I like being creative with leftovers. I had about 1/4 pound of organic ground beef and came up with making a pasta dish out of this with leftover bruschetta. Even if you don’t have these items just lying around, you can buy them and make this easy pasta dish. It takes less than 20 minutes to make. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1/4 pd of organic ground beef, 1/2 jar of bruschetta, 1 cup grated rosemary cheddar cheese, olives, and pasta. Seasoning: black pepper, salt-free dash, basil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder.

DIRECTIONS: Brown your ground beef in a skillet. Season with the seasoning generously. Keep breaking up the ground beef while it is cooking. Start your pasta water. Slice 8-10 black olives and add them to your ground beef. Add the bruschetta and stir. Keep cooking on low while the pasta is cooking. Grate your cheese into the pan. Add your pasta and stir. Cooking for one can be fun.

Here is a perfect way to cook a chicken breast that is juicy and tender and delicious. I cooked two organic chicken breasts, or one package so that way I could make a sandwich or salad later on in the week. It was ready to go. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: one package of organic chicken breast, lemon, pesto sauce, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper.

DIRECTIONS: Oil your chicken, I used avocado oil. Squeeze 1/2 lemon over the chicken. Season with poultry seasoning, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Spread the pesto sauce generously over the chicken breast. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cover the chicken and cook for 30 minutes. Serve with a salad or any other side dish. Cooking for one can be fun.

I have this package of organic cauliflower rice that is a quick and easy side dish to add to any meal. All you do is microwave it and you have a side dish. It is low in sodium and has no preservatives so it is really easy and healthy to keep on hand. This time though, I thought it would be fun to make tater tots with them so I looked on Pinterest for ideas and took a few and modified it to make it my own. These were a little hard to shape, however, once on the cookie sheet it was easy to form. They cooked up nicely. You can snack on them by themselves or serve as a side dish with protein. An aioli sauce would be good to add as a dipping sauce. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 package cauliflower rice, 1 egg, mozzarella cheese, 1 tbl flour, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, pepper, and salt-free dash.

DIRECTIONS: Add the cauliflower rice to a bowl, add your egg and flour, chop or shred your mozzarella cheese, and add this to the bowl. Stir all together. Use a small cookie scoop and place it on a lined parchment paper cookie sheet. Shape your balls into a form resembling tater tots. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Brush the tops of your tater tots with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown. Serve. Cooking for one can be fun.

I bought some organic ground beef at Costco and was trying to come up with something different to do with ground beef. So, I have some keto street taco shells that I really like. They are only 25 calories and 0 carbs. I made egg cups with them in the past and thought why not do something like that again but make mini tacos. These are really filling. I ate two and was stuffed. It made 7 tacos for me using 1/2 pound of organic ground beef. I froze 3 of them and will enjoy the other 2 during the week. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1/2 pound organic ground beef, (or you can use ground chicken), 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green peppers, low-fat Mexican shredded cheese, shallot, keto street tacos, pepper sauce, black pepper, oregano, cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, ground cumin.

DIRECTIONS: Brown 1/2 pound ground beef. Save the other half for something else fun to make later on. Season the ground beef with black pepper, oregano, cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and ground cumin. Stir all the seasoning into your ground beef and keep browning. Slice your shallot add that to the ground beef and stir. Drain your can of Ro-Tel and add this to the beef. Season with pepper sauce to taste. Gently fold the taco shells into your muffin tin. Sprinkle to bottom with a little cheese. Fill the ground beef mixture into each cup. Top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Enjoy with a cervesa. Cooking for one can be fun.

I like to use the less-fat Philadelphia cream cheese. Sometimes I use it on my toast in the mornings with tomatoes. The other morning I noticed the recipe for mini ginger cheesecakes and they looked easy and delicious. They are easy to make and they are perfect for cooking for one; which can be fun. I substituted some homemade jam that I get from my good friend Betty, instead of using the lemon curd that is on the recipe. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 7 gingersnaps, 1 package Philadelphia Neufchatel cheese, softened, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp flour, 1 tsp each zest and juice from 1 lemon, 1 egg, 3/4 cup thawed cool whip reduced-fat whipped topping, 1/8 tsp ground ginger, 6 tbsp lemon curd or your favorite jam.

DIRECTIONS: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 gingersnap in each of the paper-lined muffin pan cups. Beat the Neufchatel in a medium bowl with a mixer until creamy. Add sugar, flour, lemon zest, and lemon juice; mix well. Add egg and beat just until blended. Spoon into prepared muffin pan cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the centers of cheesecakes are almost set. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove cheesecakes from pan to wire rack; cool completely. Refrigerate the cheesecakes 1 hour. Removed cheesecakes from paper liners. Mix cool whip reduced-fat whipped topping and ginger until blended. Top cheesecakes with lemon curd, then top with the cool whip mixture before serving. Cooking for one can be fun.

This is a simple quick meal that you can put together in less than 15 minutes. Now that is what I call fast food. You can add veggies to this if you have some on hand. For example, frozen peas or broccoli would be good, or even peppers. When I buy gnocchi I divide the package into individual servings and freeze them. So when you are ready to make something quick you can pull out your shrimp and gnocchi and mix it all together with some pesto. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 6 shrimp, 1/4 package gnocchi, 1/4 cup pesto, white wine

DIRECTIONS: Thaw your shrimp in a bowl of room-temperature water. Bring water to boil in a saucepan. Pour a little bit of white wine into a frying pan. Place your shrimp in the wine and saute on low. Add the pesto and stir. Once the water comes to a boil, add the gnocchi. Gnocchi cooks in 3 minutes. Drain and add the gnocchi to the shrimp and pesto. Stir. Serve and top with parmesan cheese. Cooking for one can be fun.

Recently, I bought a can of Pillsbury Grand Biscuits and noticed it was almost to expire. I thought I would make my version of a chicken pot pie using the biscuits as a topping. This was an experiment. This made 4 ramekins. For two of the ramekins, I pulled the biscuits apart and put half on the bottom and the other half on top. For the other two, I just put the whole biscuit on top. The two with the biscuits on the bottom did not turn out. The biscuit didn’t cook as a crust and was mushy, so I recommend using the whole biscuit on the top or pre-cooking the bottom biscuit before placing the mixture on top. Next time I will make more of a gravy, however, the mixture was delicious. These biscuits are not very healthy for you. They are 170 calories each and they have 450mg sodium. That is a lot and because they are so good you want to eat two biscuits if you cook them by themselves. That is way too much sodium for anyone, like myself, with high blood pressure. Since I do not salt anything it balanced out eating just one. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 can of Pillsbury Grand Biscuits, 1 pd organic ground chicken, chicken broth, Wondra flour, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 shallot, 4 baby carrots, broccoli, and spinach. Lemon pepper, 21 seasoning salute, oregano, garlic, and herb salt-free dash

DIRECTIONS: Pour a little olive oil into a pan press 2 cloves of garlic and slice 1/2 shallot and saute. Add the ground chicken and break it into pieces. Season with the seasonings. Slice the carrots and add to the chicken. Keep stirring and browning the chicken. Add your broccoli. Keep cooking and stirring. Slice a handful of spinach and add that to the chicken mixture. Add 1 cup chicken broth or enough to cover the chicken mixture. Make a rue with the flour and olive oil. Add the rue to your chicken and veggies. Stir and let it thicken into your gravy. Spoon the mixture into four ramekins. Place one biscuit on top. I cooked the other four along with the ramekins and had them for breakfast and lunch. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes till the biscuits are brown. Cooking for one can be fun.

My best friend, Debbie, who passed away a few years ago, gave me this recipe for tarragon chicken salad. I miss her and wish she was here to share this salad with me again; however, I get to share this with all of you. This salad is simple and delicious. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 organic chicken breast, 10-15 red grapes, candied walnuts or pecans, 1 lemon, tarragon, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, 1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 heaping teaspoon light sour cream.

DIRECTIONS: Place some avocado oil in a baking dish. Roll your chicken breast in the oil on both sides to cover the chicken. Season with tarragon, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning on both sides. Squeeze in one lemon. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. After the chicken cools, cut your chicken into bite-size pieces and add it to a bowl. Slice your red grapes in half and add them to the bowl. Add your walnuts. Add your Dijon mustard, mayo, and sour cream. Mix this all together and serve with lettuce. You can use butter lettuce wraps or tear lettuce to make this into a salad. You can also make a sandwich with this tarragon chicken salad. All of the about are perfect. Cooking for one can be fun.

Usually, I cook for one because it is fun; however, I need to cook something for my beautiful granddaughter that she will eat. She can be a picky teenager so I had some chicken, broccoli, and rice, all the things she loves, and will mix it all together and make a casserole. Some cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and cheddar cheese helped a lot too. She loved this dish, so if you have a picky teenager this is a great meal. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 package organic chicken tenders, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 can chicken broth, pesto, 1 cup cooked rice, one stalk broccoli, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup sour cream, Ritz crackers, olive oil, black pepper, garlic powder, salt-free dash, basil.

DIRECTIONS: Pour a little olive oil into an oven-proof pan. Cut your chicken tenders into small pieces and brown them. Season your chicken with black pepper, garlic powder, salt-free dash, and basil. Grate a cup of cheddar cheese. Cut your broccoli into small pieces. Pour the cream of chicken soup into the pan with the chicken. Add a can of chicken broth and pour that into the pan. Add a 1/4 cup sour cream. Stir this all together. Add the rice and broccoli and stir that together. Stir in your cheddar cheese. Top the mixture with crumbled Ritz crackers and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes till the top browns. Serve and enjoy. Cooking for one can be fun.

I know not everyone is local to be able to participate and enjoy all the local businesses in my area, however, soup week was Jan 21-28 supporting Step 2 which helps women with addictions do the next step in recovery and help them get on their feet. Nine local participating restaurants gave you a free cup of soup and supported the non-profit Step-2. It was a lot going out all week and trying new and old restaurants and supporting the local businesses but lots of fun. I had friends join me at several of the locations and it was fun experiencing new places along with my old favorites. Step 2 drops off a fun package that has your soup coins and passport along with fun treats like a chocolate spoon from Dorinda’s Chocolate and a cup of soup from Cherry Bomb Catering. On the last day of soup week, I made this soup and it turned out really delicious. Check out their other flavors of soup. They are easy to make. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup Cherry Bomb spicy black bean soup, 1 chicken breast, chicken broth

DIRECTIONS: Add 3 cups water, 3 cups chicken stock the soup mix, and the chicken breast into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the beans are tender and the soup is thick about 90 minutes. Add more water as necessary to soften the beans. Shred the chicken and add it back to the pot. Remove and discard the chili pepper and bay leaves before serving. Cooking for one can be fun.