Cooking for One – Relearning Meal Planning

Photo Courtesy of Funky Fridge

A new disruption in my life has been cause for some major changes. I have always been used to cooking for two people but due to some recent life events it’s now down to a one man meal. With that said, I will also mention that there has been a major cut in the grocery budget so from here on out my meal planning will have to be much more simplistic than I am used to but I also feel like it will be a great learning experience because ready-made will have to be a thing of my past for now. 

Biting the Budget Bullet

My new budget for the month for food is…. $200. Yikes right? That includes going out to eat, which means I won’t be going out to eat.  I have broken it down to $50 a week (how many 5 week months are there? ::cringe::). $50 a week breaks down to about $7 a day with some change left over. $7 a day breaks down even smaller to $2 a meal with $1 a day for snacks. I know that sounds completely impossible but with some creativity and effort I think I can do it. 

A Few Tips for Staying in Budget

• Check the clearance aisles (Meat, canned veggies, etc.)
• Keep an eye on sales (Know what a good price to pay for what you’re getting is)
• Shop your pantry (I bet you didn’t realize you have three jars of peanut butter)
• Coupon clipping isn’t just for your granny (It’s actually addicting, beware
• Store brand isn’t always bad (Sometimes it is though, trial & error my friends)
• Try your skills out at growing (Or be nice to someone who does
• Eat your leftovers (Don’t just let them rot in your fridge; they will start to smell)
• Don’t be lazy (Cut up your own goodies) 

Staying Healthy

Another point I’d like to mention is that I am very in to eating healthy (excuse the McDonald’s cup on my desk) and enjoy fitness so I will not be binging on Ramen noodles or Kool-Aid either. My goal is to continue to maintain my weight of 120-125 lbs. which involves plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, lean cuts of meat and water. 

My plan for the upcoming week:

Do you have any tips on meal planning for one?

Super-Easy Baked Lemon Pepper Tilapia Recipe

I have been trying to “eat out of the pantry” for the past week or so since I have yet to go grocery shopping and I came across some individually frozen tilapias and thought they would be a great addition to the new meal plan I’d like to start going by. I didn’t want to get too involved on my ingredients. I wanted to use what was on hand so I whipped up with this simple recipe.

Ready to go in the oven

  

Ingredients

2-4 frozen tilapia fillets
Lemon pepper seasoning
1 Lemon
I cannot believe it’s not butter spray
Cooking Spray

Directions

Defrost tilapia fillets. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray/grease 9x9 baking dish. Cut lemon in half. Squeeze lemon juice into baking dish.  Season both sides of tilapia fillets to your liking and place in dish.  Spritz tops of tilapia 2x with butter spray. Squeeze a small amount of lemon juice over the top of each fillet. Using the other half of the lemon, cut thin slices and place them across the tops of the fillet. I use 1-2 slices per fillet. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through. Tilapia should be white and flakey when finished cooking. 

Notes:
Makes 2-4 servings. Serving size: 1 tilapia fillet. 110 Calories. 20 grams of protein 3 grams of fat. Pairs great with brown rice and steamed broccoli.

Total Cost: $2.50 per serving