to two people. Sometimes having a food saver or some heavy duty freezer bags rather than just your standard plastic bags, that can make a big difference, too, to keep the quality of the meat there. Too, that’s a way to cut down on costs because you’re buying that nice big portion of meat but you’re getting four servings out of it.
Melanie: It certainly can be more economical that way. Give us your best advice, Brianna, for healthy cooking for adults--just general good, healthy cooking advice as a registered dietician/nutritionist.
Ms. Wolfe: Sure. I think there’s a lot of health information out there and it can be a little bit confusing but I always tell people to go back to kind of the common sense diet. So, we know that fruits and vegetables are healthy. So, at each meal we should strive to make half our plates fruits and vegetables. Also, whole grains like your brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, even – that is a nice healthy grain that has lots of fiber and protein compared to the refined version or the white breads and white rice. Also, having that lean meat, whether it be chicken breast or even red meat like your lean pork and beef, that can be perfectly fine. We just recommend that people chose the leaner cuts. So, if you have those components at your meal, you have a very healthy meal on your hands. You can also add some low-fat dairy to the mix, too, and that provides some protein and calcium. So, it’s those kind of common things that you hear quite often – that is what people should do. It’s just a little bit hard sometimes to actually practice it day-to-day.
Melanie: Brianna, in the last minute here, tell us about some of the educational programs offered by Aspirus to help people eat healthier or why they should come see you.
Ms. Wolfe: Sure. Aspirus has a couple of programs related to weight loss. We also have some special programs for older adults specifically to kind of help them live the healthiest life that they can.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us. What great information. You’re listening to Aspirus Health Talk. For more information you can go to Aspirus.org. That’s Aspirus.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Healthy Cooking Ideas for One or Two
Melanie Cole (Host): It can be tricky when cooking for one, or even two, to make the most of your ingredients and to minimize dishes particularly when many recipes focus on making a meal for a family and serve four to six people. Just because you have a smaller household doesn’t mean you should abandon the kitchen for take-out. My guest today is Brianna Wolfe. She’s a Registered dietician/nutritionist with Aspirus Health System. Welcome to the show, Brianna. What are some of the challenges that people face when they’re trying to make recipes for just one or two people?
Brianna Wolfe (Guest): Well, most recipes tend to serve four to six people and on top of that, many people whether it be empty nesters or just older adults are used to cooking for a larger family. So, all of a sudden cooking for one or two can be quite challenging. Grocery stores, too, tend to cater to those larger numbers. So, there are a couple challenges there that are upfront right away.
Melanie: What would you like people to do? To begin, let’s start with the grocery store. When they go there and they see these big bags of things or these huge things of rice and pastas, how do they scale that down? Do you buy the big bags and store them or do you look for smaller containers which can sometimes be more expensive?
Ms. Wolfe: Sure. I think part of it, too, all starts kind of before people even step foot in the grocery store. They need to do some meal planning and make a grocery list so that those items that they do buy don’t go to waste. I think that’s one of the missing pieces, too, between good intentions to eat healthy and actually doing it at home is that missing meal planning which can make things a lot easier when it comes down to it. So, when you’re going through the grocery store at least if you buy that rice, whether it be a smaller package or a bigger package, at least you have a plan for it and less goes to waste. Again, if you’re planning next week meals, you can find another way to use some of that leftover rice.
Melanie: So, when you’re planning your meals, you’re thinking about all the different aspects. Give us an idea of planning.
Ms. Wolfe: Sure. Let’s say you’re planning for a week at a time which tends to work pretty well for most people. So, Monday night through Thursday night, let’s say you plan your meals. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It can be something as simple as spaghetti or one night you plan for having leftovers or maybe there’s kids practice one day, so you know that you will be on the run. Planning for those things can make sure that you’re buying the right things at the grocery store so you’re spending less money and wasting less. Also, while you’re taking that step to plan, you can plan for health. You can plan to make sure there’s a vegetable as a side at every meal and things like that. It really kind of streamlines that process and then, once you get home after a long day, cooking a meal from scratch seems much easier because you have that plan in place.
Melanie: What about if you’re making that plan but some of these things, like you want to make a lasagna or something along those lines. Those are big dishes.
Ms. Wolfe: Yes.
Melanie: So then, do you carry them over? Do you freeze them? Because food goes bad pretty quickly.
Ms. Wolfe: Yes. If you are making a big dish like that lasagna which is kind of difficult to scale down in some ways, I would definitely recommend freezing half of it or sometimes you might have friends who are kind of in the same situation. Maybe plan to share that meal with them and kind of swap meals and that way less goes to waste and you have a good opportunity to get together with friends.
Melanie: That’s a great idea. Kind of everybody can share those bigger meals. Give us some tips for going to the grocery store and buying those smaller amounts.
Ms. Wolfe: I like to tell people to kind of think outside the aisle. There’s lots of resources in the grocery store that people kind of forget to take advantage of. So, things like the salad bar – you can buy smaller amounts of pre-cut vegetables and then you don’t have a huge bag of lettuce that goes to waste or kind of half rotted cucumbers in the crisper. Use that and it’s much easier. Same with the deli counter or the meat counter. You can buy things like one or two pork chops instead of buying the whole big package. So, using some of those resources can really make it a lot easier. If there’s a bulk section, sometimes you can buy small amounts of rice or smaller amounts of nuts and things like that which, again, will cut down on that waste.
Melanie: Give us some healthy quick cooking ingredients that you would like us to keep in our refrigerator or in our pantry for the smaller meals.
Ms. Wolfe: Absolutely. One of the biggest things, I think, that can help people a lot is frozen vegetables. It maybe sounds a little bit silly but if you think about it, frozen vegetables are pre-washed and pre-cut; they don’t spoil and they’re also very economical. So, if you have a frozen vegetable in your freezer there’s no excuse not to have a vegetable at your dinner meals. Same with things like quick cooking rice or they make frozen brown rice now. That’s in the freezer aisle. Same thing--it steams in a couple of minutes and it’s done. Having other whole grains like whole wheat tortillas or whole wheat wraps – those can be a foundation for a lot of quick, easy meals, too, such as wraps themselves or personal pizzas and things like that. Frozen fruit, too, can be a really nice thing to have on hand especially in Wisconsin here when there’s not quite fresh fruit available all year round.
Melanie: Now, we’re in the cooking process and, again, sometimes it’s hard to bring down those recipes a little bit. Give us some tips for during cooking that we can make those smaller healthy meals.
Ms. Wolfe: I think lots of times people are used to using a 9x13 pan but if you use that for one or two people, there’s bound to be leftovers. So, using something like an 8x8 pan or a loaf pan can really kind of make sure that you’re not making too much. Also using things like your toaster oven or microwave or counter top grill can make the cooking process much quicker.
Melanie: Salads are one of the things you mentioned. Getting things at the salad bar and salads are such a healthy thing to use--fresh vegetables and to use raw things and even to sauté. That seems to be something that keeps people from eating healthy. Give us some tips about vegetables if we want to get them fresh – how it takes so much time to cut them up.
Ms. Wolfe: Right. One of the best things I think people can do is once you buy, let’s say, that celery and those carrots is to wash and chop them right away and put them in a visible place in the refrigerator. That way it’s easy to grab for snacks or for lunches. I think just having them ready to go makes people that much more likely to actually eat them rather than kind of letting it sit in the freezer for a couple of days and watching it go bad.
Melanie: What about things like, you see pork tenderloins at the market and they’re pretty big and two people, or even one, doesn’t necessarily--you can’t finish one of those. Can you cut those in to useable things and freeze them?
Ms. Wolfe: Absolutely. You can, again, right away when you get home kind of cut that into your serving sizes. If it’s a large portion of tenderloin, you might be able to get almost four meals out of that for one to two people. Sometimes having a food saver or some heavy duty freezer bags rather than just your standard plastic bags, that can make a big difference, too, to keep the quality of the meat there. Too, that’s a way to cut down on costs because you’re buying that nice big portion of meat but you’re getting four servings out of it.
Melanie: It certainly can be more economical that way. Give us your best advice, Brianna, for healthy cooking for adults--just general good, healthy cooking advice as a registered dietician/nutritionist.
Ms. Wolfe: Sure. I think there’s a lot of health information out there and it can be a little bit confusing but I always tell people to go back to kind of the common sense diet. So, we know that fruits and vegetables are healthy. So, at each meal we should strive to make half our plates fruits and vegetables. Also, whole grains like your brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, even – that is a nice healthy grain that has lots of fiber and protein compared to the refined version or the white breads and white rice. Also, having that lean meat, whether it be chicken breast or even red meat like your lean pork and beef, that can be perfectly fine. We just recommend that people chose the leaner cuts. So, if you have those components at your meal, you have a very healthy meal on your hands. You can also add some low-fat dairy to the mix, too, and that provides some protein and calcium. So, it’s those kind of common things that you hear quite often – that is what people should do. It’s just a little bit hard sometimes to actually practice it day-to-day.
Melanie: Brianna, in the last minute here, tell us about some of the educational programs offered by Aspirus to help people eat healthier or why they should come see you.
Ms. Wolfe: Sure. Aspirus has a couple of programs related to weight loss. We also have some special programs for older adults specifically to kind of help them live the healthiest life that they can.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us. What great information. You’re listening to Aspirus Health Talk. For more information you can go to Aspirus.org. That’s Aspirus.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.