Dinner For One

A few of the wonderful members of our team are always focused on providing healthy meals and snacks for their families; I am not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I have an excellent family, just not the immediate husband and kids situation, at least not yet. I am 23 years old and live with my two roommates, a similar living situation to many of my friends around my age. For us the challenges around meal planning often involves being motivated to create healthy and exciting meals for one.

The biggest struggle for me was to change my mentality of “meal time”; this was typically viewed as time being shared with family, friends, love and laughter. So the thought of eating dinner alone over the sink is enough to steer anyone clear from that part of their day.

Embrace these meals; start to look forward to them instead of dreading them. For this to work it has to start with the groceries! Grocery shopping should be a fun time, not a rushed get in and out affair. I like to buy my groceries on my day off, enjoying my time alone and walking slowly through the aisles of my local grocery store or farmers market. This is when I allow myself to feel inspired by my food and excited about my purchases, this way I am much more likely to want to cook them.

Always make extra everything, leftovers are your friend. One of my favourite things to cook in the winter is to buy vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, red onion, beets and zucchini and roast them covered in olive oil, garlic and lemon. The next afternoon I add them to some spinach for a yummy roasted veggie salad. Keep things simple, fresh fruit and vegetables can taste great on their own. A little lemon and some fresh herbs go a long way, and can add some powerful antioxidants and flavour to almost any meal.

Intention is always my final ingredient. I believe my mother’s homemade chilli always tasted so good because of the love she cooked it with. I try to always cook for myself for the same reason I would cook for anyone, out of love.

I now consider meals alone as part of my “me time”, they fit right up there with baths, good books and personal playlists. They require zero accommodation for anyone else’s taste buds, no complaints and you are free to eat any odd combination you find tasty without any weird looks. So next time you sit down for dinner for one be sure to honour your alone time, enjoy the silence and Bon Appetite!

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