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[urnmor]

Does anyone else face the challenge of cooking for two seniors.  I love to cook and bake however my wife and I are now in our seventies.  we do not eat as much and if we go out for lunch don't normally have dinner.  As a result my time on the grill or in the kitchen has been significantly reduced.   

[Bar-B-Lew]

Do you have a vac sealer?  It is only my wife and I at home.  We are in our early to mid 50's.  I usually cook a bunch of stuff, vac seal, and freeze.  Pull it out of the freezer and defrost and reheat as needed.  Works great during the Winter for me as I don't have to go outside to cook.

[dk117]

I don't yet have the blessing to have this problem.    Though I think I can relate.

1) We host.  A lot.  So rather than cooking for 4, it's 14 to 20.   That's really where I get my cooking fix.

2) I've half-heartedly looked around at community events.  Cook for a church, a reunion, a high school sports team.   Now frankly I've found there are more hoops involved in this than worth the effort, but if you have a little time maybe that could work.  I've done church cooks and school cooks. 

3) What I really wish I could do was just cook a brisket, eat my share, and take the rest to the food bank, but they won't accept it.

DK

[hughver]

I share your pain, and on top of that, my wife and I do not have much in common when it comes to food which exacerbates the problem. My solution is to entertain 1-2 times a week and serve products from the smoker. Additionally, since I added a Casita to the property in 2012, we seem to have a steady stream of out of town guest trying to get away from the northern cold/rain.

[MikeMcQ]

Ditto using vacuum sealer and freezing.

[Brushpopper]

I'm kind of in the same situation.  There's 4 of us, but I'm the only one who will eat leftovers.  Doesn't matter what it is except brisket.  I can't cook anything in a small amount for some reason.  Vac sealing and freezing seldom works out either.  Sorry Urnmor, but I have been of no help whatsoever for y'all. 

[GREG-B]

Since retiring, we moved our meal time a tad bit.  I eat breakfast after I get up, around 8:30 or so.  Eat our big meal 2ish and snack in the evening.  I grill about 4-5 times a week. She likes my grilled food..... not so much my smoked food.  Building a fire in a big grill was counter productive so I got me a Kamado Jr and it's the perfect size for 2 people.  Cook most anything and everything in it except a full size turkey(and it's frugal with the fuel) which I do as often as I can find them for sale then snack on that for days after.  It is a challenge and we always have leftovers.

[BigDave83]

I understand completely, it didn't used to be bad but 3.5 months ago I had gastric bypass, my doctors have been wanting me to have this for years. Now trying to cook for 2 and one not eating leftovers other than maybe taking some the next day for work, I can't eat that much and she has to have pasta, rice or potatoes with the meal making it worse as I am to not eat much if any of it. I grew up not wasting food or much of anything, and that sticks with you, I hate tossing food out.

I do seal some up but trying to learn to cook less is not as easy as it sounds when you are not used to doing that.

[okie smokie]

Does anyone else face the challenge of cooking for two seniors.  I love to cook and bake however my wife and I are now in our seventies.  we do not eat as much and if we go out for lunch don't normally have dinner.  As a result my time on the grill or in the kitchen has been significantly reduced.

Me and wife are the same only older.  Am learning how to reduce recipes for only two. Tried freezing left overs but rarely get back around to them. If I do a brisket it will only be a flat, etc. Two meals a day and small late snack are about all we need(probably less than that).  Also, find it easier to eat out more often (it's just money!)  Lately looking at my pit more often than using it.   

[urnmor]

Thanks for the responses it is nice to know others have similar opinions.  that said I will respond to some of the posters responses.

Yes I do have a vacuum sealer however I seldom use it to freeze left overs other then pull pork or turkey.  I prefer to eat them the next day for lunch but if not they go away.
When my wife was working I cooked for her office (up to forty people).  Made everything from appertizers to desserts.  I provided all of the food however I enjoyed doing it.  I also cooked for my Son's school and I often BBQ 60 t0 80 pounds of Boston Butts plus cookies.  Now I will cook for one or two of my neighbors.

However like others have as one gets older our appetite seems to diminish unfortunately my waistline has not

[hughver]

unfortunately my waistline has not

Ditto

[okie smokie]

However like others have as one gets older our appetite seems to diminish unfortunately my waistline has not

Eat more than we burn. Work less than we did. 

[Clonesmoker]

I just cooked 3 briskets for 30 seniors on a football team.

[urnmor]

I just cooked 3 briskets for 30 seniors on a football team.

love it

[KeithG]

Same situation. Vac sealing and freezing is a way of life. This time of year we are loading up the freezer with food we eat during the winter. For example if we do bb ribs we will do 3 racks, split a half rack for dinner since that’s all we can eat these days. The rest are vac sealed and frozen in half rack packages. Then on some snowy miserable day in Feb. or Mar. we’ll pull a package out put in a pot of simmering water to heat them up. Then over dinner we can complain about the weather and wish it was summer.