MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — Cooking for a large group is not easy but it can also be a challenge when you’re cooking for one. Local chef, Char Morse, is sharing some helpful tips on cooking just enough for what you need.
“I sauté my veggies and then just add them with some eggs and bake them. We’re good,” said Chef Char, who has a partnership with Harbor Hospice offering cooking classes for one as part of the grief support program.
“For their newly widowed, widowers to cook smaller meals for themselves,” said Chef Char as she jokingly added, “If they cook like they used to when they had a family and a spouse, they end up eating food and leftovers for weeks.”
Keep in mind, there are many groups of people who could use these skills.
The local chef listed off some other groups like, “College kids, I was thinking newly divorced, there’s more than one way to lose your spouse, and even two empty nesters because if you no longer have teenage boys to cook for, like I once had, you do have to cut back on what you’re cooking.”
Cooking smaller portions may even save you some cash along the way.
“Buying less, buying induvial portions versus the megapack, which makes sense for a large family but if it’s just you, it makes much more sense to purchase the smaller quantities,” said Chef Char.
13 ON YOUR SIDE got a quick demonstration inside Chef Char’s home kitchen, as she whipped up some frittatas, “Which is super simple,” said the chef, as she showed us how it’s done.
Chef Char explained, “A frittata, if you get one from a restaurant or if you’re making it for your family you’ll put it into an entire skillet and that is a lot of veggies and eggs to eat for one person, but if we portion it out and place it into the muffin cups, now I have a breakfast or a snack for someone. This is a one portion thing.”
It’s about more than just portion sizes.
“The other thing is I tell them get smaller pans because we all have this tendency – hey, I’ve got a big pan, I’m going to fill it,” added Chef Char.
Another helpful skill is to get creative.
“Use the rest in something else rather than making a big batch of something that you may not want three days later,” said the chef as she shared a few more words of advice.
“How to utilize things that are leftover. The vegetables that maybe you purchased for a dinner one night that you still have, how can that be repurposed, and so I’m teaching them a lot of times how to make made over leftovers, is the best way to say it.”
One big reason to make smaller portions is to avoid the growing issue of food waste. According to Feeding America, nearly 40% of all food in America is wasted.
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