I am horrible at cooking for one.

I mean, I am pretty good for the first few weeks that Steve is away. I cook hot suppers that don’t involve instant noodles, I avoid eating while standing over the sink, I keep the fridge situation under control. Yet somehow, around week five things always seem to go a little sideways.

I usually start restorting to snack meals – handfuls of peanuts, hummus on crackers, a bowl of scrabbled eggs. Anything gives me enough protein to satiate my hunger. Quickly and with as little effort possible. This strategy seems to work for a few days, maybe a week. Then my body reminds me that I do, indeed, enjoy eating greens things, and food with flavour, and that perhaps enjoying the food I am eating should be as important as simply filling a hunger gap.   

You’d think by now – after years of spending chunks of time alone on the boat – I’d have a fool proof plan to avoid this seemingly inevitable crash, but no.

And so, last week, too lazy to even reheat the sweet potato and squash curry that was sitting in the fridge, I decided a few crackers with slices of cold spam, drowned in mustard so I could get it down, was a better supper option. (Yes, you can judge that one.) The night after that, a packet of noodles, nearly a third of which I crunched on hard and dry as I waited for the kettle the boil. I didn’t bother to add any pak choy or herbs or slices of tomato, even though they were all within reach, just OD’ed on flavour packet MSG. A third night I considered cooking some rice, but instead I dipped a soup spoon into the peanut butter jar a few times and called it a night.

These are not proud culinary moments for me. Neither was having to toss the container of curry last night because it sat in the fridge waaaay too long. But It did make me realize something.

I don’t just enjoy cooking, I enjoy cooking for someone.

Maybe it’s because I learned to cook when my Mom when back to work when I was 10 so everything I learned was to feed 6 people. Or maybe its because I cooked in restaurants where your value is depends on the customer being happy. Or maybe it was years on super yachts where cooking for guests meant creating fancy menus and cooking for crew meant sitting around a table of good friends enjoying a meal.

Either way, this has translated into me cooking almost every time I visit friends and family. Partly as a thank you for having me in their homes, and partly because I know how mundane a task this necessity can be. I mean, is there anything more satisfying than having someone cook for you? (Isn’t that why people go out to eat?!) And it’s also why I have been known to give away loaves of bread and packages of cookies, and send dinner guest home with leftovers.

Cooking for people=Caring for people

Having finally figured this out (again), yesterday I decided that I would cook myself up a care package. OK, it won’t taste as good as sandwich that someone else made for me. (Have you ever noticed that sandwiches always taste better when someone else makes them? Toast too? It’s the simple things…) But it I figured if …

I cooked up a storm and put it all in the fridge for tomorrow me, that it’s kinda of like cooking for someone else. Right?

So, I hit the market to see what’s fresh and was happily surprised to find a pile of nice avocados ready to go, heaps of fresh corn, some half decent tomatoes (they haven’t been great recently) and some delightfully purple sweet potatoes. Add some chilies, limes, cilantro, onions, and tempeh and I had everything I would need for a full Taco Fiesta! A perfect make it now, eat it later menu.

I schlepped everything home and got to work making my Tofu/Tempeh Taco mix, sooooo good. (You can find the full recipe for that one HERE.) While that was on the stove I peeled and boiled the sweet potatoes, mashed the avo’s for the guac and cut up the usual suspects to make a rough salsa.

When I had a burner free I roasted the ears of corn over the flames, charring the kernels until some of them popped a d the cabin was filled with the sweet smell of Mexico street food.

While I was at it I decided to make a box of peeled and cut veggies and a box of cut up pineapple and peeled jackfruit. Easy snackers for the mid-morning/afternoon that are crisp and cool, because mid-morning/afternoon around here is usually pretty sweaty and hot.

With everything boxed, labelled, and nestled in the fridge I decided there was, actually, someone onboard I could cook for.

I whipped up a batch of Kitten’s favourite – chicken, livers, and pumpkin cooked until tender and blended to purrrfection. Cheaper than even the basic packet cat food with less fillers but still the good all stink of liver. I managed not to gag when I pureed it and she hoovered it up at supper time. Everyone was happy.

I have never been much of a junk food eater, but I can certainly say that when I eat better (and by better I guess I just mean actual meals) I not only feel better but I sleep better, which means I wake up with a much more positive mindset. I have more energy and more enthusiasm to tackle the To Do List, and I am less apt to waste time watching mindless crap on my phone.

Today I did yoga on the bow at 0530, started painting the bathroom, wrote a blog post, and started reading a new book. All because I had a bunch of fun and healthy taco fixin’s ready to mix and match, eat hot or cold, waiting for me in the fridge last night. Tonight I might make a batch of those Yogurt Flatbreads and eat it all over again, same same but different!

Yes, cooking for one can be tedious, but future me is definitely worth it. Now all I gotta do it plan for next week so I can keep the positive vibes rolling. Drop your quick and delicious meal prep ideas in the comments if you have any.

Love,
H…&S
 

(Kitten was in charge of the drinks pairing for the meal.)

P.S. Apparently this is a lesson I needed to relearn. I just found this (same) old post 2019!