I'm trying to put together a 14 day menu for my 20 yr old son who has just moved to Auckland. Unfortunately his flatmates do not shop together and share the cooking as he did in his Christchurch flat - all is kept separate. What I need are easy healthy ideas for one person, not too expensive and bearing in mind that he has very little freezer space available. He can't eat eggs. He is quite capable in the kitchen but gets home latish and doesn't have a lot of time for cooking so tends to buy takeaways - he's trying to stop that. Any ideas gratefully received!
pegasus07,
Oct 30, 4:36pm
summers here i say bbq and salad easy to do
marree,
Oct 30, 4:49pm
I was going to suggest he make up some pre-cooked meals & store in those plastic containers (like you get from Chinese takeaway etc), but freezer space is small. Salads are good, go to deli at supermarket & get some pre-cooked chicken, ham, beef, crab meat, tubs of coleslaw, pototo salad, bread rolls etc - can do on the cheap (as it's just for him) - just have to make sure the other flatmates don't get stuck into it.I know it's a tricky situation when they all 'buy for themselves', but hard to keep an eye on things (others sneakily get into it!)If he has a toasted sandwich maker, he can make some nice toasties with salad on the side.
purely.ethereal,
Oct 30, 5:07pm
Was wondering if you can provide a bit more information.Is he on a tight student budget? Also is he quite adventurous with food - likes to try new things? Or is he more the mince, sausages and steak kind of person?Does he live within proximity to a vege market? Also is he a creature of habbit, would he happily eat the same thing several times in a week? Or would he prefer a lot of variety?
I also thought salad is a great idea for quick easy and cheap side dish but I have met a lot of males who won't eat salad.
An easy/cheap idea is to make a big pot of soup (I like Pumpkin with some chickpeas for protein but blitz it up so its smooth).I freeze portions for when I can't be bothered.This may not be possible if he does not have much freezer space.
Pasta is also quick and cheap, stick the pasta on to cook and in the mean time fry up some veges, sliced chicken breast/choritzo/salami or whatever is liked, Mix it all together.Could flavour with pasta sauce, feta cheese, or something more unique like a blob of satay sauce/whatever is in the fridge (?).
Also home made pizzas - very quick and easy and can use up all the left overs in the fridge.I used large pita-ish things for the base and chucked on whatever happened to be left in the fridge.
I am a student myself (although in my 7th year and not flatting now) and what I found when I was flatting is that a lot of freezer space gets wasted when you have multiple people using it.There is usually at least one person who just chucks things in willy nilly - I always found a simple re-arrange could create quite a bit of room in a "full" freezer.Meat comes in thick packaging etc and if you take that off and wrap single portions of meat in glad wrap you can also fit a lot more in the freezer - and it will be more user friendly as he is cooking for one.
wayneandjudith,
Oct 30, 5:12pm
They don't have a BBQ though we may be able to help him out with that. He's going to buy a toastie maker so any ideas for fillings would be great. Yes he does eat salad and is quite adventurous in his tastes. He is on a pretty tight budget at present.
marree,
Oct 30, 5:27pm
toasties - cheese, tomato, onion, avocado, pineapple, bacon, leftover mince (not altogether of course!) just depends on his tastes - he can experiment.
ruby19,
Oct 30, 5:52pm
Does he know the people he flats with well?Perhaps he could suggest they plan meals and shop as a group rather than separately, even if this is only for evening meals. This may even work out cheaper.
motorbo,
Oct 30, 6:23pm
stirfrys honestly, a trick ive started doing too, on sunday for the working week i make a coleslaw mix without dressing, i put in celery, cabbage, carrots, spring or red onions, red peppers etc, and each day i grab a good handful to add to my lettuce mix for lunch, but you could also make this up as a ready strifry mix for a few nights, all you need to add is ginger, garlic, soy and some chilli sauce if you like, quick easy and ticks all the health boxes oh and rice strick noodles bought at the asian store (some supermarkets have cheap too) i get mine for a dollar a packet you dont need to boil just in bowl and cover with boiling water till soft - drain and throw in, if you want it cheaper, browned mince works well instead of chicken or steak
greerg,
Oct 30, 7:40pm
Things like mac cheese and pasta bake can be made in a lasagne dish and frozen in one person serves in the flat plastic containers.A big pot of spag bol divided up into small containers is another good frozen standby and a large casserole makes several meals.
wayneandjudith,
Oct 30, 7:45pm
That's what he'd prefer but he's only just joined the flat and doesn't know them well yet. However they are all looking for a new flat together which means he'll go in on a more equal basis and I think he plans to suggest it then.
Thank you all for the suggestions so far.
marree,
Oct 31, 1:33am
It's nice when 'flatties' aren't too fussy & can plan meals together (like in a family situation), but sometimes it can be very difficult - people have certain diets which is fine, then there's others that don't want to pay for this & that because they don't eat it (those people can provide & pay for their own food), however they must contribute to the essentials like milk, bread, marg, toilet rolls, washing powder etc to make it fair.Hopefully things will work out for him.
mistyblues...,
Oct 31, 1:45am
a crockpot is just awesome. you can cook a whole chicken in it and then have chicken salad for dinner and cold chicken for lunch.slice chicken with hot gravy and vegs.my daughter and i live off $65 per week including feeding thedog.i plan the week ahead and while the meals are simple it does not take much to change them up.pasta, with chicken and mixed vegs.crock pot is also great for stews and making cheap meat cuts into something awesome.this means he can do the meal before he goes in the morning and most of its cooked when he gets home. there is an awesome book out about slow cookers.a steamer is also great for quick and easy cooking.makes great rice.
duckmoon,
Oct 31, 1:58am
when hubby was living alone, he would cook every other night.he would make enough for two servings. It meant that he had the same thing two nights in a row - but at least it meant he wasn't cooking a proper meal on a daily basis.
duckmoon,
Oct 31, 2:01am
suggestions for meals for one: 1. sausages, potatoes (cooked in jacket in microwave) and steam vege 2. stir fry chicken with veges.Purchase frozen vege and have with udon noodles - they cook in about 3 minutes. 3. cold meat (from the supermarket deli) with salad vege
duckmoon,
Oct 31, 2:02am
If he plans his meals around supermarket visits... so, go shopping, then Day 1: cold meat and pasta salad (from the deli) and green salad, with a pasta salad (it means that it isn't sitting in the fridge of a week before eating it - yuck)
duckmoon,
Oct 31, 2:04am
my favourite toastie filling is ham and cheese... with a good relish... yum.
Also, we got a toastie which had a flat hotplate - which means we can cook eggs and/or bacon on it...
duckmoon,
Oct 31, 2:09am
Also, he can have a plan which is one base meal - but done in four different says: Night one: cook up mince - serve as spag bol with spaghetti; put three more servings at the back of the fridge. Night two: re-heat one serving with baked beans stirred in. serve with nachos, cheese, avo, and sour cream (if he has it). Night three: mince with boiled potatoes (cook extra potatoes and mash) Night four: add mixed veges to mince and cover with the mashed potato from previous night - microwave or heat in oven.
One night of cooking mince - four different dinners.
kiwibubbles,
Oct 31, 2:51am
definitely recommend stir frys- can't go wrong with them. You can get a bag of frozen veggies - watties stirfry veggies, whatever meat cut up, and that watties wok creations sauce.. sooooooo easy. This makes two meals, so he could easily have the leftovers for lunch the next day
danicharles,
Oct 31, 3:36am
I loooveee tuna pasta or rice salad, easy as, spring onion , peas and tuna with rice or pasta, with mayo, i see he cant eat eggs, so he could possibly change it with another salad-y type dressing and tuna can be replaced by ham or chicken.
duckmoon,
Oct 31, 5:14am
if he is into salads, then at this time of year: good bread, a small tin of tuna, and salad stuff... a great dinner
button.nose,
Oct 31, 8:58pm
im in the same situation and i have to say for my meals i often make large amounts and freeze or just stick it in the fridge, pasta is cheap and it tastes good with anything added to it =]
juliewn,
Oct 31, 11:45pm
Hi.. may I suggest encouraging him to make up his own meal ideas, as at 20 he'll know his favourites well, and what he doesn't like.. he can work around those so he'd have the opportunity to make the meal decisions for himself..
I'd guess many people would look back on their student days and remember meals they made, or that didn't succeed.. a stepping stone to continuing those decisions and experiences.. and a part of student-life..
My 20 year old Daughter is away studying - she'd be saying 'Mum!'lol.. if I suggested working out her meals for her..
Best wishes to him for his future..
wayneandjudith,
Nov 1, 1:48am
That's true juliewn and he is generally very independent but he asked me for some advice and I just want to get some ideas for him as so far he has always planned and worked with other flatmates. He's a good cook, just wants some help organising it!
marree,
Jul 7, 1:12pm
He just needs to take care of himself - eat healthy etc & not let people walk all over him (you know what I mean).If he has some good flatmates they can sit down & sort things out.
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