A dear friend of mine has an Italian plum tree in her backyard that is loaded with fruit. I went there and helped her pick some plums, but then I had to decide what to do with my share. Food 52 website has lots of recipes for cooking with plums and I found one that took chicken breast and the plums and skewered them, then barbecued them. The sauce made this dish using rice wine vinegar and sesame oil, honey and soy sauce. I like to use Bragg coconut aminos to substitute soy sauce. It is a healthy alternative. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 organic chicken breast, 12 plums. Sauce: 2 tbs each; rice wine vinegar, honey, sesame oil, Bragg coconut aminos. Seasoning: Gran Marsala, sesame seeds, turmeric, garlic powder, cumin seeds.

DIRECTIONS: Cut your chicken breast into chunks. Add the chicken to a bowl and season. Add the seasoning to taste. Make the sauce and pour over the chicken. Make another sauce on the side for brushing on the skewers. Stir the chicken mixing the sauce and seasoning all together. Cut your plums in half and pit them. Skewer the chicken with the plums alternating them. Barbecue on medium turning every 3 minutes basting with the sauce on each turn. Continue till the chicken is done. Serve with rice. Cooking for one can be fun.

While walking with friends the other day, we looked at this beautiful vegetable garden and commented on how great the veggies looked. The owner heard us and came over and said would you like some. Of course, we said, “yes”. She gave us each some eggplant and a few tomato varieties. What a treat. I decided to cut up the eggplant and add 1/2 zucchini and two red potatoes I had left over. I love grilling vegetables. It is easy and the cleanup is a breeze. All you have to do is clean the bowl while the vegetables are cooking. You can serve these with any protein or enjoy them by themselves. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: eggplant, 1/2 zucchini, 2 red potatoes, 1 clove garlic, olive oil, dried basil, salt-free dash, chopped onion, chives, black pepper

DIRECTIONS: Slice each vegetable in rounds. Place in a bowl and press your clove of garlic. Pour olive oil to coat. Season with the seasoning. Mix it all together. Using a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, place the veggies onto the foil. Fold over. Start your barbecue and put your veggies on the rack. Cook for 20 minutes. Serve with your favorite protein or by themselves. Cooking for one can be fun.

We all end up with leftover veggies in the fridge at times. I want to use some in the fridge, so I pulled some organic ground beef from the freezer and will sauté these all together. This is just cutting and sautéing and when the pasta is done the sauce is done. This is a great way to use your veggies and make a healthy meal quick and easy. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: Use whatever you have leftover, I used: 1/2 pound organic ground beef, 1/4 red bell pepper, 1 Roma tomato, lion mane mushroom, 1/4 zucchini, 1 clove garlic, 2 stalks green onion, 1/2 can tomato sauce, fettuccini pasta, and kalamata olives.

DIRECTIONS: Bring water to a boil for the pasta. Brown your hamburger in a large frying pan along with the garlic. Slice the green onions and add them to the ground beef. Keep browning the beef. Cut up your zucchini and red pepper and add that to the beef. Place your pasta in the boiling water and cook. Add cut-up mushrooms and the tomato sauce. Season to taste with Italian seasoning and basil. Stir this all together. Add a few sliced kalamata olives. Serve over the cooked pasta and enjoy. Cooking for one can be fun.

I am an old Southern girl at heart and I love grits. I keep a box on hand that cooks up in 4 minutes. I like them for breakfast with eggs for the most part, however, I am going to make cheesy grits with shrimp. I want to keep a bag of frozen raw shrimp shelled and deveined in the freezer, making this dish even easier. The grits and shrimp cook in 5 minutes making this meal about 10 minutes to cook from start to finish. Of course, you have to add hot sauce. Tabasco is usually my go-to, but I used Frank’s red hot this time. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 5 Frozen shrimp shelled and deveined. 1/4 cup quick grits, 1 cup cheddar cheese, butter, garlic powder, sweet paprika, salt-free dash, black pepper.

DIRECTIONS: Bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add the shrimp and grits, stir, and cover. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add a slice of butter and a cup of cheese once the 5 minutes are done and stir it together. Serve and add hot sauce to taste. Cooking for one can be fun.

I know it is quick and easy to buy frozen party wings, however, they have lots of sugar and salt. So I bought this package of chicken party wings that are organic and just plain chicken wings and thought I could just make up my own without the extra ingredients that are not that healthy. One big package made 3 meals for me. Great for lunch or dinner. I just reheated them in the air fryer. So all I did was dry them out, place them in a bowl with some olive oil and seasoning, and air fry them. I made a dipping sauce with ranch dressing and Frank’s red hot sauce and they turned out so yummy. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 package of plain organic party chicken wings, black pepper, oregano, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute, smoked paprika, and olive oil. Ranch dressing, Frank’s red hot sauce

DIRECTIONS: Dry your chicken wings with paper towels. This will help them to crisp up. Place them in a bowl and add some olive oil and the seasoning. Mix all together making sure it is coated evenly. Place them in the air fryer for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn and cook for another 8 minutes. While they are cooking, mix together the ranch dressing and the hot sauce, or you can use barbecue sauce on them if you prefer. Cooking for one can be fun.

Making a quick meal with homemade potato chips is a breeze with an air-fryer. Air fryers can be used for so many fun meals. While cooking my potato chips, I barbecued some salmon and made a salad. You can serve chips with so many different entrees that only takes about 20 minutes. You can use any type of cooking oil. I decided on truffle oil that I had on hand and this made the flavor so nice on the chips. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 large red potato, truffle oil, garlic powder, black pepper, garlic and herb seasoning.

DIRECTIONS: Slice thinly your potato. You can use a mandoline or just slice it thinly. Dry your potatoes with a paper towel. Brush lightly on both sides with the truffle oil. Season with the seasoning. Layer your potatoes in your air fryer, only one layer do not overlap. Cook for 10 minutes. Turn and cook for another 5 minutes. While they were cooking, I seasoned my salmon with Tajin and lemon and barbecued for 10 minutes. I also made a quick salad to go with the salmon and chips. Cooking for one can be fun.

I love our local farmer’s markets. The peaches are in full season and are so sweet and juicy. When cooking for one it is hard to eat 4-5 peaches along with the nectarines, watermelon, and other delicious fruits that are at the farmer’s market before they go bad. So, I decided to make a cobbler so I could enjoy them longer. For me, this made three ramakins so I enjoyed two and froze one to enjoy in the fall when the peaches are out of season. It is very easy to make a cobbler. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 4 peaches, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp vanilla. optional: sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS: Butter three ramekins and set aside. Blanch your peaches, by boiling for one minute and then a quick ice bath. This makes it easy to peel the skin off. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg. Melt butter with 1 teaspoon vanilla. Slice your peaches and layer in the ramekins. Sprinkle lightly with a little flour and sugar over the peaches. Pour the butter into the flour mixture and blend. Spoon the mixture over the peaches. I sprinkled a few sliced almonds on top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cooking for one can be fun.

I made some mini organic ground chicken meatloaves recently and the nice thing about this was that I froze for later and used the other during the week. I made a meatloaf sandwich and heated some up one day. The organic chicken made a lighter meatloaf compared to using ground beef. This cooks up in 30 minutes. I thought about cooking it on the barbecue since it has been so hot here but I have never done that so opted to the oven. It might have made the meatloaves to be a little smokey and yummy. I might have to try that next time. Cooking in a short time helped to keep the house cool. I whipped up some potatoes and peppers to go along with the meatloaf. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 pd organic ground chicken, 1 egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, tomato sauce. Poultry seasoning, tarragon, black pepper, Dash garlic and herb, chopped chives, chopped onions, garlic powder.

DIRECTIONS: Place the ground chicken in a bowl and season with all the seasoning. Add the egg to the mix. Press one clove of garlic. Add bread crumbs to cover the ground chicken. Add half a can of tomato sauce. Freeze the other half to use at another date. Mix all together and fill the mini loaf pans. Top with parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Optional: cut some red potatoes, onions, and peppers and toss in some olive oil. Place in foil and seal. Cook along with the meatloaf. Cooking for one can be fun.

One of my favorite marinades for chicken breast is lemon. The lemon keeps the chicken juicy and tender. I squeeze 1 to 2 lemons season and then place them in the fridge for about 4 hours or overnight. I rotate every hour or so to ensure the chicken is getting nice and marinated. After marinating the chicken, I added some veggies and a big scoop of Greek yogurt. After blending this all together, I placed everything on a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and barbecued it for 30 minutes. The flavor of the lemon and the yogurt was so delicious. The chicken breast fell apart it was so tender and juicy. The veggies were perfect and the creamy yogurt on the veggies was yummy too. Clean-up was a breeze, I only used 2 bowls and cleaned them while the chicken and veggies were cooking. After serving, I tossed the foil in the trash. This made two meals for me because the chicken breast was so big. It was good the next day too. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 organic chicken breast, 1/4 zucchini, 1/4 red onion, 2 small tomatoes, 3 red potatoes, large scoop of yogurt, 1 1/2 lemons. Seasoning: Italian seasoning, Salt-free Dash garlic and herb, 21 seasoning salute, garlic powder

DIRECTIONS: Squeeze 1 1/2 lemons over the chicken and turn to make sure the lemon is soaking into the chicken. Season and place in the fridge for a few hours. Turn every hour to make sure the lemon is soaking into the chicken. Once the chicken has marinated, slice your veggies and place them in a bowl. Place your chicken in the bowl with the veggies. Add some avocado oil to the mix. Add a large scoop of yogurt and toss. Place the mix onto a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fold over and seal the ends. Place on the barbecue and cook on low for 30 minutes. Cooking for one can be fun.

I started this blog a few years ago to show you how easy it is to cook healthy meals that are quick and easy and fun to make instead of just grabbing a bag of chips or a chunk of cheese like I used to do. So I have some red potatoes, bell peppers, onions, a zucchini, and chicken sausage. I cut these up, skewered them, and barbecued them. This takes no time at all. Cooking for one can be fun.

INGREDIENTS: 1 chicken sausage, 1/4 zucchini, 1/4 red onion, 1/4 red bell pepper, olive oil, lemon pepper, garlic powder, Tajin

DIRECTIONS: Slice your sausage and cut your veggies into chunks. Place in a bowl and toss with olive oil. Season and skewer. Place on low on your barbecue. Turn twice after 3 minutes on each side. This chars the veggies and keeps them firm. I cut up some red potatoes and tossed them with olive oil and garlic. Wrapped in some foil and barbecued these along with the skewers. The potatoes take about 15 minutes so throw them on first. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Place the skewers on and set the timer for 3 minutes on each side. Cooking for one can be fun.