Cooking for One
I will be talking more about cooking for your family than about cooking for one at Frugal Franny because I figure there are more people with kids who are looking for ways to cut corners without sacrificing quality, nutrition or taste than there are single people faced with the challenge of cooking for one.
But right now I would like to address just that issue. I am single so I find that this is often a major challenge; figuring out something easy and cheap to cook that taste wonderful. Here are a few ideas for great tasting, nutritious meals for one that are easy
to prepare and cheap:
1. Skillet fajitas–Skirt steak is very inexpensive, but most people assume it’s not good unless it is cooked on a grill or in a restaurant. That’s not true. If you will let the skirt steak marinate overnight you will find that you can slice it thinly, fry it over a hot fire, and have some tender great tasting fajitas. All you need is the tortillas. I like to add a dash of sour cream, a sprig of cilantro and a dash of lemon juice. Mucho delicious!
2. Patty melt–This is so simple, cheap and delicious. The only thing you need to remember when cooking a good patty melt is that the secret is in the details, as with so many other things in life. Melt a pat of butter in a frying pan. Cook two slices of rye bread in the butter until they are golden brown on one side. Remove from pan. In a separate pan fry a very thin ground beef patty then drain. In that same pan grill about 1/4 of an onion. Put the meat on one slice of bread and the onions on the other, put back in original pan, on the uncooked side, and place a slice of swiss cheese on top of the meat. Once it begins to melt, slap all of this together. Slice and serve with your favorite pickles. Ummhhh, ummmhh, good!
3. Cheapo Caesar Salad–A single person, unless they are a rabbit, has a hard time eating a whole head of lettuce before it goes bad. But there is a way to enjoy salad at home anyway. If you check at your grocery store–or in my case, the local 7-11–they carry individual salads, at 7-11 they are $1.99. They even have about three slices of chicken breast in them, a few cherry tomatoes, along with a dollop of Caesar dressing and a few slivers of Parmesan cheese. Of course, the first time you make this you’ll have to buy a bottle of Caesar salad dressing, cherry tomatoes, some Parmesan cheese and a box of croutons. But once you have the things on hand, presto! You have a cheap and delicious Caesar salad for one! (I like to boil and egg and add to my salad.)
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