by Meredith Davises

Created on: July 22, 2010   Last Updated: July 23, 2010

It is essential to plan menus and budget expenses when you are cooking for two. The treat of cooking affordable meals at home is easy and convenient. Manage meal portions more accurately and enjoy the comfort of eating at your leisure.

Like every one, you want to keep food in the pantry. Buy fresh vegetables and fruits whenever possible and keep a small storage of canned or frozen. Onions and bell peppers keep getting bigger and more expensive. You can save on these two, purchase them frozen, and use the amounts that you need.

Using perishables like fresh fruits and vegetables is easy to budget. Compare the cost of a 5 lb bag of potatoes, which is about 5 or 6 potatoes, to the cost of buying individual potatoes. If you only need two baking potatoes why buy the whole bag?

Reduce your recipes and reduce the cost. No one wants leftovers after every meal. When making a casserole, half the ingredients and again half the amount for sauce and toppings. Otherwise, something like lasagna will be soupy.

Eyeballing or hand measuring increases the use of ingredients. Measure what you need in a spoon or a cup, save money, and insure a better tasting meal. Cook in the appropriate size pots and pans. It is easy to make a big pot of soup or chili so use a small pot or a small 2 qt slow cooker.

When there are two cooks in the kitchen, post the menus on the refrigerator door and the recipes nearby. When the breakfast budget calls for two strips of bacon, eggs, and toast, no one should make the mistake of cooking a pound of bacon, dozen eggs, and a loaf of bread.

Agree on how dietary restrictions are to be handled. Should you buy products like peanut butter if the other person is allergic to it? While you can compromise and enjoy a vegetarian meal occasionally, can you keep kosher and share that too. A diabetic diet is not a medicine and consider if it provides daily allowances for some one who is not a diabetic before sharing.

Discuss the menus before shopping. A picky eater does not necessarily dislike the food but may simply dislike the cooking method. You may have planned a ham and cabbage boiled meal and they would prefer cabbage rolls with a ham filling.

Sharing the budget and meals with a connoisseur miser is very difficult. They may prefer the savings to the quality of their meals. If you do not mind eating a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, ramen noodles for lunch, and a potpie for dinner, you will be happy and cooking for two could not be easier.

Communication is an important process for cooking quality meals for two.

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