chipdiveDips out, Chip's out

Single Serving Side Dishes for Busy Solo Cooks.

Variety is one of the biggest advantages of weekly meal planning for one, because solo cooks have the power to choose a unique menu each week with total autonomy.    

When planning starts with sumptuous sides, kitchen creativity can't help but flourish.  Cook what you want and have fun with it!

Integrating single serving side dishes into meal planning is practical when recipe choices are balanced to conserve ingredients.  

Sides can serve as snacks, mini-meals, or meal components, so if you want to enjoy some yummy green bean casserole, go for it!  Cook what you crave, and plan around it.  After all, many sides are naturally rich in fresh produce. 

How do sides factor into solo weekly meal planning without waste?  

O.f.O.'s three-section system prioritizes "no frozen leftovers" recipes over freezable recipes and frozen food.  Simple scaling for priority recipes leaves plenty of leeway for dining on one's own time, since freezable foods can be safely stored to make room on the menu. 

Here's how to size sides:

Scale-down recipes for non freezer-bound sides like green bean & bacon saute or cucumber dip, and store intentional leftovers from freezable sides like mashed potatoes or stuffing.

O.f.O.'s free Seven Day Solo Meal Planner adds decimals like a calculator, so entering partial serving count values (like .25 or .5) is no problem.

lewis sideplateLouis Sideplate, a.k.a. "Runaround Lou" Recipe talent agent representing side dish stars with main dish energy.

Some servings are bigger than others.

O.f.O.'s serving counter subtotals sides/snacks, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, freezer meals, dining out & takeout, and meal box delivery separately.   Each week's total serving count is the sum of all six categories.

Servings are meant to represent full meals on the planner, but sides may be portioned as meal components.  When side dish servings amount to partial meals, feel free enter partial serving counts in serving fields during planning, for a slightly more realistic total weekly serving count.   But only if you want to.   

To each her own.

Look to recipe's nutritional info. to help gauge how filling servings are, then assign serving count values according to personal preference.  

You've got this!

Systematic freezer rotation's got your back, whether picking up slack or adding to a stack.

Here's how single serving side dishes fit into all three sections of the O.f.O. planner:

  • Section 1:  Stand-alone snack (or meal) type sides like loaded salads and hearty dips occupy dedicated recipe column cell space.  Meal component sides like sheet pan veggies may share cell space with complementary recipes.   
  • Section 2:  "Intentional frozen leftovers" sides can be made in full batches and frozen in small servings.
  • Section 3:  Frozen single serving sides can go with whatever works.

Here's how to balance section 1 "no frozen leftovers" sides:

  • Should section 1 servings happen to fill up too much meal tracker/tummy space, section 2 and 3 servings may be diverted into freezer rotation to offset the overage.  
  • Should section 1 servings happen to get all gobbled up, yet planned section 2 and 3 servings seem lacking (which can happily happen when you love to share), extra servings from sections 2/3 may be added.

Single serving side dishes, three ways.

Whether whipped-up as a flavor boosting accompaniment like guacamole for nachos, cooked into a recipe like mashed potatoes for cottage pie, or paired as a meal like soup with salad, single serving side dishes can make weekly meal planning easier for busy singles.

byocChip "Double Dip" Waverly, dip surfer, cheesewear model, and owner of B.Y.O.C. brand break-away shareable scoop-chips.

Cute, yummy dips are smarter than they appear.

Adding dips into the meal planning mix is a smart strategy for solo cooks, because many dips are easy to whip up and some double as recipe ingredients.  Dippable sides like hummus, bean dip, queso, tahini, spinach dip, and buffalo chicken dip make weekly menus more memorable, and can encourage more adventurous cooking and recipe box building.

Staple sides can save the day.

Freezable sides that double as key cooking ingredients for casseroles, scrambles, soups, bakes, and more can be considered staples.  Freezing staple sides in small portions conserves food and speeds up cool water defrosting.

Single serving side dishes like o'brien potatoes, stuffing, and sauteed mushrooms can come in handy for cooking on the fly without shopping.

Turn cutting board scraps into staples.

Not all raw veggies freeze well, so when veggies are at risk of going to waste, grill, roast, or saute away.

Cooked vegetables like carmelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, or mashed sweet potatoes can be frozen as side dishes or recipe ingredients.  Cooked frozen veggies which aren't suitable as stand alone sides (like green beans) can still work well in recipes like stews and casseroles.

Explore veggie side dish casseroles.

To enjoy a more produce rich diet, consider planning veggie sides first, then adding proteins second, rather than the other way around.  Casseroles like green beans almondine, daughonese potatoes and cheesy cauliflower bake seem to magically transform everyday veggies into superstars!

Cook what you want.

Experiment with side dish recipes and find new favorites.  Build your personal recipe collection along the way!

Fill your freezer full of flavor.

Homemade frozen single serving side dishes are super handy, versatile, and economical.  Why not prep and freeze a few yummy homemade sides for safe keeping?

Chain restaurants, you've been served!

Take-out menus can't begin to compete with the variety realized by side-dish savvy solo cooks.

Here's to getting crazy creative with fabulous homemade sides, for well rounded planning that's more fun!