Cooking For One

[Heatherette]

How do you cook for yourself?

I have no idea how to cook aside from the basic, that is, frying and boiling. I am moving out of the house soon and I will be forced to learn how to cook; I don't know how to cook for myself especially the measurement of the ingredients.

[artegirl]

sis, it will depend on what food you usually eat.  Pag rice and traditional Filipino ulam (i.e. adobo, sinigang, nilaga, etc), medyo mahirap to cook single serving, unless you don't mind eating the same food 2-3x in the next couple of days. 

for me easier if pasta dishes.  You can make ahead marinara sauce then freeze it in single serving size using freezer bags.  then if eat ka na, you can pan fry some pancetta, bacon, ham or whatever cold cuts you prefer, add the marinara sauce, and pasta.  yung pag measure ng pasta, you can buy the pasta measuring ring from Cooks Exchange, para easy to estimate a single serving.

you can also do stove-top grilling for fish, steak, pork chops.  then pair it with salad or steamed veggies.

check mo recipes in foodnetwork.com

[Heatherette]

^Gusto ko may traditional Filipino ulam, yung ang problem ko sa serving talaga haha Carry ko kainin lunch and dinner siya pero di ko ata kaya kung the next day yun pa rin.

Good thing you mentioned Cooks Exchange! puntahan ko nga yan kasi nagtitingin tingin na rin ako ng mga kelangan ko para sa kitchen.

[onethird]

^ That's the problem with ulam and solo serving. I think in general, Filipino dishes are meant to be consumed with others. Hehe

I agree with @artegirl. Easiest would be pasta dishes. Or what you could do is fry some fish or meat today. Then re-invent the left overs the next day like escabeche or adobo fried rice for the meat. Haha sorry not helpful. I don't really do ulams kasi it takes me forever to finish them. Nakaka-umay din.

Na-miss ko bigla magluto. Haay

[Heatherette]

I can do pasta dishes and fried meat (I don't like fish haha). I decided na bibili nalang ako ng ulam kung nag-crave ako bigla. No choice talaga.

[ilovedlc]

sis maraming websites na nagshashare ng recipes and dito sa GT daming recipes exchange.  Magastos lang magluto if you want na talagang kakaiba mga niluluto mo meaning hindi lutong bahay na adobo, mechado,menudo....I myself was surprised when I count my herbs and spices parang more than 50.

[thansher01]

sis Heatherette, sa groceries naman naka slice na yung mga kailangan mo.. chicken, meat, pork, seafood.. yung chicken, you can choose your favorite part (i.e. drumstick, thigh or wing part).. same with pork and meat.. you can buy naman kahit  2 pieces lang..

sa sauces, meron namang in pouch. tomato sauce, patis, toyo, suka.. pwede rin in bottles yung bilin mo.

tancha tancha ka na lang sa pag timpla..

hth

[DV]

The best way to do it is cook to a batch, good for 3 or 4, then freeze in 1-serving containers. Mas magastos lang talaga mag-luto for one, kasi for example, hindi pwedeng kalahating onion o kamatis lang (these uncooked ingredients don't keep well).

You can make a batch of adobo. Pwede mong gamitin yung iba for different dishes, like ginisang gulay, or any dish that calls for meat.

Ground beef/pork. Igisa mo then put in freezer containers. You can use them for pasta sauce, omelet, soups, lumpiang toge. Or you can make burger patties too, steam before freezing.

Beef. Magpalambot ka ng 1-2 kilos, tapos i-atado and freeze mo na with the soup. You can make nilaga/sinigang na baka in a jiff. Lagyan na lang ng gulay pag kakain ka na.

Chicken. Yung isang buong roast chicken pwede mo ring hati-hatiin. Pwede for arroz caldo, sotanghon soup, chicken salad sandwich, quesadilla.

Pesto. If you can't make, buy 1 jar of pesto then cook your pasta, and toss with some pesto. This is my favorite quick and easy meal. For me, hindi na kailangang gumamit ng spaghetti ring. Use your thumb and index finger to estimate (pwedeng lakihan o liitan based on your consumption).

[sarsingkit]

^Nice tips sis DV!

i also live by myself so cooking solo ako lagi. one thing to be keen also is the expiry dates kasi since consumption is little dahil mag-isa ka lang kaya nagtatagal talaga ang products sa shelf eh i dont like buying in sachets gusto ko bottles para organized

[onethird]

Pesto. If you can't make, buy 1 jar of pesto then cook your pasta, and toss with some pesto. This is my favorite quick and easy meal. For me, hindi na kailangang gumamit ng spaghetti ring. Use your thumb and index finger to estimate (pwedeng lakihan o liitan based on your consumption).

Pesto is such a versatile ingredient. Pwedeng ihalo sa meats, other sauces and a great sandwich spread too! 

[Heatherette]

Sis ilovedlc, I found a website na cooking for one ang recipes niya although taga-US siya so yung ibang ingredients eh pahirapan maghanap haha I read in one article na pag mahirap or minsan mo lang gagamitin yung ingredient, wag mo nalang lutuin kasi masasayang yung binili. I saw a cookbook a while ago by Rachael Ray, 2,4,6,8 yung title so I might check that kasi may pang-2 na serving haha Share mo naman sis recipes mo. Ang dami mong spices!

Sis thansher01, yup, I'm set na with grocery shopping. My problem is I haven't cooked a full meal haha Mas magaling pa brothers ko sa akin kaya ayun, I have no idea paano mag-estimate ng timpla. Well, time to experiment talaga to at pag naiisip ko natatawa nalang ako pag mag-isa nalang ako magluto.

Sis DV, thank you for the tip! I will keep that in mind. Do you have any idea yung span na pwede ko ma-freeze yung mga meat?

[DV]

^Check this chart of Food Storage Guidelines. It says there that you can freeze cooked meat for 2-3 months (provided you use good freezer bags/containers so that they don't get freezer burn), but personally I use up frozen cooked meat in less than a month. Pati minsan unstable ang electricity natin so I would suggest not to store them for too long kasi minsan nagba-brown out sa atin.

[Heatherette]

^Thank you sis Akala ko tipong 3 days lang pwede i-store haha See how clueless I am with these stuff.

[DV]

^You're welcome! Exciting yang pag-e-experiment sa cooking. 

[Heatherette]

^Onga eh. I saw a couple of pasta dishes online na. I need to sort them out. Excited na rin ako magluto ng ulam kasi yun pa talaga never ko na-try lalo na yung mga may sabaw.

[Myealexis21]

^Start with the simple ones Sis, yung tipong pede mo ilagay sa lutuan altogether tapos wait ka na lang maluto yung ulam

Gusto mo ba yung typical filipino dishes?

If you are fond with Gata, you could try the Chicken in coconut milk.  When I was cooking for myself lang:

1 breast part of chicken
1 small potato
1 small carrots
1 small green bell pepper
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 small ginger (optional)
1 pc siling labuyo (optional)
1 cup of coconut milk
patis or salt to taste
ground pepper
cooking oil

Usually dina-dice ko ang chicken, potato, carrots and bell pepper.

First saute ko ang chicken sa sibuyas, bawang and ginger.  If you don't like ginger then pede mo wag isama.  I like to add it kase nakakatanggal ng lansa ng chicken.

once nakita mo na na medyo luto na ang chicken, add the carrots and potatoes
Then saute a bit, then add the cup of coconut milk.  Hinaan mo ang apoy para manuot yung lasa ng gata sa chicken. 

Kapag malambot na yung potatoes and carrots, add the bellpepper.

Season with patis or salt, and pepper.  If you want medyo spicy yung dish, add the siling labuyo. Let it simmer for a minute, then tapos na

The Tinolang manok is almost the same, just sub the gata with water, and the vegetables with papaya at talbos ng sili.

[doynks]

Hi mga sis, I just joined so talagang bago lang ako dito.  I have been browsing at madami palang interesting topics.  Anyway, I suggest you try yung webste na http://allrecipes.com.  You can indicate how many people will be eating and it will calculate the recipe.  It's a US site so minsan kakaiba ang ingredients but mostly you can find them here in Manila naman.

[rhumbafrapp]

You can cook in batches, for example you are sauteing chicken with onlon and garlic, take some part of it
you can make adobo. then another part of the sauted chicken, for pina manok. Wala naman mali na recipe, just take it step by step.
Invest ka sis sa microwable containers.

Nako, always, you will learn or develop a skill, basta may need Ako dati di marunong mag chopsticks, ng China ako for a vacay, pag balik ko, marunong na. I do not chopsticks, i do not eat simple as that, natuto ako.

[Heatherette]

^^^^Sayang sis, I don't eat ulam with gata haha

^^^Sis, paano makita yung option na for one? Di ko kasi makita

^^I will check your blog sis. Thank you for sharing.

^That's what I'm planning to do, cook in batches. Goodluck nalang talaga since I need a cookbook to cook ulam haha

[Myealexis21]

^ayy di ka pala kumakain ng gata

speaking of cooking in batches...Beef steak tagalog ata ang pede kong kainin kahit 4 days straight hehe!

What I do na lang is add a side dish para kahit pano may variety.  I usually buy yung frozen mixed vegies (corn, carrots, beans and peas), easy to prepare kase.  Just put butter sa pan then add the vegies oks na.  As in less than 3 mins may side dish ka na.  Pede rin na mushroom sauteed in garlic and a bit of soy sauce.  Most of the time, patsam lang ang recipes ko hehe.

Hay naalala ko pa yung first time kong mag-isa sa apartment...dyan ako natuto magluto