Welcome to The Cherry On Top.
Are you the type of person that eats stale crackers matched with cheese where you scraped off the mold? Or are you more the Doritos and cola for dinner type? I feel ya! I spend weeks and sometimes months alone and until very recently, I'd eat terribly when it came to feeding myself. Today, I'm sharing some recent fridge clean outs and dinner ideas for when you're going solo. Thanks for checking it out.
All of these ideas are fairly if not crazy healthy and if you've been following The Cherry, you'll know that they are also pretty easy to whip up if not super simple. As passionate as I am about food and health, I am a tad lazy when it comes to extravagant or lengthy recipes.
My first image is insanely easy, left over pizza. I used all remnants from the fridge.
The pizza bottom was the last, lone piece of a Turkish flat bread a lot like a tortilla. I get this kind from a local, small Turk shop. It only has three, whole ingredients and they get moldy after just a few days. So, I know they are very fresh.
I had a little bit of BBQ sauce left in the bottle and I spread it as the sauce over the pita bread. Then I added some really sad looking scallions. After peeling back all of the papery strips from the green onions, they looked like new if not just a bit smaller. There was a sweet variety of shredded cheeses left, including parmasean, cheddar and emmental. I had just enough to cover my pizza. Shoo! I topped it off with nearly finished, fresh basil and that is it, my friends. Super simple. A lot more room in the refrigerator and I didn't have to throw anything away.
Readers know that I have chickens. Therefore, I have healthy organic, free range eggs galore. Not only can I whip up a very affordable meal for myself, I can also consume a vast array of fresh vegetables. I'm always looking for ways to consumer more veg and I'll share some findings with ya.
Toast a slice of bread in your pan or in the toaster then put your omelette over the top. You'll get more grains in your meal and perhaps feel a little more full.
Omelettes are ideal for cleaning out the veggie drawer. They are so awesomely versatile, too. Let's make a quick list of some popular and not so popular items you can put in your eggs.
- tomatoes
- any kind of peppers hot or not or both
- most herbs go great with eggs My favorites are chives, basil and oregano
- potatoes
- any kind of cheese even cream cheese and milk
- onions of any variety like green onions, shallots, leek, red onions
- crab or imitation crab tastes incredible in an omelette
- meat variety Most meats work. I just used a left over steak in my last one. Bacon, ham and sausage are popular.
If I missed a good one, put it in the comments or share your favorite ingredients.
My family in Belgium have this thing against eating more than one warm meal a day and frankly, I don't always feel like "cooking" either. Here are a few ideas that do not require cooking.
When I'm cooking just for me, I often make one pan meals in a small pan. This will help you with keeping the quantity down which is a big problem for me since I often cook for four. I hate doing the dishes! Let me share a few top tips to speedy up the cooking process.
Great pans are so essential. It took me decades to learn how important pans are. Stay away from teflon and do your research for the healthiest ways to cook. Teflon can give ya cancer. Just breathing in the fumes from a heated pan get make you and your pets sick. The trick to keep things from sticking is temperature. Make sure your pan is good and hot before you put something cold in it, but not so hot it will burn. This is a Ballerini pan with a stone surface. You hardly need any, if any fat and it's rather difficult to burn your food. It's that good!
If you're ever uncertain what kind of temperature to use, keep it lower. Super hot temperatures are only good when ya want to brown meat, quickly.
The first image below is my left overs from the day before. It was a bit skimpy. So, I chopped more veg in the form of koolrabi, cooked it a few minutes and then chucked in my left overs and heated it all through.
Below are more left overs. When cooking for yourself, make enough for at least one more meal. Eat it the next day or put some in the freezer.
I pimp up my leftovers by adding extra ingredients like more veg, fresh herbs and my favorite, cheese.
My one potters cook up quick because I chop my potatoes really small. The smaller you chop or dice, the more time you'll save.
My family in Belgium have this thing against eating more than one warm meal a day and frankly, I don't always feel like "cooking" either. Here are a few ideas that do not require cooking.
I'll eat breakfast type meals any time of day. Especially when I don't feel like dirtying the pots and pans. Above are Wassa crackers with sliced cheese and chopped chives served with thinly sliced radishes and cucumber which you can also add to your crackers. Mmmm...Use cream cheese if you prefer.
Making your own granola bars is so mega easy. It's no more than plopping your coarsely chopped seeds, nuts and dried fruit in a bowl and mixing them with something sweet like maple syrup, honey...and a sprinkle of cinnamon or other yummy spices like ginger, tumeric, nutmeg...Find the perfect recipe and make your own, today.
Don't get all hooked up on what kind of food to eat when. It'll give ya a whole heck of a lot more options. I eat left over Indian or pizza for breakfast, for example.
Wash some fresh fruit, chop if necessary and place in the bottom of a bowl. Then add a dollop of your favorite yogurt over top and a small serving of organic oatmeal with it. Change up the kind of yogurt you use as well as different fruit and grains. Puffed quinoa and chia seeds are great alternatives. If you've got the chance to consume raw milk products from a local source, that'll be your healthiest option. We've been eating raw milk products for years with zero issues. If anything we are better off by doing so.
The worst and most overused excuse for solo eaters is the whole, "Well, it's just me" thing. Give me a break! Who on earth is more important than you?! For real! The better you take care of yourself, the better you can take care of others. Besides, it is an excellent example.
We recently bought a new, old house and we still don't have appliance besides a wash machine, fridge and coffee bean grinder. I never thought of this when I purchased these bagels from the fresh baker. So, I melted some butter in a pan and gently sautéed them on both sides. Honestly, it didn't take much longer than a toaster and man oh man! They tasted incredibly different and in a good way.
I smeared on some sweet red pepper, cream cheese and served it up with an array of fresh veg and tiny cubed cheese. Just drizzle some really great quality olive oil over the top and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Easy peasy!
Keep your left over, fresh veg in an airtight container! They'll last for weeks.
I'm not a huge fan of lettuce as you can see. Nearly all of my salads omit lettuce varieties, but I am partial to rucola and fresh spinach.
Toast a slice of bread in the machine, pan or oven grill. Slap on some fun toppings like tomato sauce, a slice of meat like ham and then keep it really simple by adding just a slice of cheese over the top and grill it further until melted. It goes very fast. So, keep your eyes out not to burn your dinner.
Don't go ripping yourself off! Turn on your favorite music. Pour yourself a lovely glass of wine. Grab all of your ingredients and slowly, mindfully, and with gratitude, prepare your own delicious meal for little ole you. You totally deserve it!
Get creative by using the things you already have in your cabinets and the refrigerator. Hit up Pinterest for great ideas. Plan a menu for yourself. That's what I do and I always recommend menu planning and grocery lists. Read further and get some helpful, free, printables by clicking that link.
Consider one pot meals to save dishes. Cut your ingredients really small to save cooking time. Use one of those dicing and chopping machines if you don't like doing it with a knife. Make sure your knives are sharp all of the time. It saves a lot of time and hassle. Go for a non cooking meal like yogurt, fruit and granola or sandwiches. Make more than enough so ya don't have to cook tomorrow or throw it in the freezer for a later date.
Let me know what you like making for yourself in the comments.
I've got some rather extensive food related boards on Pinterest that you can find in the side bar as well as hundreds of blogs that are food related including my very popular, Weekly Menu Planners. They are on Pinterest as well.
I hope I've inspired you to cook well for yourself, everyday. You deserve it.
