by Lisa Fillers

Created on: September 28, 2008

Cooking for two does not have to be the daunting task many believe it to be. I always enjoyed cooking, but it was not until I had an empty nest that I really came into my own as an excellent cook. I love cooking more now than ever!

With a little advance planning, some creativity, and a well armed spice cabinet, cooking for two no longer means eating the same menu for three to four days or having to carefully calculate measurements to cut recipes in half. You can have a greatly varied menu while saving quite a lot of money on the grocery budget. Yes, this is quite possible, even with a spouse who is a picky eater like mine! It can also be accomplished on days when you are pressed for time to cook.

I began by taking a look at the spice ingredients, rubs, sauces, and condiments used in a wide number of recipes in various cuisines I was interested in trying. These included Amish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Mexican, and Tex-Mex. I also poured over many American dishes I had never attempted to make. As I glanced through these recipes, I made notes of the spices, rubs, sauces, and condiments most frequently called for that I did not have on hand. Purchasing spices can be quite expensive initially so I spread the puraches out over a period of six weeks, placing a few on my grocery list each of three bi-weekly grocery shopping days. I also discovered that chain pharmacies often run specials on spices allowing me to purchase many of them at a fourth of the cost in a grocery store or supercenter.

I cleared out a cupborad slimmer than the others in the kitchen and designated it as my spice cabinet. As I began using these spices frequently in my cooking, I organized those I most often needed in a shoebox and placed the shoebox on the lowest of the three shelves in the cabinet. While all my spices are located in the cabinet, I can quickly grab the shoebox and take it to the counterop beside the stove while I am working and return it to the cabinet when not in use.

No one wants to eat the exact same thing for three days in a row. There is no need for that if you plan ahead or get creative after the fact with the leftovers. The key is making wise purchases at the grocery store and creating an entirely different entree out of the original ingredients. It is also quite wise after a shopping trip to seperate packages of meats, such as chicken breast, into smaller freezer bag packages so you may cook only the desired amount.

One example of creating an entirely different entree is

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