Meal times for one can be harder on the budgeting that cooking large stretchy meals for multiple people. If you are dining solo, how can you make the most frugal meals and not sacrifice your health?

When I was single and before I had kids (when my dh would be gone for work), I ate a lot of salads and ramen noodles made healthier by adding lots of veggies. I would precut veggies for a weeks worth of salads, then i could easily throw together a salad with minimal prep and cleanup. I also ate quite a bit of Chinese takeout. Not so healthy, but I could stretch a $5 lunch special into 2 meals at least.

 Combing ingredients work best for me:

For breakfast,  put oatmeal in your pancake mix with powdered milk. I used to add brownie mix into it in the past as it added much sweetness & flavor. This enabled me to use less maple syrup which, sad to say, is overly expensive.

 For dinner meals such as a Mulligan stew, I often make enough for 3 or 4 bowls at one time. I put the unused portion in the fridge right away and have it the next day so that it doesn't spoil. Having grown up in New York, I've always enjoyed cheese in my soup.  It adds an immense amount of flavor and helps fill you up.   What I do is to put cheese on top of my soup just before I eat it.  Don't put it in your pot when cooking as it will melt down to the bottom of the pot and kinda spoil the taste. Any cheese is good - Swiss, Lorraine, Cheddar - all good stuff.

A good combo meal which I like is to make burgers of ground beef with black  beans + some barbecue sauce.  It can supersize your burgers and add much flavor. 

 As for desserts, well, despite my advancing age (advancing?  heck, let's say it right - OLD age!), I still have a sweet tooth.  Nothing pleases me more than making my own smoothies or malts.  Combine 1/2 cup of milk or 1/4 cup of half & half with any fruits such as banana, some fruit juice, perhaps plain yogurt, touch of honey, maybe even mixed nuts, 1/2 cup or more of cool whip, and put it into a blender = the result will be very yummy & nutritious. And it is so much cheaper than what you buy at a store.  On a couple of occasions, I have bought strawberry cupcakes or jelly rolls on sale (usually 10 for $10) and found that if you add it into your blender when making a smoothie, it adds sweetness, flavor, and helps supersize it.  

 

 Hello  two-bits your single too huh I look on your profile ohhhhh don't worry not hitting you up just saying hello and I do know what its like to cook for one I have done that for almost 3 years my hubby died a couple of years ago she I learned to cut recipes in half if this allows it and you can freeze pancakes if yyou make them for your self.

Oh welcome to the thread my sister is cheapskate50 look out for her she is the clown of the thread so you are far warned

 Hi!

 Yup. Single all my life - never married as women always found me utterly reprehensible. Every time that I went on a date (what few they were) women would initially take interest in me cause I have a good sense of humor. But then lose interest immediately once they learned how little money I made.  It's just one of those things in life - a woman's measure of a man so often is how much money he makes.  Lesson learned, I guess.  So now I go on with my life living frugally and trying to have fun in the process.   :)

I struggle with cooking for just me.  I do okay health-wise as I eat a lot of fruits and veges, grains, cheese.  I don't like meat much.  My main problem is tossing way too much food.

I am the only one that eats most of the veggie is my house ( and I tend to just not get to everything before it gets bad) and I cook for 2 but we both prefer different types of things

jayashiangel:

I am the only one that eats most of the veggie is my house ( and I tend to just not get to everything before it gets bad) and I cook for 2 but we both prefer different types of things

 Sounds like my house.  I have commented that sometimes preparing meals for our empty nest is more like cooking for one. There are only a small number of vegetables which hubby eats.  (I will point out that he eats at least one piece of fruit a day and he's likely to grab a handful of carrot sticks for a snack.  It's not that he eats bad things, it's that he just eats a limited number of things -- BORING!)  He also is not very fond of soups.  There are times that each of us just fend for ourselves -- I'll make a large salad or warm up some veggies and he'll fix himself a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and an apple.  And, because we tend to take different approaches to meals, we eat out more than we should.

wow if it was just me....healthier and would please myself.   sushi, salads etc.

two_bits:

 Hi!

 Yup. Single all my life - never married as women always found me utterly reprehensible. Every time that I went on a date (what few they were) women would initially take interest in me cause I have a good sense of humor. But then lose interest immediately once they learned how little money I made.  It's just one of those things in life - a woman's measure of a man so often is how much money he makes.  Lesson learned, I guess.  So now I go on with my life living frugally and trying to have fun in the process.   :)

 

Hey there again good for you even cheapskate said this she been free of marriage herself shes chicken .  But what ever you do seems to agree with you and yeah got to have humor in this crazy world cheap said welcome to.  She is off for awhile taking care of her parents..