Going to the butcher shop is great for someone who is single. You are able to purchase only what
you need for that day or week and can ask them to package the items as you wish. Just be sure to
ask the butcher if the meat or poultry is fresh and has not been frozen. These products may only
be frozen once. If you intend to make a few meals and freeze the meals, you want to make sure
you are freezing meats and poultry that has been previously frozen. A reputable butcher shop
should be selling all of their meats and poultry fresh. The same question should be asked of your
seafood shop.
I often ask my butcher to split a boneless chicken breast into two and to slightly pound it for me.
They do it free of charge, usually much quicker than I can and it saves me time when I get home.
The other request I often make at the butcher shop is for them to package several small portions of
meat or poultry. I take out of the freezer one portion at a time or if I have a guest, I can take out two
portions.
Many stores such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and a majority of the grocery chains allow you to
buy a single vegetable, fruit, poultry, meats, including bacon slices at a time. Whole Foods has a
bulk area that allows you to purchase any quantity of rice, beans, grains, nuts, etc..
Grocery store salad bars are also a good fall back solution when you want to have some vegetables with your meal or want to make a stir fry, but don't want to purchase a 10 oz or larger bag of
vegetables. The salad bar may be a little more expensive, but overall, there will be less waste, and the vegetables are already washed, peeled and cut!
Many people in general work long hours, but I have talked to many single people that work long
hours and travel during the week. In an effort to still try to eat healthy, but still prepare something
quickly, bagged salad is a huge time saver. But even the bags can be so many servings since they were packaged with a family of 4 in mind. The great thing about some of the salads is that you
can make a nice big salad as an entree and use the remainder as a vegetable. E.g. spinach salad
or dinner and then blanch or saute the fresh spinach for a side dish later in the week.