Lots of change is afoot in the world of the TheTastyVegan, including a move to living alone after many years of cohabiting! For some lucky friends it’s likely to mean that I have plenty of spare dinner to go around each evening and large batches of vegan cookies that I can’t possibly eat on my own… all while I get used to cooking for one again.
Do you have any top tips for staying healthy and avoiding food-waste as a vegan living alone? I’d love to hear them… possibly over coffee and whilst eating the pile of vegan cupcakes I rustled up just for me and, er, my dawg. In the meantime, here are a few thoughts as I enter a new chapter of my life:
- Cook in bulk and freeze portions – but remember to leave out the garlic as this is accentuated by freezing!
- Shop with lists – there’s only you to eat all the excess and a BOGOF offer on fresh food isn’t a bargain if you waste it.
- Remember that your health is as important as anyone else’s you might cook for – cook unto yourself as you would to others (or something).
- Eat at a table, chew, savour your food – a meal is still enjoyable, even alone.
- Dessert is not just for company – your deserve dessert!
- Switch it up! Practice new dishes on yourself and be ready to wow others later.
- Continue to dance whilst cooking, preferably with a wooden spoon as a mic and a dog as your jive partner.
- Eat at regular meal times – just because you’re not answerable to anyone else’s schedule it doesn’t mean it’s no longer healthy to be, er, consistent.
- Buy grains, nuts, seeds and pulses in bulk with friends! Form a food co-op, save money and make new chums.
- Chips and houmous is not dinner. Jus’ sayin’
Years ago, when I first decided to be vegan, I remember buying a copy of Vegan Cooking For One… a book that made me, as the only vegan I knew at the time, feel desperately lonely and not a little weird. Now, when almost everyone I know is vegan, or veganish, it’s extremely rare that I cook for myself alone. Times are a-changing and, perhaps, this little foray into single-living means I’ll develop a healthier approach to self-care!
Let me know your top tips for single vegan living!
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These are really good ideas. I live alone and have a really hard time keeping my portion sizes down since I’m used to cooking for more. My tips are to plan the week’s meals on a set day and do all the shopping at once. It helps to keep an organized fridge too. And beware of best before dates.
Mary