Crowdsourced: What you eat on a tired Tuesday evening by yourself

So called #sadgirldinners

Inspired by L being horrified by what I eat on a tired Tuesday evening by myself (pasta, with lots of tomato ketchup, frozen peas and grated Cheddar and maybe some cornichons if they are floating about in the fridge), I asked some friends what they eat when they’re hungry and it’s late and they’re alone.

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I’ll just stand at the fridge and eat things.

So yesterday for example, I had a great dinner - 3 strawberries, the end of a cucumber, three slices of parmesan, leftover daal that mum made, a kiwi with the skin on because apparently that’s what everyone is doing now (have you heard about that?), some flatbread and end of olive tapenade that I realised afterwards expired in Jan and just enough of C’s Easter egg so he wouldn’t really notice.

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A few times last winter this ended up being porridge. Strange but true.

More often than not though it’s a sort of egg fried rice stir fry type thing. Or just lots of greens with chilli oil on top, that always feels like a win as it’s ready in 7-8 mins.

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My first hope would be I that I’d have something stashed away in the back of the freezer which was delicious, home-cooked and I’d forgotten about. However, this would be unlikely.

I always remember a friend telling me that sweet potatoes have more goodness in them than any green vegetables so they tend to be my go to for comfort and ease. So I’d have a jacket potato (of the sweet potato variety) and stick on top of it whatever was in the fridge which would generally be cheese and possibly Heinz beans if I need some comfort.

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Either pan-fried gnocchi with random veg and pesto, or stir fried veg, noodles and lots of peanut rayu. Basically anything with peanut rayu.

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I do have something else I eat which is very low brow. It was something I ate probably 90% of the time after J died. It’s kinda therapeutic to me now. I call it pasta special. There is nothing special about it really. All it is is pasta pesto and cheddar cheese/vegan cheese.** Nothing authentically Italian is ever sprinkled. Then hummus, gherkins and picked beetroot on the side. I sometimes cut up vegan sausages. This is a very ‘I’m on my own’ meal which holds a lot of emotions in it.

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A fish finger sandwich. Or scrambled eggs on sourdough toast from the freezer with chopped up tomatoes and toasted seeds.

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Make is a bit a stretch. Fresh supermarket soup with a bag of spinach chucked in so it wilts.

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Honestly, probably shred a load of veg (mainly cabbage, love cabbage) and some cold buckwheat noodles to make into some sort of cold noodle salad. Whack in some tuna or tofu. OR I make a BANGING omelette. The only thing I will happily say I can cook really well is an omelette.

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I see what I have in the fridge and pull together a risotto or risoni (you might call that orzo). I’ve always got homemade stock in the freezer*; some parsley from the herb pots on my balcony. Right now, for example, I could make a shredded chicken and asparagus version.

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Basically, pasta/garlic/chilli/tinned sardine/tomato with greens on top if I have any (I usually don’t)

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Tuna-mayo-cheese toast, with loads of Cajun spices

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Until maybe a year ago it would've been a family sized bag of crisps with a favourite dip (fancy houmous or sour cream and salt) but my metabolism is growing up. It’s still an assembly dinner though, that J wouldn't see as a full meal. Like two different green veg and rice.

I’m a big cheese sandwich fan too, sometimes use that as a vehicle for plenty of salad things so it looks green but it’s mainly mayonnaise.

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* T has showed us all up here with fancy homemade stock and balcony herbs

** Enjoyed the fact this is surprisingly similar to mine