One out of three Americans over 65 lives alone. According to population estimates, that translates into ten million seniors living solo. While senior advocates often discuss the isolation that living alone can bring, the challenge of cooking for one is rarely addressed. Twenty percent of older Americans skip one meal a day and miss important nutrition, often to avoid the effort of cooking and the expense of shopping. Yet cooking can be easy and even enjoyable with a little know-how and planning.

If you were accustomed to preparing large family feasts, making a meal for yourself or even two may feel like a difficult transition at first. Recipes that serve 4-6 have to be scaled down and leftover ingredients must be stored or may go bad before you can use them up. With no one else there to encourage your efforts by sharing and praising the meal, cooking for yourself can be a lackluster chore.

One trick is to choose dishes that freeze well, make the full recipe, and freeze the rest in portion-sized containers. An easy way to do this is to line several small casserole dishes with foil, fill the dish, cover with foil, label and freeze. When frozen solid, lift the wrapped food from the dishes and stack in the freezer. For a quick homemade meal later, put the foil container in the dish again and heat in the oven.

Careful planning with leftovers will help you get the most value out of shopping for and preparing your own meals. For instance, bake two chicken breasts on Monday, eat one and use the other sliced in a healthy dinner-sized salad on Wednesday. A meal of chili one night can be turned into chili-topped baked potatoes another night. Leftover cooked vegetables can go into an omelet, a casserole or soups. Or add a little Italian dressing for a quick cold salad.

Many seniors who live alone too often rely on prepared and frozen dinners. While this is an easy option, these foods are high in salt and fat and low in vitamins and minerals. Seniors need 1200 mg. of calcium, healthy whole grains, two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day to meet the minimum government guidelines. Reliance of prepared foods often leaves out these important nutritional categories. In addition, low nutrition fast food and frozen dinners are mostly meat and starch, cost more than what you can make yourself, and provide no leftovers. They are a convenient occasional choice but should not be a substitute for regular balanced meals.

If you need ideas for menu planning and recipes for one, see if your library has any of these helpful cookbooks. Most libraries can borrow titles they don't have from other libraries on interlibrary loan.

• Microwave Cooking For One (Marie T. Smith)
• Cooking For One Or Two (Katherine Greenberg)
• Cooking For Yourself (Janet K. Fletcher)
• Serves One: Super Meals For Solo Cooks (Toni Lydecker)
• Healthy Cooking For Two Or Just For You: Low Fat Recipes With Half the Fuss and Double The Taste (Frances Price)
• Thrifty Meals For Two: Making Food Dollars Count (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Home & Garden Bulletin 244, 1989)

TIPS AND RESOURCES

• Supplement frozen meals with milk, fresh fruit and veggies.
• Take turns with a friend to make a full-sized meal and share the leftovers between you.
• When you eat alone set the table attractively, even light a candle and pour yourself a glass of wine. Whether eating solo or with friends, a meal is still an event to be thankful for.
• Attend congregate meals held in twenty locations in Windham and Windsor counties. They offer nutritious noontime meals, social contact and the chance to share cooking ideas.

For meal locations and schedules, call the Council on Aging SENIOR HELP-LINE at 1-800-642-5119), or view our Community Meals informaton.

 

 

top of page
return to list of Senior Sense articles