Here at Hermits Roost sometimes the evenings gourmet meal include main dishes such as garlic bologina on toasted wheat with mustard and great northern beans, onion slices optional. While this is adequate it is also a bit boreing; the frozen meals at the store are not cost efficent or quality orentated. I do prepare portion size things and freeze them such as meatloaf, cassaroles, ect. After 25 years I am out of ideas, what do you do?

Todays cooking tips are; plane yogurt makes a very good adhesive for breaded; real cheese (not the cheese food soy based slabs) will thicken soups and gravies, works best and quickly if grated....

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), October 04, 2001

Answers

Try www.allrecipes.com They have tons of simple recipes (and tons of not so simple ones,too)

-- Jo (mamamia2kids@msn.com), October 04, 2001.

I think that it must be difficult to cook for one. I cook for two and do a lot of freezing portion sized meals for hubby to take to work. I used to cook large casseroles and do the same, but now I've cut the recipes in half. that way I have less repetitious meals in the freezer. Let's see--chili, beef stew, goulash, soups, etc can be made and frozen in portions for variety. So far, I haven't found a way to freeze macaroni and cheese that tastes decent when defrosted. Bread can be also portioned out and frozen. If I think of any more, I'll post again.

-- Ardie from WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), October 04, 2001.

Mitch not very interesting But is Cheap.

ALDI has microwaveable tv dinners. 2-pc chicken, mashed potatoes & corn for .89 cents. OR Salisbury steak, corn and taters for .89 cents.

If your health conscious they have less than 500 calories for the whole dinner.

We like them cause there cheap. Feed the whole crowd for $5.66. That's 6 people.

-- K & S (healthwizard@surfbest.net), October 04, 2001.

Hey Mitch, I'll go through my stuff and see what I can come up with. My son who is single and recently moved away is always asking me this same question. For starters, I am not sure what kinds of things you like, but here is what I sent him recently...Take raw boneless chiken pieces and put in a skillet with sliced onion and a little oil. cook on medium high heat til the onions and the chiken are nice and golden. Add 1 cup of water and continue to cook til the chicken is done inside. Add 1 can cream of chicken soup. You may have to add a little more water if it gets too thick too fast. After it has thickened, add cooked vegetables of your liking. I usually add peas and mushrooms and green onion. Season as you like with salt and pepper. Serve over rice or a large baked potato. You can vary this by using (pre-browned) ground beef instead of chicken and you can change the soup to any of the "cream of" soups for a change of taste and serve it over anything. If you would like more, e-mail me because I have lots of this kind of stuff.

-- Ria in Ky (MinMin45@aol.com), October 04, 2001.

Canned collard greens with a couple of farm eggs poached in them as they cook ( microwave or stovetop), when eggs are set, melt some cheese on top. Eat with whole wheat bread. Good with plenty of hot sauce, Frank's is best, lots of flavor, not just heat like Tabasco.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), October 04, 2001.

Man...that collards greens and eggs thing sounds good to ME!! I wish I could help more with cooking for one ideas...never have cooked for one in my life. When I make a quick lunch just for me its usually cottage cheese and tomatoes with some fresh herbs snipped on top, or steamed vegetables with cheese melted on. I love veggies!!

-- Jenny Pipes (Auntjenny6@aol.com), October 04, 2001.

When my wife and I were first married, we didn't have any extra income for a few months. The wedding ceremony, honeymoon, and house we had just paid for left us money depleted.

Fortunately, my wife loves to cook, and doesn't mind experimenting. The foods we got to know really well was pastas and rice. Venison and fish figured into our food budget. Ramen noodles mixed with a little meat, and canned vegetables we ate a lot. Still do, come to think of it. Oatmeal,(slow cooked version), and homemade bread for breakfast too. We ate so much chicken we began sprouting feathers and combs.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), October 04, 2001.

Deviled egg sandwich and Tomatoe soup.

tuna salad, lettuce and crackers

peanut butter & jelly sandwich

livermush and cheese sandwich

bacon, eggs, cheese grits and toast

make a big pot of spagetti (sp?) and freeze left overs. many meals easy reheated

home made jelly and biscuits

butter biscuits and cantaloupe

-- K & S (healthwizard@surfbest.net), October 04, 2001.

If you freeze spaghetti, do it without the sauce. Add the noodles to a pan of hot water for just a few minutes, drain and add sauce, you'll never know they were frozen. How about baked potatoes? a large one with sour cream, bacon, butter, cheese, chopped chives, onions etc... is a meal by itself. Not all together just whatever you like. This is my kids favorite meal. also omlettes are easy for supper, we add cheese, mushrooms, leftover ham or sausage, and peppers.

-- Melissa (cmnorris@1st.net), October 04, 2001.

I apparently did not express what I am looking for well enough, thank you for these posts but I am seeking something like "crushed ginger snaps and white wine as stuffing for cornish game hens" or "orange flavored cream sauce for broiled whiting fillets"; something completely different to everyday food, something interesting for a change. Example such as I put rasins in yellow rice, top with shredded chicken and top with poultry gravy with chunks of pineapple. This is what I am looking for....

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), October 04, 2001.

Oy vey! Mitch, you sure you want eat that stuff??

-- Ardie/Wi (ardie@hotmail.com), October 04, 2001.

Mitch, this is why I like ethnic foods. Pick a country and get a cookbook. Lots of asian food recipes make just enough for two meals. There are terrific Indian recipes for rice (with golden raisins and coconut milk). But if you want cornflake containing recipes, I don't know any. Check out your local women's club cookbooks.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), October 04, 2001.

Don't know if this qualifies as gourmet, but it is tasty, cheap, quick, and easy. Spicy Enchiladas: either make your own or use canned refried beans, and put a dollop of them, and some grated cheese inside a soft flour tortilla-you can use plain old chedar, but a nice Chihuahua Mexican cheese adds a nice flavor. You can roll this up and freeze one or two per serving. When time to eat, you can add either some canned enchilada sauce (or make your own), and top with a nice herbed cheese topping-I like to combine chedar, Parmesian, Chihuahua, a little garlic, cilantro, and any other herb you happen to find tasty. When you make the tortilla part, you can also make up some spiced rice to go along with this and freeze individual portions along side the tortillas. Then when you're hungry for a little Mexican food, you just grab a portion out of the freezer, pour on a little enchilada sauce and top with the herbed cheese mixture, pop it into the oven for a few minutes and then grab a handful of chips, a bowl of salsa, a frosty Superior or Bohemia for a little south of the border treat.

This is a great dish for winter. If it doesn't make you sweat, you need to add more cayene to your sauce!

-- Lori in SE Ohio (klnprice@yahoo.com), October 04, 2001.

Mitch, I think this may be just what you're looking for. I'm giving you this recipe because a lot of duck is just enough for 1-2 people, and a lunch of good leftovers.

Orange Duck: Fresh Duck breasts and legs/thighs; wash and place duck pieces in the crock pot or cast iron dutch oven. Add 2-3 oranges sliced (with peels is ok) or 1-2 small cans mandarin oranges (to taste, of course) add 1 large can orange juice concentrate and a little water (maybe equal to 1/2 the can of orange juice concentrate) and a Tablespoon or 2 of Ginger (again, to taste) and as much fresh garlic diced as you like. Cook on low in crock pot all day or in dutch oven on 325 for 1/2 day. Just before serving, cook a pot of rice and dice jalapeno peppers. Serve Duck and sauce over rice, garnish with jalapeno peppers. Let me know if you have any questions.

-- Rose Marie Wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), October 04, 2001.

Mitch- If you like fish check these out. I am listing the ORIGINAL recipes in their entirety, but when cooking for myself I find that a 1/4 pound of fish yields enough for two meals, adjusting the other ingredients accordingly. I cook a pot of rice into which I add a handful of some other type of whole grain that I really don't like to eat very much, but know that I should! Such as barley, millet, buckwheat, bulgher, etc. Add a bowl of miso soup and a small salad or some fresh veggies, and voila- maybe not gourmet, but an excellent meal for one that is easy to prepare.

1) Baked Haddock. 2 lbs. fresh haddock; 1/4 cup tamari (soy sauce); 1/4 cup water; 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger; 1 onion, sliced into very thin rounds; chopped parsley. Wash and slice fish into 2 1/2-3" chunks. Combine water, tamari, and ginger in a bowl. Place fish in mixture and marinade for 30-60 minutes. Oil a baking dish lightly with sesame oil and place sliced onions on the bottom. Set fish on top of the onions, cover and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until fish is tender. Remove cover, sprinkle with chopped parsley or sliced scallions and continue to bake, uncovered, just long enough to brown the fish.

2). Broiled Flounder. 2 lbs. flounder filets; tamari (soy sauce); sesame oil; lemon juice; slivered almonds; chopped parsley. Wash fillets, place on oiled baking sheet and lightly brush with sesame oil and tamari. Squeeze a little lemon juice on fillets, and then sprinkle them with almonds and a little chopped parsley. Broil about 5 minutes or until fish is tender. Do not overcook or fish will become tough.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), October 04, 2001.

Mitch, have you thought of rasing Quail? Easy to rasie, they don't need a lot of space, easy to dress out and 2 of them make a great meal for one! Their are many great and easy ways to prepare them. Just an idea!

-- Mark in N.C. Fla. (deadgoatman@webtv.net), October 04, 2001.

Gosh I don't have the recipe but one of the little oddballs that I picked up on from I think Indian cuisine was using a sweet peanut sauce with chicken. Either basted on chicken breast strip kabobs or used as a dipping sauce with thin strips of fried tenders. Thinned and spiced PB would replicate it I think.

-- Susan (smtroxel@socket.net), October 04, 2001.

I too am single and find it difficult in preparing meals for one.

Here is one great idea I found that works: Do a 'meal swap' with some other single people. Each one of us picks a night of the week that we prepare an evening meal for the other two people. It makes preparation much easier, we all eat healthier, and have a couple of nights per week that are interesting. Our rules are that there is no set time to show up to eat (in case someone is running late), no one gripes at what is prepared, and visitors never do dishes, unless they want to.

-- clovis (clovis97@Yahoo.com), October 05, 2001.

Hi Mitch good grief surley your not going to eat like that. whats wrong with brockworst and budweiser? Bob se,ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@kans.com), October 05, 2001.

Bobco, I have disabilities that limit what I can do, cooking has allways been interesting, sort of a hobby, I am very bored with everyday food, besides brockworth and budweiser....that stuff is for regular people!!?.....

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), October 06, 2001.

Mitch, I've been experimenting with new stuff for health reasons. Here's one of my recent concoctions that I like....

Mushrooms, chopped fine or however you like, I've been using Baby Bellas.

Onions, chopped however you like to fit the mushrooms,

Carmelize the onions first, then add the mushrooms and what ever you like to season them with. I've been using basil, garlic, and ground cumin.

Optional, crumbled tofu.

Serve this over whole grain toast. OR angel hair pasta. --------------- Have you tried making pesto? 1 cup fresh parsley 1 cup olive oil 1 cup fresh basil 1/3 cup parmesean cheese 1 clove garlic (more since you're single) Some people add pine nuts to this, I don't because they cost too much.

Process it all in a food processor and serve over linquine. ------------ Marinated Chicken Breast (do some to freeze for later) boneless skinless breast, honey, soy sauce, garlic, ground cumin (optional) marinate overnight

grill till done and serve with wild rice and a romaine salad with mandarin oranges, red onion, and poppy seed dressing (or your fav. dressing, that happens to be my fav.)

-- LBD (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), October 09, 2001.

Mitch -- A favorite around here is Grilled Chicken Breast and Pear Salad. Individually frozen chicken breasts can be bought at Costco in a big bag holding about 20, if you don't raise your own, and it's easy to increase the salad ingredients to make more or less.

Pear salad (for 1) -- 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 tsp dried chili pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper, 1/4 cup drained crushed pineapple, 1/4 cup salad shrimp (these can be bought canned or frozen), 1 fully ripe pear, peeled, halved lengthwise and core removed, 2 leaves lettuce (butter lettuce is nice).

Place lettuce on plate and lay pear halves cut side up on it, pile cottage cheese mixture on top. Chill in fridge until chicken breast is ready.

Grill chicken breast and lay beside salad on plate.

Enjoy with a glass of chilled Chardonnay!

-- Tracy (trimmer31@hotmail.com), October 10, 2001.

oh, come on, mitch. What is gourmet to one is icky to another. Good old cooking from scratch is always good for you. Go ahead, mix your fruit with your meat, but dont do it before it hits my plate! lol

Something my mom did was to cook rice with raisins and top it with brown sugar when it was hot. Another rice trick was to fold it into sweetened whipped cream.

My sis in law is single, and she likes for me to make a batch of bread for her in very small loaves and she freezes them, taking them out as needed. Also, she freezes home-grown veggies in sandwich baggies, in two serving sizes. Leftovers arent too bad... (I guess if you top them with pineapple, eh?) She cans meat in pint jars, to make quick nutritious meals when she doesnt feel like cooking. One very good combination is ground round with green beans. Instant gourmet there. Oh, perhaps you could top it with some swiss cheese and melt it overtop to pretty it up. To really gussy it up, a few sunflower seeds on top would add some crunch. lol

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), October 10, 2001.

How can I make chedar cheese.I love chedar cheese but cost to much for me.Can I make my own chedar cheese>May you give me a direction

-- Erkan Elcin (erkanelcin@hotmail.com), November 14, 2001.