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Hello Kraft Community, we are very excited to share some great news with you. As loyal Kraft Community members we have heard your desire to do more fun things in the community and we are happy to announce in January 2010 we will be making some changes so you can connect and share food ideas in more ways than ever!
We want to let you know we will not be transferring the existing discussions to the new enhanced message boards so if there are discussions that you would like to save please make sure to either print them or copy and paste into a document that you can save to your personal files.
We will remind you again before the transition occurs but wanted to let you in on the exciting news!!
If you have any questions on how to do this please contact Customer Care at Contact Us
Moderator_Sky
Posts:
1,521
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Posted:
Nov 15, 2009 10:31 PM
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A lot of stores will also package hamburger in patty form, two to a pack, or two porkchops to a pack or two steaks... etc.. and put them right out in the case.
It may cost a couple of cents more, but that's better than wasting food you won't eat and throwing more than just a couple of cents away.
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Posts:
4
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Posted:
Nov 15, 2009 8:30 PM
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I have found it to be easier and cheaper to buy pork chops and steaks at the fresh meat department. You can chose how many you want and which ones you want and they'll package them separate for you and give you a better price for buying 4 or more. So you save money per pound and you don't have to buy packaging and do it at home and that saves time too. I have gotten pretty good at cooking for 2 but that is mostly because we take our left overs to work the next day which means I am not actually having to throw anything out. And if it is just extra meat that I have left over, I'll make a stew, cassarole or soup and maybe even chinese w/it. That way Ii am limited to the amount of other ingredient I use because I only have a certain amount of cooked meat. It makes me more aware of how much I am using when I am trying not to over load my meat w/ other stuff.
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Posts:
2
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Posted:
Nov 11, 2009 6:32 PM
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I have been cooking for 2 for almost 7 years and it is not easy to cook for 2. I am from a family of 6 and it was easy to cook for that many but i have learned some what to cook for 2. The key is to find recipes that is for 2 or go to allrecipes.com and they have a serving size that allows you to adjust the serving size to what you need. But sometimes you have to much food and it go to waste. Soups are great to make and freeze some and also you can buy meat and portion your meat for 2 and freeze it but veggies is all ways to much in least your a big veggie eater. Rices like rice a roni or any package rice is great for 2 people, potatoes for 2 is about 3 or 4 potatoes peeled and cut for home made mashed taters. And sometimes eying it also help to judge what you need.
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Moderator_Jane
Posts:
1,656
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Posted:
Nov 11, 2009 9:31 AM
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> I am also a cook @ a school K-12., and am the
> Foodservice Manager. We do as much scratch cooking as
> possible. Cooking @ home is a different story. On
> Sunday we have our family of four children and their
> families for dinner so it is a real challenge to go
> back to just the two of us during the week. Some
> weeks turn into leftovers from Sunday. To top it
> all off my husband commutes a long distance so he
> doesn't get home till 7 @ night so that is a
> challenge to fix something that isn't so heavy before
> bedtime. Any suggestions for something light. My
> husband has food restrictions as well. Very light on
> the red meat , no seafood, Light on the proteins.
I really like stir fry a lot, especially when we have veggies in the garden. It's easy to make a nice meal with lots of veggies, a small amount of chicken, beef or tofu and even served over rice, it's not an especially heavy meal. The only thing you have to watch out for is the sodium content if you use a soy or teriyaki sauce.
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Posts:
1
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Posted:
Nov 11, 2009 5:14 AM
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I am also a cook @ a school K-12., and am the Foodservice Manager. We do as much scratch cooking as possible. Cooking @ home is a different story. On Sunday we have our family of four children and their families for dinner so it is a real challenge to go back to just the two of us during the week. Some weeks turn into leftovers from Sunday. To top it all off my husband commutes a long distance so he doesn't get home till 7 @ night so that is a challenge to fix something that isn't so heavy before bedtime. Any suggestions for something light. My husband has food restrictions as well. Very light on the red meat , no seafood, Light on the proteins.
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Posts:
2
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Posted:
Nov 10, 2009 5:09 PM
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Yes, Hubby & I became empty nesters this past summer and I am having a devil of a time cooking for 2. We always have way too much left over. I guess I just go on auto pilot when I cook and it's usually for 4.
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Moderator_Sky
Posts:
1,521
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Posted:
Nov 9, 2009 10:50 PM
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Another option, if you can't seem to get the portion sizes down, is to team up with some friends or family and take turns making dinner. That way, you aren't overwhelmed with a lot of extras you have to spend the entire week eating, and you aren't really spending extra because other nights, you'd be eating at the next person's (whose turn it is) house.
Bonus: Great time with friends and family!
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Moderator_Jane
Posts:
1,656
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Posted:
Nov 9, 2009 11:57 AM
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> I have cooked in an elementary kitchen for 675 kids
> for 13 years. I also am the baker & kitchen manager.
> we cook from scratch for items such as chili, spgty.
> taco, ckn. & ndles, & mac & chz. i find it very
> difficult to then come home & cook ANYTHING in the
> proper proportion for only two of us. anyone else
> have this problem?
Your cooking challenge sounds even greater than for those of us who cook for one or two but don't have any competing job influences such as yours.
What I think you lose when you just cook for two is the flexibility to cook a greater variety of dishes. The dinners I cook are largely from scratch and fairly simple. If I'm going to cook a larger cut of meat, like a roast chicken or turkey breast, I try to figure out ahead of time how I can serve it in different ways or freeze it in a way we'll actually use it.
When we were first married, my husband could never predict when he would actually be able to get home, so I developed a repertoire of meals I could cook in 30 minutes or less. Portion control is still sometimes an issue, but it really can be done.
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Moderator_Sky
Posts:
1,521
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Posted:
Nov 8, 2009 12:58 PM
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> i even bought a small 6x 9x2 inch cass dish thinking
> i'd cut all cass. recipes in 1/2 or 1/4 but still
> find that after eating it twice we've had enough of
> it & then i think I'll freeze the rest but end up
> tossing from the frzr. a month or so later. haven't
> had good luck with frzing leftover casserole type
> dshes. i do have a food saver but find it not very
> useful for casseroles. my husband always said I
> cooked enough for an army. why i don't know. only had
> 1 child. that is why cooking industrial size for
> school seems to be "normal". it does create a
> problem at home tho. even my pots & pans & cookie
> sheets feel & look out of proportion to me!
If you buy things that are not already portioned, like meats, veggies, and boxes of pasta, it can be easy to fall into the "habit" of cooking a lot.
What I do, since it is just my son and I now, is I portion everything as I get it, especially meats. When I get home from the grocery, I repackage the meat so that there is are proper servings for my son and me in one package/foil/freezer paper, then it's just a matter of grabbing that from the freezer.
Pasta was very hard for me to learn how to cut back on, so what I did was follow the serving suggestions on the box to the letter for a couple of weeks, and after that, I could eyeball how much I needed.
Veggies I don't worry about, because it's not a bad thing to eat more than one serving of veggies at a meal. Load up!
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Posts:
7
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Posted:
Nov 8, 2009 7:00 AM
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i even bought a small 6x 9x2 inch cass dish thinking i'd cut all cass. recipes in 1/2 or 1/4 but still find that after eating it twice we've had enough of it & then i think I'll freeze the rest but end up tossing from the frzr. a month or so later. haven't had good luck with frzing leftover casserole type dshes. i do have a food saver but find it not very useful for casseroles. my husband always said I cooked enough for an army. why i don't know. only had 1 child. that is why cooking industrial size for school seems to be "normal". it does create a problem at home tho. even my pots & pans & cookie sheets feel & look out of proportion to me!
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Posts:
1
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Posted:
Nov 8, 2009 1:54 AM
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Unfortunately, yes. My fiance and I have lived together for about four years now, and unlike most women, my fears were not that I would burn everything..but that I would resort to Stouffers for dinner.  Even that is too much for two people, and when you purchase fresh fruits and veggies, you are eating the same thing for days to get rid of it. This has become an ongoing joke in our house that I overbuy, and we end up putting everything in a pot and having the "hookup" stew for dinner just to get rid of it all! You're not alone!!!
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Posts:
1,101
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Posted:
Nov 7, 2009 8:50 AM
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Yes, We have been a family of two for about 15 yrs. now, and I still can't cook from scratch for only two!,. Nor can I shop just for two. Have you noticed that most foods are packaged for a family of four or more and those that aren't usually cost twice as much! It's great that you cooked the school food from scratch . A friend of mine was the head cook at a local school and they cooked almost everything from scratch, untill she retired, about 8 yrs. ago, now most everything is canned, boxed, or frozen, .
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Posts:
7
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Posted:
Nov 7, 2009 8:20 AM
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I have cooked in an elementary kitchen for 675 kids for 13 years. I also am the baker & kitchen manager. we cook from scratch for items such as chili, spgty. taco, ckn. & ndles, & mac & chz. i find it very difficult to then come home & cook ANYTHING in the proper proportion for only two of us. anyone else have this problem?
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