What do you do when there are only 2 of you and all the recipes are either single serve or for larger families?
I love some of the recipes within the Trim Healthy Mama book, however they make way more than we can realistically use. With only Rick and I some of the recipes would last a month or more. Some are easily reduced while others not so much. I find that I use many of them for inspiration and use my own measurements to make it work for us and be Trim and Healthy for Two.
Left overs can be great but let’s face it they can get boring really quick. The single serve recipes work wonderfully for doubling and making enough for two people, however most of those recipes are for desserts and snacks. We eat a lot of chicken and pork, why because it is cheap.
I married an out of the box, pizza, cheeseburger and french fries loving guy who doesn’t want to give those things up unless he absolutely has too. He rarely cooks unless it is out of a box or on the grill, but he’s learning and is interested in this way of eating.
We use about two loaves of bread per week so I either make Simple sourdough or Sprouted Soda Bread for E meals. I also make Simple soda bread for our S meals .
He gets cheese burgers once a week with buns from either Bread in a mug or store bought low calorie options(not on plan). There are some things that I make concessions for with my husband because he metabolizes food so much differently than I do.
Some readers get frustrated with the smaller size of my recipes however this is what works for our family. I also recognize that there are many singles trying to work the plan who are in the same boat as I am … left over overload.
Recently, my son Shane came to live with us so I now cook for 3, this does help somewhat in the leftover department as he is 23 and has a good appetite (maybe it’s just mom’s cooking). He has a metabolism that allows him to eat just about anything and never gain (ugg, I wish) so he does bring in off plan foods that he enjoys.
Back to how we are being Trim and Healthy For Two or Three people…
Breakfast ideas:
I make 1 batch of overnight oats per week… which makes 2 servings
I make Pear Waldorf Salad and split it into 2 servings (1 for breakfast and 1 for lunch)
French toast in a bowl (from Briana Thomas)
Eggs are prepared on a meal to meal basis depending on time.
I always have cereal options on hand, (My favorite is this one.)
Baked Blueberry Oatmeal from Jennifer Griffon
I use Muffin in a Mug recipes to make pancakes, donuts or muffins. I love this Cinnamon Walnut Muffin
recipe as pancakes or as a muffin or this one for Oaty Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake in a Mug
Lunch ideas:
I use the extra servings of overnight oats and Pear Waldorf Salad.
Tuna Salad with Apples and Greek Yogurt
Cottage Style Toast (page 239)
Just like Campbells Soup (page 292 )
Left overs from dinner
Briana Thomas’ Mozzarella Mushroom Bacon Fritter
There are a lot of options within the book, but you get the idea
Dinner ideas:
Loaded Spaghetti Squash (Italian or Mexican)
Grilled Chicken Breasts
Pesto & Goat Cheese Flat Bread Pizza (check out her Easy Mixes)
Snacks
Sugar Free Chocolate Snack Cakes (Rick’s Favorite) or Nutty Butter Snack Cakes (Shane’s Favorite)
Skinny Chocolate in so many ways I can’t count, lol
Gelatin Puddings (page 366 use gelatin instead of glucomannan)
1 apple with 1 tsp peanut butter mixed into 1/2 cup of greek yogurt
A Single Serving Cookie from this recipe
Tummy Tucking Ice Cream (page 368)
Smoothies/ Shakes/ etc
I’m not one for a lot of smoothies and shakes although with so many of them out there, they open options for snacks as well as meal replacements if and when you need it.
During the summer months I am more apt to do this at breakfast or lunch because no one wants their house to be 110 on the inside. I also use them when I have to be out and about on a hot summer day … it’s like a treat from DQ for me.
