Single Person Cooking

[Anonymous No.16637040]

Anons who are single and living in your own place, how do you cook without spending too much time, wasting money, or getting tired of eating the same blend of ingredients? It feels like such a waste of time to me, because I don't want to eat the same meal for days straight.

Because of this, I mostly eat pre-prepared, restaurant, or frozen foods. How do you solve this? I don't have the space to freeze many foods, nor do I want a freezer full of shit that's months old.

[Anonymous No.16637047]

>>16637040
If you make a differenr thing two nights in a row, on following nights you can mix leftovers for different taste profiles. You can make something different before those leftovers run out and have new mixing opportunities on permanent rotation. You could also just cook less, but it's the same amount of effort as cooking more so it does feel like wasted time.

[Anonymous No.16637054]

>>16637040
Here are some of my go tos for dinner

>chicken breast, marinated in various flavors, served with rice&veggies, mashed potatoes, or in pasta
>canned chili
>breakfast for dinner
>frozen pot pie
>beans

[Anonymous No.16637088]

>>16637040
If you are single then you have MORE time to cook for yourself. The reason single incels buy shit food like that is because they're depressed and think they're below eating actual human food. And they're lazy so they like just microwaving a tray of shit instead of taking 15 minutes to cook something nice.

[Anonymous No.16637112]

Buy a slow cooker, cook stuff in it. Freeze the stuff when you get sick of it. You can make fucking anything in it and stock your freezer with a variety of home cooked frozen meals that taste real. Indian food, soups, beans, meats, etc. If you get sick of slow cooker stuff buy family packs of meats like steak, chicken pieces, pork chops, and cook one piece from the pack. Wrap up and freeze the rest. Make some vegetable sides to add some variety to the frozen slow cooker foods and meats. Bake your own bread.

[Anonymous No.16637120]

Cooking is my hobby so I like spending time cooking

[Anonymous No.16637160]

>>16637040
>how do you cook without spending too much time
you just dont
most good meals only take 10~15min to make, most of that being "sipping beer in front of the TV" time while waiting for it to cook.

Meat & 3 veg (shitloads of variety with this classic staple)
Pasta (more types of pasta and sauces than you can count on 2 hands)
Stir-fry (again, just toss everything in the pan, add your sauce, microwave some rice, ready to eat in 5min)

and that's not even delving into the realm of absolute lazy-cunt food aka: throw shit in the oven and it's ready in 10min.

[Anonymous No.16637164]

>>16637088
No you don't. When I was married the housework was effectively halved because we both did it. An extra person doesn't appreciably increase the amount of work that needs doing.

[Anonymous No.16637637]

How fucking depressed do you have to be to eat shit like this

[Anonymous No.16637658]

>>16637637
American/10

[Anonymous No.16637660]

>>16637658
Rent

[Anonymous No.16637677]

>>16637637
fuck you the meat loaf and the Salisbury stake tv dinners make good sandwiches

[Anonymous No.16637782]

op dont be a retard.

cooks bigger batch of food. eat some and mayde leave another meal in the fridge. freeze rest in meal sized containers.

do this twice a week or so and soon your freezer is full of varied meals.

also good home meal can be very high tier

[Anonymous No.16637790]

>>16637660
Aww thanks for the reminder, I need to pay mine!

[Anonymous No.16637800]

This is a completely imaginary problem that you've invented by being a bitch about leftovers

[Anonymous No.16637805]

>>16637040
Maybe save the money & invest in dates to find a mrs

[Anonymous No.16637835]

>>16637040
>nor do I want a freezer full of shit that's months old
Why? Most things last for several years. At worst it might taste a bit off.

[Anonymous No.16637945]

nobody has addressed OPs point
as a single cook you always struggle with too large portions
either you cook large amounts and freeze it (which sucks) or you will have left over ingredients which will sit in your fridge until they spoil (nasty)

[Anonymous No.16638036]

>>16637945
taco meat is best because you can make multiple things with it and not get too tired of the flavors.
or start with a chili dog sauce that could also be a sloppy joe except better. add more cumin and call it tacos or toss it on nachos.
that's the key
finding multiple uses or small tweeks that can be added to make it different.
another is taquitos they need to be fried, so the taste would be spot on if you pulled some from the freezer that you wrapped but didn't fry yet.
one more that has been on my mind is a pic of frozen southwest vegetables. a bag of that and some shredded chicken, with a block of jack cheese shredded and you can freeze some good southwest spring rolls, which is one of my favorites for a while now

but really I get so tired of cooking for one

[Anonymous No.16638147]

>>16637945
I'm a single guy. Portion control really isn't an issue for me. Why is it such a struggle for some people?

[Anonymous No.16639099]

>>16637945
i have always eaten large portions, it is more important to be able to distinguish between recipes meant for families and recipes meant for singles or couples. it can become expensive so i say that buy your veggies frozen, it really eases all the work of buying, carrying, preserving and preparing the veggies.

[Anonymous No.16639124]

>>16637945
Freezing can work great for some things like soups and stews, also many baked goods are just as good after freezing. Those are the kind of things that give you eight portions or something absurd for one person.
Many other things don't degrade in the fridge over a few days, or you can parcook them and finish them later for an easy fresh meal or part of a bigger meal. Basically lrn2cook. If you made good food to begin with you should look forward to your leftovers.

Inventory however is a real problem, with ingredients that can spoil you need a general plan for how to use them. The best approach I've found is to just mix it up and not rely on recipes too much, just take your extra veg and work them into a soup or stir fry or roast them with something else. Stuff that spoils really fast I mostly just avoid.

[Anonymous No.16639146]

wow thank OP you just made me feel a lot better about my situation in life, I have never cooked for only myself for more than like a week of my life.

sorry can't help you, stay lonely.

[Anonymous No.16639170]

>>16638147
not so much the portion size, more just "oh shit I made 4 servings of pasta, I'll eat one now. One tomorrow then bin 2 servings as I wont want to eat it 3 times in a row/gone bad"

[Anonymous No.16639177]

>>16639170
just eat it all at once lmao

[Anonymous No.16639184]

>>16639146
did you move straight from your mom to your boyfriend?

[Anonymous No.16639343]

>>16639170
>oh shit I made 4 servings of pasta
How do people get in this situation, are they sleepwalking? Fugue state?
desu with pasta I kinda get that it can be hard to measure and you might think you'll eat more when you're hungry. But still, just get a scale and you'll never have issues again.

[Anonymous No.16639355]

>>16637040
>wasting money
>I mostly eat pre-prepared, restaurant, or frozen foods
What a faggot, ask your dad how to cook.

[Anonymous No.16639365]

>>16639170
If you accidentally make 4 servings of pasta, just cook half as much pasta next time.
You eat frozen food and takeout, don't tell me you're penny pinching on pasta.

[Anonymous No.16639434]

>>16637040
I cook 2 servings of each meal either 1 lb ground beef or 2 chicken breasts and put half in the fridge. I basically end up eating the same things all the time because I can never decide what I want if I'm the one cooking + I am lazy so my ingredients tend to go bad before use so I freeze a lot of stuff

[Anonymous No.16639450]

>>16639184
my mom doesn't cook, I cooked, but yeah pretty much, with a very brief roommates period in between.
been pretty good all around over here, counting my blessings.

[Anonymous No.16639471]

>>16637040
I only eat once a day and cook usually 1 thing. Such as a big piece of meat

My go-tos are pork tenderloins, steak, eggs and sausage

You could also buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat with a fork, add buffalo sauce and blue cheese and put it on a bread and have a nice easy cheap buff chic sandwich

Also, i like to make chili or pot roast in a crock pot and eat it over the next few days

[Anonymous No.16639489]

>>16637637
Midnight snack on the weekends to game or watch movies by

[Anonymous No.16639500]

>>16637040
Christ why would anyone eat this shit.
>>16637088
This. I have no issue taking time to cook a good meal.

[Anonymous No.16639760]

I cook the same exact things for dinner each week because I'm lazy

[Anonymous No.16639924]

stop being a bitch and eat leftovers
cooking is fun

[Anonymous No.16639994]

>>16637160
>most good meals only take 10~15min to make

This is nonsense, you're ignoring all the prep time it takes before the actual cooking even happens, not to mention all the clean up afterward.

I'm a single guy like OP who eats frozen/canned/premade stuff because cooking takes a ton of time and as I work 10 hour days, I don't have time to waste on peeling, chopping, stirring and washing all that gear afterward.

[Anonymous No.16640016]

>>16637040
I just do it. Don’t be a fag.

[Anonymous No.16640046]

>>16637040
You just cook smaller amounts. Get some ramekins and make pot pies and small casseroles. Cook just as much meat/vegetables as you want for that meal.

[Anonymous No.16640053]

>>16637040
breakfast: bowl of raisin bran
lunch: ham sammich and can of soup
snack: apple and almonds
dinner: some kind of casserole sloppa that I make each Sunday and freeze for the work week

eat out only on weekends. monotonous but it works for me

[Anonymous No.16640257]

>>16639994
>prep time
what prep time?
maybe 10sec peeling a potato or something but thats it.
>clean up time
you clean up everything while it's cooking.
then at best you have 1 pot or pan to clean or put in the dishwasher.

[Anonymous No.16641699]

>>16637835
From experience; cooked shit in the freezer lasts for about 6 months before tasting inedible, not rotten, it just develops this shitty ass flavour. Marinated raw stuff in the freezer can last a few months more before developing the same off-taste

[Anonymous No.16642181]

curry paste, canned crushed tomatoes, coconut milk and whatever inside. i eat it for 2 days

[Anonymous No.16642185]

>>16637040
I have autism, but before I met my gf and I was living alone I would cook all kinds of foods. I just saved the left overs and ate those later. Now we share the cooking and theres less left over but I cook less and there's new recipes. Sometimes we take ideas from each other and make new stuff so there's more variety which is nice, but yeah its a lot of work being by yourself no way around it. Do what I did and find a gf from korea who likes to cook, clean and fuck.

[Anonymous No.16642264]

whats wrong with you loosers. Just get a wife and she'll make you a nice dinner every night. Not hard morons

[Anonymous No.16642298]

>>16637040
As a non American growing up in always wondered about these things. Especially after watching a movie where a character would take one out of the freezer, put it in the microwave oven, sit in front of the TV and it. Is it a meme or real? How do they taste?

[Anonymous No.16642360]

>>16637088
Name 5 dinner meals that take only 15 minutes to prepare, liar. Thawing meat counts as time.

[Anonymous No.16642364]

>>16637040
I make a giant pot of beans once a month and eat out on weekends

[Anonymous No.16642634]

>>16642298
Its peak 50s culture along with casseroles

[Anonymous No.16643533]

>>16637088
>15 minutes to cook something nice
>thinks scrambled eggs & toast are nice
I like scrambled eggs, but it's a stretch to call them "nice".

[Anonymous No.16643550]

>>16640257
>10 seconds peeling a potato

[Anonymous No.16643566]

>>16642298
The texture is what really kills you. The meats are always slimy and soggy, the vegetables are really soft or have some weird mushy property, and the mashed potatoes are dry. It tastes distinctly processed, it’ll taste like it should be turkey but you know something’s up about it

[Anonymous No.16643568]

>>16643533
>scrambled eggs & toast
>15 minutes
you wot m8

[Anonymous No.16643598]

Just fill up your freezer with these bad boys

[Anonymous No.16643687]

>>16643568
it's about all you could make with 15 minutes

[Anonymous No.16643695]

>>16637164
You totally missed his point, tard.

[Anonymous No.16643733]

>>16643687
I agree 15 minutes is very limiting, but you can make plenty of pasta or stir fry dishes in that time. Scrambled eggs and toast literally takes two minutes, t. autist who timed it once.

[Anonymous No.16643748]

>>16637637
My health is starting to fail, I don't have the money to deal with my health problems, I am a continual failure on losing weight, and my Youtube channel went from 8 million views a month to 200,000 views a month. I live off the charity of others. I haven't seen my penis in probably eight years. I'm bigger now than I've ever been. I have trouble sleeping. Um, I don't take care of myself the way I should. Sugar controls my life 100 and 10%. I probably have untreated diabetes, and I basically have to play games for a living that I fucking hate.

[Anonymous No.16643770]

>>16640257
I guarantee you're not actually measuring the time it takes and are just spitballing. In practice when you count wall-clock time for

>getting out, prepping and/or measuring ingredients
>getting out equipment, pre-heating, etc.
>cooking the food
>eating it
>washing the remainder and putting away everything so the kitchen is in the same state you started with

You're getting to at least 45min for a decent meal, in practice probably an hour or more. If you can re-purpose leftovers for part of the meal it can be shorter. Yes those steps can overlap which saves time, but they never do so perfectly.

[Anonymous No.16643791]

>>16638147
It isn't "portion control" it is a labor/yield thing. You can make almost any number of portions in the time it takes to cook a modest meal for yourself. If I had a dedicated body freezer for meal prep, with a 4 hour window I could probably knock out 15 different meals 6 portions each and be set for longer than the food would keep in a freezer. But cooking one meal at a time individually you'd easily spend 4 hours every two weeks.

[Anonymous No.16643869]

>>16643733
>15 minutes to make pasta
lmao, it'll take almost that time just to boil water; then there's prep, cook time, cleaning.
easily 5-10 minutes just to heat up a pan to get stir fry going; again, not to mention prep, cook time, cleanup, etc.
Sure, if you don't count prep, cleanup or heating up a pan, the amount of time actually cooking a simple dish may take less than 15 minutes, see >>16643533.
Again, it's stretch to call such a dish "nice".

[Anonymous No.16643975]

>>16643869
>fill kettle, turn on
>pot and pan on high
>slice some bacon, drop it in the pan
>kettle has boiled, fill pot and add pasta and salt
>crack eggs into a bowl and grate in pecorino
>bacon is done, turn off pan
>tidy up while the pasta finishes
>drain and toss everything together, crack pepper
>wa la
I know most "15 minute recipes" are bullshit, but this is something I do regularly when I want dinner on the table as quickly as possible, so I'm aware how long it actually takes because I'm watching the clock. Other things that you can make while the pasta cooks:
>cherry tomatoes, chorizo and garlic
>ground lamb, chilli flakes and basil
>garlic and chilli, prawns, extra crushed garlic at the end
>shallot, mushrooms, garlic and cream
>[free space] pesto

[Anonymous No.16644013]

>>16643791
i like cooking, even only for me, it's not a problem
but if I don't want fridge sloppa erry other day i waste so much food

[Anonymous No.16644044]

>>16643748
chef john?

[Anonymous No.16644086]

I learned to cook foods I loved in 2-3 day batches. I also cook a lot of Italian recipes which are 2-3 day batches but last one evening. Lots of really great sloppa and I focus on the recipes, getting good ingredients, and making better food than I can get delivered/take out. Then I'll keep a little variety of bachelor chow from the frozen/canned sections around the freezer/pantry. I buy the better more expensive product because a $4 can of a good soup with a few slices of the "artisanal" loaf from the bakery is better than $30 for delivery.

When I'm wiped out from work I'll go ahead and get take out. It balances out. Also just keeping staples around helps. I have fresh tomatoes, a brown and a white onion, bell peppers, rice, avocado, cheddar, eggs, cilantro, and some good rye bread. I have no idea what I'm doing with any of them but I'll use them up this week for sure. Then I have some tuna and canned chicken, some deenz, stuff like that for /fit/ days when I need broteins right now because starving. Last I keep some boxed rice and quinoa around so if I'm busy I can just make a quick on pan dish that's healthy.

[Anonymous No.16644105]

>>16644013
gotta up your sloppa game anon. you don't want a weeks worth you want a few days worth of something you love.
>keema matar
>picadillo
>butter chicken
>beef and lentil stew
>chicken tortilla stew
>pulled pork
and then focus on sides, takes a few mins to make broccoli with parm or buttered green beans and garlic

[Anonymous No.16644137]

>>16644086
>>16644105
These are a god send. Sweat down some aromatics in oil with red pepper flake and add a can of them beans then let it simmer. Can add any protein or veg you want and so long as you like hearty rice style food it'll come out tasty.

[Anonymous No.16644156]

>>16643975
>start timer
>pull 1.8L saucepan from cabinet
>fill with 1L water from faucet
>place uncovered on glasstop electric stove
>turn to high heat, timer 0:38
>water boiling, timer 10:30
Unless you're in a speed contest or trying to prove a point, we'll round up the 38s to get the pot to stovetop to 1m, so that leaves:
9:30 for any other prep work while waiting to boil
4:30 to do any actual cooking after boiling

That's barely enough time for anything other than Ramen & an egg, although ramen wouldn't need 1L water, so certainly would be a bit quicker.
So, no, you cannot make anything "nice" in 15m.
You could probably do "not bad" if you were in a speed contest or trying to prove a point to some rando on the internet, but you're not getting "nice;" and OP's need was something other than the same old boring crap as a single cooker.
Again, see: >>16643533
All in all, 8/10 bait for getting my lazy fat ass up to actually time myself boiling a pot of water.

[Anonymous No.16644219]

>>16644156
Damn anon, respect for actually testing it. Fair enough, with that equipment you're out of luck, the main difference is I'm working with an electric kettle and a gas stove. I'll time a litre of water tomorrow if the thread is still up.

[Anonymous No.16644258]

>>16637040
Have ingredients prepped and just don't cook the meal. Have noodles, chicken, vegetables, sauces, rice, ready to go. That way you can assemble what you want and it will be different every day, only takes a couple minutes to cook something if everything is ready.

[Anonymous No.16644265]

>>16644156
There's no reason to leave a pan uncovered if you're just bringing it to the boil. You can't hobble yourself intentionally if you want to prove a point.

[Anonymous No.16644301]

>>16643770
you talk about getting out one frypan or one pot like it takes SOOOO much time
tell you what
have fun reheating frozen dinners my dude
i'll go back to cooking my dinner every night within 10-15min for no effort while you eat your frozen sloppa.
you're not looking for advice or any help
you're just here to fucking argue and get dopamine from a 200 post thread.

kindly fuck yourself with a cactus.

[Anonymous No.16644356]

>>16644301
I'm not the frozen dinner anon (yuck) I cook my own food, I'm just not in denial about the time it takes. Every individual step doesn't take very long but there are 100 little things to do. Realistically you need to set aside an hour for most decent meals. If you're pulling off 15 minutes end-to-end for a good, balanced meal then I'm impressed, but I don't really believe it.

If you rush, you could probably do half an hour if you do the same recipe a lot and really tighten it up, but I'd be sick of eating it by the time I got that fast.

[Anonymous No.16644362]

>>16642360
I dont get this. So what if it takes time? you can do other things while you wait. The time you actually spend on the cooking part is less than 5 minutes

[Anonymous No.16644437]

>>16644265
>assuming everyone has lids for their pans
OP obviously is not a hobbiest chef, so I reduced my test to bare components a (assumed) renter's likely to have or care about.
As I noted several times in the post you quoted: if you're trying to win a speed contest, eke out every last second of time; but I'm (and probably OP) just talking about normal, everyday people & cooking; nothing too formal.

[Anonymous No.16644620]

>>16644437
Protip, just put your plate on top of the pot. You get a heated plate as a bonus.

[Anonymous No.16645701]

>>16637040
Start cutting every recipe you use in half so you have a manageable amount of leftovers. If there's an ingredient you can't get in the size of the halved recipe, try using the leftover in another recipe. And if you dont use it, you probably still save some money from buying less of all the other ingredients.

[Anonymous No.16645716]

>>16637040
I've lived with my gf for over 10 years now, but I occasionally cook for myself because of things like work schedules and shit.
But anyway, I'm pretty lazy when cooking for myself, so the key is to use only one pot/one pan.
Like I'll make a simple soup a lot. I'll cook frozen veggies and sausage in a pot, then when those are cooked I take em to the side, then I'll fry up tomato paste and garlic in some olive oil. Then I'll throw in water and cook some pasta and add the veggies, sausage, and a w.e. other shit I want.

[Anonymous No.16645821]

OP here, wasn't able to get back to my thread after posting.

>>16637088
You're missing the blend of time, amount of ingredients to actually make it economical, and not wasting money. If I had a girlfriend or SO, we're cooking a meal that will have minimal leftovers for two people.

>>16637112
>>16637782
>>16639434
>>16639471
>>16639760
>>16642181
>>16644105
>Eat sloppa and the same thing every day for half the week and don't complain: the posts

>>16637800
Food is not any fun when I'm completely sick of it. I may as well eat a nutrient bar if I'm going to sit down to something I'm tired of.

>>16637835
I don't have the room to freeze stuff in that capacity. And I honestly don't see a wild benefit in freezing a homemade stew over just... buying some frozen stew. I know there's probably more sodium or whatever, but not a huge deal.

>>16637945
Thank you. This is my biggest problem.

>>16639170
Yeah, I can't eat a lasagna for four days straight. I'll want something else. So the lasagna goes in the trash. Or eventually, the remaining beef, cheese, and sauce go in the trash. I just can't eat it fast enough by myself.

[Anonymous No.16645857]

>>16645821
I mean this discussion has come up a couple of times and the OP is always either "I HATE leftovers" or "my time is too precious to cook single or two serving meals every day". Which may be true, but then... you're stuck with spending more on takeout. There's no magic bullet to it. If you can't cook efficiently you can't save money.

I manage most days to do single or two servings of food but it definitely costs more than when I meal prep 3 or 4 days. I just suck it up because I like having fresh food. I normally cook stir fries, fried rice, fried noodles, small batches of soup and curry, sandwiches and salad. Steak is a good one because you can cook a big steak, eat half and save leftovers for a steak sandwich or salad.

[Anonymous No.16645885]

>>16645857
I'm sure I've posted a similar thread a time or two on /ck/. I guess I'm just interested in seeing if any anons out there are finding a good way to eat diverse meals without it just ending up being a wash in terms of cost and effort. I surely don't like leftovers. I kinda go on a cycle of these frozen or pre-prepared foods over three days, and then make some kind of a "garbage plate" to get rid of anything.

I struggle to see how anyone can just eat off of a pot of something for a whole week and post on /ck/. It wouldn't surprise me on /fit/ where people are more concerned about their macros than eating something that sounds good, or even /r9k/ where they're both depressed and can't afford food due to NEETdom, but ugh.

A crockpot of food would be so bland and depressing a few days in, just like meal prep.

[Anonymous No.16646760]

>>16642360
>thawing meat counts as time
Are you actually fucking retarded?

[Anonymous No.16646765]

>>16644156
Alright I just timed my kettle, and it finished boiling at 2:33, so there's an eight minute time saving that makes a huge difference. It took me maybe twenty seconds to walk in and fill the thing.

[Anonymous No.16646792]

Toasted sandwich maker

Just make loads of different sandwiches. Really quick and easy and can be nutritious.

Instant noodles too. Put vegetables and sauces in them.

[Anonymous No.16647167]

>roast a chicken on Monday
>use some for butter chicken on Tuesday
>chicken fried rice on Wednesday
>carcass for broth on Thursday
feels good man

[Anonymous No.16647173]

>>16646765
I just re-did my test but this time used the glass lid (no steam hole) that came with the saucepan, and my end time was 8:15, so a "to boil" savings of 2:15 just with addition of a lid.

Do you live on a mountain or city in the clouds perhaps? Higher elevation reduces boiling point and can significantly reduce boiling time (but usually increases general cooking time).

[Anonymous No.16647178]

>>16647167
>oiled carcass for hanky panky on Friday
feels REALLY good man

[Anonymous No.16647184]

>>16647167
>Four days of chicken
This is exactly what I meant when I said getting tired of the same ingredients. By day two of eating nothing but chicken I'd just toss the fucking thing out or go without eating.

[Anonymous No.16647285]

>>16647173
Nah, I'm just a bong, kettles here are usually 2-3kw. I hadn't realised how much difference it made compared to the stove before.

[Anonymous No.16647287]

>>16647184
You literally can't handle eating the same protein two days in a row?

[Anonymous No.16647290]

>>16647287
Well, after day two. But yeah, I'm not eating the same protein/meal for four days straight. I need variety.

[Anonymous No.16647339]

>>16647290
Well, stagger the proteins then.
A > B > C > extra A > extra B > extra C
Throw in a Hungry Man Sloppa XL as a treat and you've filled the week.

[Anonymous No.16647481]

>>16647167
Chicken breasts taste like absolute trash after having been in the fridge.

[Anonymous No.16647564]

>>16637040
i eat only 2 things:
>nongshim black noodles with peas, spinach, dried meat, dried seaweed and stock
or
>rice with red beans or lentils and a diced tomato, with soy sauce and sriracha

I've eaten one of these two meals for every lunch and nearly every dinner (that i've had at home) for the last 4 years and i absolutely love both.

[Anonymous No.16647590]

>>16639994
10 hours a day isn't a long workday and you absolutely have time to do it, you're just lazy and don't want to. Fucking zoomers just want everything done for them.

[Anonymous No.16647628]

It just annoys me that I can't but short loaves of bread. There is o way I am eating a full loaf of bread on my own before it goes bad. There are small loaves but then each individual slice is tiny which is unacceptable. I want a lower number of normal sized slices.

[Anonymous No.16647959]

>>16647628
Bread goes in the freezer.

[Anonymous No.16648500]

>>16647590
Not that anon, but 10 hours is a long workday assuming he has other shit that goes on to do that, like waking up, getting ready, forcing himself to shit, then deal with a commute in traffic.

[Anonymous No.16649640]

>>16648500
>Not that anon, but 10 hours is a long workday assuming he has other shit that goes on to do that, like waking up, getting ready, forcing himself to shit, then deal with a commute in traffic.

Exactly. I get up at 4:00am so I have an hour to wash up, sip coffee, smoke and take a shit before I start work at 5:30, then almost a 0.5 hour drive in, 10.5 hours at work (my half hour lunch is still spent at work), 0.5 hour drive home and I’m walking in the door at 4:30, where I wash and prep my travel mug, thermos, coffee maker and make a sandwich for the next day and after showering, it’s now 5:00pm and it’s been 13 hours before I can sit down to shitpost on 4chan, then I’m in bed by 9:30-10:00 so I have a total of 4.5-5 hours a day during the week to myself.

I ain’t spending half of that standing in the kitchen preping, washing, cooking and cleaning.

[Anonymous No.16649833]

>>16645821
>Yeah, I can't eat a lasagna for four days straight. I'll want something else. So the lasagna goes in the trash. Or eventually, the remaining beef, cheese, and sauce go in the trash. I just can't eat it fast enough by myself.
actually a pretty bad example. I make pasta-bakes and they are about the easiest thing you could possibly freeze into individual portions. They take a while to make (simmering the italian sausage into the redsauce) but once you have the whole dish, you let it cool, then place in fridge to coagulate, then you can lice the whole thing into individual square-slices of pasta and bake them portion by portion. that's a large part of this.

Find things that freeze well and skip the "leftovers" stage, putting excess directly into the freezer in smart portions. if you make 1 portion and freeze 1 portion (or make three: eat one, reheat one, freeze one for even later) you basically have homemade convenience meals. One idea is to pair convenience-foods (like banquet-pot-pies, 5 mins in the microwave, or comparable items) with steam-in-bag veg (in this case, let's say a bag of frozen broccoli with the pot-pie, five more minutes in the microwave while the pot-pie cools) to fill out your nutritional needs. Find what fresh veg works for you. Baby carrots and bell-pepper-slices with dip works for me. Or chopped-spinach-and-tomato-with-parmesan is my go-to "side salad", dressing optional. So with a slice of baked-ziti in my toaster oven, 15 minutes while I chop a spinach-tomato-side-salad and a scoop of cottage cheese, you're set.

Utilizing ready-to-eat foods like salads or microwaved-veg to fill out individually-packaged convenience food is actually a great way to introduce some nutrition to your Bachelor Chow. Though for my money you could do worse than the occasional Hungry Man, though I'll often augment it with some veg and extra protein.

In all human history it's never been easier to feed yourself. Take up the reins.

[Anonymous No.16649882]

>>16637040
I live alone and cook for myself every other night. Omaha steaks often have sales and buy my meat from them. Never had a problem and for 160$ i can get 2 months worth of meat. Buy yourself a side dish or learm to make them and boom all you need is an oven and a skillet with some spices and your eating filet mignon like a king.

[Anonymous No.16649886]

>>16637040
>Because of this, I mostly eat pre-prepared, restaurant, or frozen foods
nothing wrong with that, I enjoyed some pizza rolls last night and it was great

[Anonymous No.16649891]

>>16637637
Where do you think you are?

[Anonymous No.16649907]

rate my din din

[Anonymous No.16649938]

>>16642360
Lord have mercy you are a moron anon

[Anonymous No.16649942]

>>16649938
>can't even name 1

[Anonymous No.16649970]

>>16649907
Those are some sad looking beans.
Why you guys never mash your beans?

[Anonymous No.16649985]

>>16649970
I like the contrast, some of them are firm, some of them are a bit more tender

[Anonymous No.16649990]

>>16649907
could use a side salad but otherwise fine

[Anonymous No.16649994]

>>16649990
I've never been a huge fan of side salads honestly. If I'm gonna eat a salad then I'm gonna just eat a salad

[Anonymous No.16650004]

>>16649994
sure but a side-salad just means veg-side-dish-with-no-cooking. a proper green (or other-colored) vegetable would make a difference in your one-dimensional meal, that would just be the easiest way to incorporate it.

[Anonymous No.16650009]

>>16650004
any good ideas? I've been trying to add more veggies and color to my dishes, right now it's mostly starch + protein. I guess frozen peas would be an easy addition, but maybe there's something better

[Anonymous No.16650044]

>>16650009
for cases like that I chop spinach and dice a small tomato as a base for a salad. for frozen stuff, any mixture of broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, or peasncarrots is usually good to accompany most, depending on your entree. If you find the long-skinny-greenbeans I actually like to mix them with red sauces and pasta. Thing is, fresh veg can often be eaten raw, and microwaved veg is a dish unto itself that only takes minutes in the microwave while other things are cooking. I don't actually have a "good diet" when it comes to portion-control or restricting-unhealthful-foods, but I do try to incorporate foods that are nutrient-dense-per-calorie alongside whatever else suits my taste.

[Anonymous No.16650045]

>>16637040
>I genuinely got hungry looking at this
Am I a lost cause?

[Anonymous No.16650052]

>>16650044
sounds good, thanks for the tips anon

[Anonymous No.16650070]

>>16650045
naw honestly as a lazy bachelor, jokes aside you can do way worse than a HungryMan dinner. Then again maybe we're both lost-causes but, against all odds I don't think of myself in such terms. They're perfectly-fine convenience meals for when you have other stuff going on and just want some "stick it in the hot box/take it out and eat it" food in your stomach, literally the alternative is going hungry. No shame. No pride, sure, but no shame.

[Anonymous No.16650082]

>>16643748
Nick you're killing yourself bro. That clout ain't worth it

[Anonymous No.16650451]

>>16645885
Well most people like the taste of their own cooking, so its not a huge pain to eat the same thing for a few days. Most of us aren't torturing ourselves with old food, we like how it tastes. I make big batches of chicken soup or beef stew and enjoy eating it for a few days, I just alternate eating it with rice or potatoes or noodles. Also for cost and effort, the more you cook the better you become at speeding up the process. I can normally prepare a meal in half an hour with minimal mess which makes it worth it for me.

[Anonymous No.16650464]

>>16649640
sounds like you need to stop commuting half an hour to a 10.5 hour a day job, that's a horrible way to live, is this normal in america?

[Anonymous No.16650471]

>How do you solve this?

Well I go to the supermarket like 3 times a week. I eat a lot of fish and seafood, so I just buy enough for a 2 days or so, and that's my dinner (grilled fish, plus rice, bread, corn, vegetables - some variation on this). For work lunches I eat crackers and tuna, and nuts. And for breakfast I eat bread and eggs and muesli and canned fruit (some variation on those).

It's real easy you just buy muesli, milk, eggs, nuts and canned fruit, canned tuna, crackers, dried fruit, bread and spreads and that's breakfast and lunch done. these things hardly spoil, and the portions are easy because you don't make too much and just eat it. Most time spent cooking I do is just to put fish under grill, put vegetables in water, or scramble some eggs. Also buy some ramens for snacks.

In the weekend you can go to restaurants for takeout.

[Anonymous No.16650496]

>>16650464
He's either earning $400k or $20k, no one in between is doing this shit

[Anonymous No.16650536]

>>16650464
My work schedule is 16-18 hrs depending on if people show up to work or not. I'd kill for such a schedule.

[Anonymous No.16650544]

>>16650536
literal slavery, what the fuck are you doing, if it's not on call work that's sad

[Anonymous No.16650555]

>>16650544
Prison Officer, been in it for 8 years. Wasn't so bad up until the last couple where our admin decided it would be a great idea to run off staff coupled with the government paying folks to stay home. If i didn't have my wife i'd probably would have starved myself or would just be forced to eat what we serve inmates.

[Anonymous No.16650563]

>>16650555
>Prison Officer, been in it for 8 years.
>16-18 hour days

I did 4 months in county and you've literally spent more time in jail than me hahaha fucking idiot imagine making your money working in a shithole like a prison. Everybody wants OUT but you fucking CHOOSE to get up everyday and go IN. HAHAHAHA

HAHAHA get fucked

[Anonymous No.16650567]

>>16650464

Honestly, it’s more like 20mins one-way but the point still stands and I’m getting $18 an hour and bringing home $700+ per week, (five day week) doing receiving/staging for a large food distributer.

It’s a good gig and I’m in the confectionaries dept. where it’s 65* (which a LOT better then sweating my ass off doing machining or auto assembly in a shop, which can be 12 hours/7days) and besides, we’ll be going down to 8 hours (5:30-2) starting Tuesday.

[Anonymous No.16650571]

>>16650563
>Being a hahaha fag
The job is not bad when we are staffed up, moron. The money is decent. That and some of us choose to support our families, which includes making do with what you're given.

[Anonymous No.16650584]

>>16650571
I don't like prisons but you're just making a living anon, don't listen to him. As long as you treat the inmates fairly its just a job. A four month stint in jail means he's just some petty lowlife who drove drunk or stole slim jims from the supermarket.

[Anonymous No.16650585]

>>16643598
Ah yes, I remember being 20 years old.

[Anonymous No.16650590]

>>16650496

Lots of people are doing this shit and you will also, when you graduate from high school.

[Anonymous No.16650594]

>>16650584
Its a necessary evil in life. Truthfully, inmates aren't hard to deal with nor are they treated unfairly under my watch. Admin is what fucks us. Anywho, my wife usually slow cooks soups, or make chicken and rice dinners or some pastas. Tries to keep it varied as much as possible. Which is key I think as long as its healthy eating.

[Anonymous No.16650597]

>>16650590
I make $110k fully remote bud, even when I was making $40k my commute was only 5 minutes because I value my time.
Granted I'm single and don't have to provide for anyone except myself, but the fact that minimum wage workers are leaving en-masse right now seems to suggest that other people are catching on to that concept.

[Anonymous No.16650603]

>>16642360
Quick tomato sauce - blister some cherry tomatoes with garlic and chilli flakes, add pasta (boiled in a separate pot at the same time). Pan fried fish fillets bought fresh from the store with blanched frozen peas or broccoli with fried sliced potatoes. Seared chicken breasts on rice (uncle bens) with a curry sauce made from a golden curry wuth potatoes and carrota. Just admit you can't cook and have no ideas.

[Anonymous No.16650605]

>>16650590
nah, I literally refuse to work those hours, going ok so far

[Anonymous No.16650608]

>>16637040
>I don't want to eat the same meal for days straight
I have no problem with this when it's gud sloppa

[Anonymous No.16650610]

>>16650603
These are nice quick things to make. Dragon noodles (from budget bytes) is probably my go-to if I'm short on time.

Also as much of a meme as he is, Gordon Ramsey has some good super quick meal recipes.

[Anonymous No.16650612]

>>16650605
Based. Respect yourself and your time anon, it will get you far

[Anonymous No.16650621]

>>16650597
>I make $110k

[Anonymous No.16650627]

>>16650621

[Anonymous No.16650632]

>>16650555
why don't you find a better job? are you one of those stupid idiots who works a job they hate just to keep food on the table for your family? you know you can get a better job, right?

[Anonymous No.16650640]

>>16650632
Living in a small area doesn't exactly have an abundance of jobs. Its this or a shitty factory job where I would make less money with worse benefits and barely anything to call a retirement. I never said I hated my job either.

[Anonymous No.16650654]

>>16650605
>nah, I literally refuse to work those hours, going ok so far

I was talking with my neighbor (a young guy who just got out of the Airforce) and I was bitching about my lazy ass 19 year old nephew and he said young people today don’t want to work the kinda hours their parents do but I think reality is going to bitch slap these kids, as the economy is going to tighten up once again and they’ll be scrambling for gigs that don’t pay shit for a bazillion hours per week.

[Anonymous No.16650655]

>>16643748
is this something boogie said. for some reason i have a feeling this is a boogie quote

[Anonymous No.16650661]

>>16650654
cool, nice boomer anecdote, or the companies that pay shit for bad hours will see a lack of workers and be forced to change or shut down.

[Anonymous No.16650669]

>>16650654
You're either 50+ or severely coping with your own shitty situation (or both). Look at what's been happening with min wage jobs for the past month or two. They're scrambling to do anything to get people in the door (except increasing pay) because no one wants to work shit hours for shit pay.

The companies need the workers, but the workers don't need the companies.

[Anonymous No.16650672]

>>16650669
How are you paying bills and eating if you don't have a job?

[Anonymous No.16650674]

>>16650672
by working a good job that doesnt exploit me? also unemployment when I am not working

[Anonymous No.16650678]

>>16650672
I'm >>16650597

Just sold my old house for a $80k profit and bought a new one on an acre in a rapidly expanding area. Should be worth $200k more than I paid for it in a few years easy. Bills don't worry me

[Anonymous No.16650690]

>>16650661
>>16650669

That covid welfare ain't going to last forever, kid.

Meanwhile, Biden has opened the floodgates for even more Mexicans and other foreigners to come to the U.S. and compete with you for jobs.

[Anonymous No.16650699]

>>16650690
cool, I don't live in the US, keep coping with your borderline slave job though

[Anonymous No.16650700]

>>16650690
Covid unemployment assistance expires Sept 6th. Worker "shortages" are still at an all time high.

>Meanwhile, Biden has opened the floodgates for even more Mexicans and other foreigners to come to the U.S. and compete with you for jobs.
Lmao, no he didn't.

Now, the real question is are you a retarded boomer or a retarded zoomer indoctrinated by Fox "News" and Joe Rogan?

The only reason that matter is if you've been getting exploited for a few years and are lashing out, or if you've been exploited your entire life and literally can't cope with change.

[Anonymous No.16650709]

>>16650640
you know you can move somewhere more prosperous and work a job with better hours and conditions? if you're a prison guard you're probably a big stupid meathead so just ignore all of this

>t. overpaid and underworked

[Anonymous No.16650722]

>>16650709
So are you gonna pack up my entire family and move us then? Life is not that simple.

[Anonymous No.16650738]

>>16637040
>without spending too much time
I don't mind spending the time cooking cause i actually enjoy it, but it helps to choose dishes that cook quickly or require little hands-on time. Soups, stews, pan-fried stuff with grains/vegetables.

>wasting money
I usually build my weekly meals around whatever is in season or on sale. The local newspaper has these ads for my local grocer that tells me which ingredients are cheap rn and it saves me a ton of money and planning. I also forage as a hobby but savings-wise that's pretty minimal.

>getting tired of eating the same blend of ingredients?
I mean realistically there's only so many ingredients you can feasibly procure where ever you live, the way you mix them up and prepare them is the variable. I don't mind eating the same food for two days in a row, but i have a friend who hates it so i guess i know what you mean.

[Anonymous No.16650766]

>>16650699
>cool, I don't live in the US

Third-worlder opinions are irrelevant.

>>16650700
>Covid unemployment assistance expires Sept 6th. Worker "shortages" are still at an all time high.

Worker shortages only exist because people can sit on their ass at home collecting covid welfare, once that runs dry they're going to fighting for shit jobs.

[Anonymous No.16650771]

>>16650766
>my country doesnt pay workers properly and overworks them
>we are totally first world though
AHAHAHHA

[Anonymous No.16650781]

I don't think it's cool to flex on people for their jobs, investments, or value of material possessions. Too many retards doing that here lately. They're kind of missing the point of a board like this. Even the ones who are just faking it.

[Anonymous No.16651183]

>>16637040
If Iever find myself in a position where I'm even considering eating a pre-prepared frozen meal I'm just gonna kill myself instead.

[Anonymous No.16651294]

>>16650597
>even when I was making $40k my commute was only 5 minutes because I value my time.
based
t. 40k/y tradie who lives 5 minutes away (on foot) from the shop. And spends most of his day at home waiting on the occasional "my neighbor fell asleep with the bathtub running" call to go patch some bathroom ceiling.

[Anonymous No.16651310]

>>16637040
Some things you can make in batches to defrost on the day
Spaghetti Bolognese
Curry with rice
Chilli with rice
etc.

Other things you can make at the time
Risoni with schnitzel
Meat and three veg
etc.

All of these take <15 minutes to cook as mentioned by this guy
>>16637160

[Anonymous No.16651382]

>>16637040
I am an emotionless husk. This makes it very easy to eat the same basic food over and over without caring. Lately I've been making rice and stirring ground beef, soy sauce, and olive oil into it. I also make and eat a lot of Greek yogurt.

[Anonymous No.16652185]

>>16651382
How do you make Greek yougurt?

[Anonymous No.16652956]

>>16637040
I understand where youre at anon, the answer is in steps. Your first step is to go buy a bag of frozen stir fry veggies for very cheap, lightly boil them and fry them with a little piece of pork or steak, season them to your liking but just use a tiny bit. When you look at this meal you will start to feel like a real human being, a man eating real food. From here the idea starts to set into your head that this is something you can be proud of. As you gain motivation you will start thinking of food that you like that you would enjoy making in your spare time. You will shit your pants at the amount of money you save from eating out. I wish you the best brother.

[Anonymous No.16652969]

>>16650700
>>Meanwhile, Biden has opened the floodgates for even more Mexicans and other foreigners to come to the U.S. and compete with you for jobs.
>Lmao, no he didn't.

[Anonymous No.16652982]

>>16637040
Frozen meals, frozen pizzas, a lot of takeout, simple recipes, sandwiches. A lot of stores sell grilled chickens you can buy.

in my opinion any male in his 20s who spends a lot of his free time by the stove has something seriously wrong with him.