I am a single twenty-something living in New York. I know I’m not the only one. New York is filled with us; our city is known for it. And a consistent source of frustration is feeding myself.

I know cooking for one is not efficient. I grew up in a home where my mother often cooked food so there were intentional leftovers after the four of us ate; for my dad’s lunch, or our dinner a few days later. It’s easier to cook in large quantities, and less wasteful, too. But if so many of us live alone, or are only cooking for one, why aren’t there more suggestions on how best to do it? 

I recently tried this recipe out. I was intrigued, and needed a change in my lunch routine (I feel obligated to note here that it was delicious, and one of the most satisfying lunches I’ve had to date). But upon checking the number of servings (something I either never did or just willfully forgot), I noticed it was ten. TEN! When am I going to eat ten servings of the same meal?? Lunch and dinner every day? Along with this came other questions. How do leftovers keep? If I want to bring this for lunch, how is it going to taste? Was the blogger’s definition of one portion the same as mine? By this point, I already had the ingredients, and I was invested in trying out the recipe, so I just went for it – but I still felt resentful of the silent assumptions made about my life, about everyone’s life.

Situations like this lead to me adjusting my serving size, often in a somewhat unhealthy direction, or throwing away leftovers. I don’t like resorting to either of these, because they aren’t true solutions to the problem. I should feel good about how much I’m eating, and I shouldn’t be wasting food. And of course, the easy solution here is to split the recipe in half, and make that. To be honest, though, I don’t always have the wherewithal or foresight for that. You try buying chicken in half pound increments!

So that’s what I’ll be doing here, on this blog. I’ll write about other things, too, but I promise you this: when I share a recipe, I’ll tell you how I made it work for me, how it kept in the fridge/freezer/on my counter, and how I managed to finish it. Because when I am cooking, that is what I most wish for. Not just great recipes, but a way to cook and eat wonderful things without feeling that I’m failing somewhere else. If I can make your life a little easier, then I’ve accomplished something in this corner of the internet. Thank you for being here!