Erin
CouponCravings.com

But as Single Guy says, cheaper isn’t the only reason. I know when I was single, I ate out a LOT (and got fat too). If I cooked once a week, that was a lot. My boyfriend (now husband) cooked most of the time. When he moved away for school, it was back to eating out. My fridge had beer, bagels, cream cheese, and diet coke.

Even now, when my spouse travels, I often go back to basics on dinner (grilled cheese, bagels, quesadillas) with just enough raw fruits and veggies to give my child a balanced meal. (Heck do that when hub is in town even.)

If you are single though, even just cooking a big pot of something 2x a week would be useful. Enough for 6 meals. Eat half, save half. After the first week, you’ll have 3 servings each of four different items that you can eat for that week. That’s 12 servings, or lunch and dinner every day for 6 days. Friday lunch out at work and Sat night out with the boys (or girls).

RE: Planning in advance. I plan to cook three meals a week. By the time I eat out once, am tired from work and just eat cereal once, and then eat leftovers, I’ve usually got the week covered. I also try to plan meals that use the same fresh ingredients so I don’t have a lot of waste. I have a reasonably well stocked pantry and freezer and then I just buy the fresh ingredients I need for the week. The only fresh stuff I always have is milk, eggs, butter, onions, garlic, and pico de gallo. I make one quick weekly trip for fresh stuff and once per month on one of those trips I do the “heavy” shopping to restock the pantry, freezer, and buy household items.

RE: ATK. I can’t agree more about America’s Test Kitchen as a resource. Of course I’m a little obsessed with Cooks Illustrated in general. I happened upon the charter issue as a teenager and have been hooked ever since. For those that don’t know, they have two magazines, two websites, MANY books, and a television show on PBS. The focus is on simple food, well prepared, and as from-scratch as possible.

RE: Making cooking easier. In basketball and in cooking, it’s all about the fundamentals. I couldn’t figure out for the longest time why all those 30 minute recipes took me 90 minutes. After a cooking class where the instructor went over basic chopping, I finally figured out where I was running up the clock. It no longer takes me 30 minutes to mince an onion or a carrot. Now that I know how to do that, I sold the mini chopper a garage sale. Why dirty an appliance when I can do it now in 2 minutes with a knife and cutting board. Also, be sure to read a recipe all the way through to make sure you understand and then assemble the ingredients before hand. Equipment matters. I’m not saying you need a kitchen full of copper pots and every appliance known to man, but you are going to get better results with decent cookware than the flimsy, paper thin one from the dollar store.

Finally, keep it simple. I love to cook and when I have weekend guests or a party, I can put on a show. However, I’m single and have a demanding job so during the week, it’s all about ease and quantity control–since I don’t want to waste time or food—omelets, pasta, a steak, or soup. Most people don’t think about it but I think soup is actually easy to make for one person. I’m not saying you can make clam chowder for one but a can of black beans and some pico de gallo makes two servings of black bean soup. A can of chicken stock, a handful of frozen tortellini, some frozen vegetables, and some vegetable juice can make a quick minestrone soup. Both of those take about 15 minutes.

Watching someone show how to cook something has so much more information than a description in a cookbook or online recipe. You don’t need to know specialized cooking terms, for example, and where a cookbook says “high heat,” on a video you can see the amount of sizzle (or lack thereof) the cook is adjusting the heat to get. So an inexperienced cook has a better idea of what they’re going for.

The video bloggers I like cook food in ordinary apartment kitchens using everyday equipment, which I appreciate too. Blogs are almost like learning to cook from an actual grammie. (Though my actual grammies did not cook much – it’s the feeling that counts!)

Once I tallied that info up, I got scared. Then I started cooking. We eat like kings, and spend $400 a month on groceries. Grass-fed beef, organic veggies, free-range eggs, wine and cream and whole milk. Luckily we just found a store nearby that sells grass-fed beef and organic veggies for less than what a normal supermarket charges for grain-fed/non-organic. We literally have not a want in the world when it comes to food.

Now when we go out to eat, we’re usually disappointed about how bland things taste, how much salt is used, the low-grade ingredients and the expense. I can now cook food that’s better for us and MUCH tastier.

There’s nothing that says that you have to cook every night. Start with one night cooking at home and then work your way up.

About a month ago, I was laid up for a week with a back injury and couldn’t stand up to cook. Hubby was in charge and we had take out. It does add up, even if it’s only hitting the drive through.