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Cooking for One

One of the hardest challenges I faced when I turned veggie and headed to uni was scaling back meals and cooking just for one.
Although I'd started making my own meals at home before I moved away the leftovers or remains of my veggies dishes often became sides or meals for family so cooking for one was a challenge - the main issue being portion sizing!
The two hardest things to portion are most definitely staples such as pasta and rice, although I often struggled with veg too (not that I complain at that one - I'm one of those strange kids that love greens!). While online advice will suggest a handful or half a cup - this is so subjective and I struggled in measuring it which meant I'd end up with way too much of each of the meals I was preparing.
Two outcomes of this: pre-prepared meals ready in the fridge or freezer (not always a bad thing as you have quick and easy meals available) for the next few days and overeating (with massive portions - oops!!) or snacking at random times throughout the day and night (also oops!!)
What I found to overcome this was a simple solution that can be easily introduced into cooking habits and processes - weighing out ingredients
Often the dietary information on labels will tell you a recommended portion size (although being slightly anorexic I often reduced this by a couple of grams each time). If not there is recommended portion size info online which can be tailored to meet your individual diet, lifestyle and body.

When it comes to veg- I found it hard to adapt having helped prepare for big family meals and Sunday roasts, with a variety of three or so varieties. One carrot is more than plenty for a meal for one! But as they're really cheap and make up the main elements of my food I often cooked more than needed which I still ate - they're healthy though so it's alright, or at least I like to tell myself!

Whilst it can be annoying as buying what you fancy when you do the shop may end up in eating the same things for days on end - the great thing though about just cooking for yourself is that you can experiment, try new flavours, combinations and meals - it doesn't matter if they don't go to planned or don't taste as good as you were expecting because at the end of the day it's only you eating them and you can always change things or adapt if you make them again. Trialling things out just for yourself means that you can sort out and perfect ingredients before you make it for others, so enjoy being in the kitchen and making new things for yourself, and only you!

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