Smart purchasing and cooking for one pitters
A lot of food is wasted in the Netherlands: it is estimated that we throw away about 47 kilos of food per person. This is even more so in single-person households. A shame, not only for your wallet, but also for the environment. That can be more sustainable, also for singles.
Shopping and cooking for one person is quite a challenge. At least, if you want to do that in a healthy, cheap and sustainable way. After all, most products in the supermarket are designed for two people or more, so that you quickly have a lot of leftovers. But with a little smart shopping and cooking you can do it!
basic stock
First of all, make sure you have a basic stock of products that have a long shelf life, but which you can use to prepare a quick and healthy meal. So fill your freezer with vegetables (peas or spinach in cubes are ideal for example), frozen fruit (blueberries!), bread, meat and fish.
Buy a basic supply of fruits and vegetables with a long shelf life each week, such as apples, pears, oranges, onions, leeks, cabbage, sweet potato, bell pepper, carrot and celeriac. Pack your kitchen cupboards with cans of pulses, cans of fish, cans of peeled tomatoes, quinoa, rice, couscous, oatmeal, olive oil, spices, curry paste, coconut milk, nuts and dried fruits.
Don’t fall into the ready-made trap
Cooking for one person may feel like a daily duty. Before you know it, you will be tempted by a ready meal, a pizza or a salad. But they are quite expensive, produce a lot of waste and are not always so healthy. It’s much smarter to cook for two or more days (and freeze the rest of the servings so you don’t eat the same thing two days in a row). Meal soups, stews, pasta sauces and curries are very suitable for this. How about Tajine with chicken, vegetables and chickpeas or spicy lentil-tomato soup?
Do residual processing
What are your best weapons in the single battle against food waste? We name two. The first weapon is the juicer. With this you can quickly make tasty and healthy juices from all your fruit and vegetables that are a bit close to the best-before date. The second weapon? Those are eggs! Because with eggs you can make a delicious meal omelet in no time. Leftover leek, tomato, piece of bell pepper, leftover rice, slice of ham, a bit of cheese: your healthy meal of leftovers is complete again.
