How do you organise pescatarian meals when cooking for one?

[BuddhaAtSea]

Anyone else having the same problem?
Half the time I can’t be bothered, the other half I get bored with eating the same meal 2-3 days in a row.
The bread gets stale if I get a whole loaf. If I put the rest in the freezer, it stays there for months. Been eating wraps, because they last for weeks, can’t imagine that’s full of nutrients.
Batch cooking and just defrosting works if I remember to take it out of the freezer, which I don’t 9/10 times. I approach this the scavenger’s way: let’s see what’s in this container and do I fancy it?

I work shifts, some weeks 3 days, some weeks 4 days. No shops on my way to and from work, I’d have to come home, get the car, then go out.

So that’s my list of excuses.
What I’d like are some ideas. Stuff goes off when you live alone.

I am pescatarian. What do I buy? What do I cook?

I bought some single pots of baked beans, tuna, pesto.

I am at work for the next 2 days. I’m making some pasta tonight, and I’m making 2 portions. The other portion I’ll split into two and add salad, feta, beetroot, whatever is dying in the fridge, and take them to work. No idea what to do about dinners though. And cooking two meals on my days off is a pain in the arse frankly.

How do you organise yourselves if you’re only cooking for one?

It sounds like you need a better way of using stuff from your freezer. Good labelling helps plus I have a magnetic whiteboard on the outside and write what's in there.

Then as far as possible to you want to organise things to reduce the need to thaw. Freezing bread pre-sliced means it can be toasted straight from the freezer. I use 5cm cube ice cube trays to freeze meals as they can easily be defrosted in the microwave. Standard ice cubes work for things like pesto. A good store cupboard really helps.

There are recipe books for one which specialise in things you can cook one day and repurpose the next. Some suggestions - salmon with greens, served in honey and ginger sauce with rice one day, then set aside a portion of salmon and greens to stir into a bowl of miso udon noodle broth next day. Or lentil Bolognese which you can have as spag bol and make into a big lasagne the next day, eat one portion and freeze in microwaveable portions.

Many meals can be cooked directly from frozen including casseroles, stews, curries, pasta bakes (like macaroni cheese), fish pie etc... Frozen pizzas, veggie sausages, fish cakes etc… can go straight into the oven or air fryer. Frozen veg also cook quickly from frozen.
Eggs keep for ages, so are always handy to have for an omelette. Most cheese keeps for quite a while too.

I’m pescatarian and usually have the same stuff in my fridge. Tonight it’s grilled hallumi on rocket with pistachios, garlic oil and lemon. Tomorrow it’s grilled salmon and quinoa. Mushroom omelette with smoked salmon.. tuna filets.. I usually rotate it.

I have a small whiteboard stuck on the fridge and a dry wipe marker. I draft out a weekly meal plan on Saturday before I complete the weekly shop. I fill in things that need eating up, or things that have been in the freezer a while.

The meal plan means I have no need to think about food other than on Saturdays. I see what needs taking out of the freezer for tomorrow.

i also have a second small whiteboard on the fridge so i can keep a shopping list easily as things run out.

One way I like to organise my freezer is with Souper Cubes. They’re expensive and I only have the half cup one, but it freezes food in single portions to easier defrost. If I’m making a big meal (like with the vegan ragù I’m making tomorrow) I’ll scale it up and freeze the rest in half cup portion sizes in labelled ziplock bags. Then it all fits nicely in my freezer, it’s not an overwhelming amount to defrost and deal with and the little blocks are quite satisfying.

I agree you are overthinking defrosting.
Prawns are handy to have in the freezer.
If it's just me, I like to buy a trout from the fish counter and get them to put it in a cook bag - minimum mess.
DS 21 super fast tea when rushing out is tinned mackerel in sauce (tomato/chilli/thai curry), microwave rice and salad.

Honestly, I think proper meal planning is probably the answer for you. It allows you to plan, and shop, on a 5-7 day basis and, done right, you're planning around when things will pre etc.

For example, if I was doing a pescatarian meal plan for one, I'd probably plan for any fresh fish to be at the beginning of the week eg salmon with stir fried veg and noodles on one day, then perhaps seared tuna with rice and greens on day two. Then, if I've bought greens to go with the tuna, I'd use the rest in a wrap/pita/flatbread with some hummus the next day - seared greens are lovely done this way and can be jazzed up with some hummus or even just tahini, a miso butter, or some honey/lemon and garlic.

then I'd probably use whatevers left of the veggies for a pasta dish, perhaps with tinned tomato, that could probably feed me for tw odays )or all of these could have left overs for lunch).

Then something like tinned tuna with avocado and another flatbread, and some salad or something for the next day.

Re things like bread - a few options. a small loaf can last a week or kept in the frieg even a bit more. Or buy things like two packs of flatbreads. Or, if it's just one person, nmake your own quick ones with yoghurt, flour and a bit of oil. We love those but I mostly don't bother because I'd need to make too many to feed all of us

A few other easy meals that work well:
"no cook" pasta - you cook normal dried pasta and just before it finishes cooking, add some spinach. The sauce is just a mix of ricotta, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, black pepper which you stir into the hot drained pasta/spinach with a generous amount of parmesan (or veggie option). You can falke some smoked salmon or cooked/tinned salmon in as well if you like.

Cook enough rice for two days and use the second day rice to make a quick stir fry with whatever veg are left in the fridge, topped with Prawns.

Jacket potato (do you have an airfyer - it's a game change from a time/effort perspective here) with tinned tuna and cream cheese. Served with salad.

Highly recommend the cookbook One Pot One Portion by Elizabeth Wilkinson since that also minimises washing up! Lots of the recipes on her website for you to try before you buy.

She also has one-person meal plans on her website so you actually use things up over the course of a week, since things like a cauliflower or a cabbage don't tend to come in single portions: https://www.eleanorgwilkinson.com/writing

Large ice cube trays like these seem a lot cheaper and do the job nicely: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silicone-Ice-Cube-Tray-Mold

I do t buy them all the time as they’re pricey but those pouches of mixed grains or lentils do a grand job.

We’re pescatarian but one of the reasons I like getting a veg box is it forces me to build the meal round the veggies. I like a pasta sauce made from leeks and cheese, or a pasta puttanesca with anchovy. I’m fond of a baked potato as well.

All these involve minimal prep and cooking time.

Fish bags are excellent for meatier fish like salmon.

fFirst day Put a fillet in one of those with a knob of butter, lemon juice, s and p and maybe a sprinkling of chilli flakes. Steam or bake for 5 to 7 mins in the oven. Serve with spinach and micro rice.
next day - egg based. Omelette or scrambled egg or poached egg on toast
next day other salmon fillet. Cook it in tinned fish stock ( john lusty does a good one) and add ginger, garlic, spring onions andcsoy sauce if you like. Cook noodles in same pan.
next day baked pot with longley farm cottage cheese ( no other brand will do) and salad
next day smoked mackerel with salad or brocc and baby potatoes
next day pasta bake of some kind with cheese and tomato and whatever else. Roasting veg brings out their sweetness. I like a mix of roasted peppers and tomatoes.
next day tinned tuna mixed with mayo and a little hot sauce- on its own or in a baked pot, or with salad. Or the other macketel fillet as they often come in twos. Or the rest of the poached salmon and noodles.

When I lived alone, I used the freezer a lot. I have a couple of those silicone giant ice cube trays for sauces. I used jam jars for soups/stews. I used a normal size ice cube tray for pesto. I found masking tape helpful for labelling jars/containers - just wrote straight on the tape - it doesn't stick amazingly in a freezer but does the job without marking the containers.

Lots of stews are great for freezing in portions for one. I make this quite a bit amd freeze the lentil base, then defrost, reheat the lentils in a saucepan, then put into the oven with a fresh fish fillet. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/haddock_and_lentils_03506
Shakshuka is another recipe where you can freeze the base in portion, then reheat and add one or two eggs.

Pesto is obviously great for pasta, but one of my favourite things is to halve new potatoes/jersey royals, roast, then toss in pesto. I especially love this with homemade red pesto. Makes a great side for a fillet of fish and very quick if you already have pesto in the freezer which you can defrost.

Frozen prawns are great to have around. Roasted with chilli, tenderstem broccoli and cherry tomatoes used to be a favourite way to have them.

I also would always have English muffins in the freezer (would slice them before freezing so they could go straight in the toaster - do the same with bread so it doesn't go unused). Lots of things make a good and easy topping: poached egg and smoked salmon, or grilled portobello mushroom with goat's cheese.

Having a sweet tooth, I also used to make traybakes and loaf cakes and sliced/portioned them before freezing.

Although I don't live alone any more, I actually still do loads of this as it gives flexibility as I can defrost one or more portions, depending on who is around for dinner!

I’m not pescatarian but I do like fish, and I have hectic work life (not shifts but often 12-16 hour days) and shopping issues similar to OP. And am back “home” many weekends so can’t food shop then either.

I buy bags of salmon darnes, which are individually portioned inside, to have in freezer. Easy to fry/bake when I get in.

I sometimes do a fish pie with mash topping - I will always do at least 2 at a time (usually 3) to freeze an extra 1/2. Take out in the morning before work and bakes while I do housework etc when I get home. Sometimes I find fish pie mix, sometimes it’s mostly cod or similar white fish with a handful of prawns (see freezer staples below). Sometimes I do it with smoked fish poached in milk (and use that milk for the sauce) and some brocolli florets. And if I have them, I tend to scatter some breadcrumbs over the mash for some crunch. All those options freeze and reheat well.

Shopping days, I like a nice tuna steak.

Where I am, precooked prawns are very popular and last a couple of weeks, so they’re handy in the fridge along with an avocado and HM seafood sauce. Smoked salmon is readily available too that I throw into omlettes diced up with cheese and tomato.

And a bag of frozen uncooked prawns is very useful for stir fries or curries - curries can be another option to cook a double/treble batch of to freeze.

Tin of clams or mussels to do a seafood pasta or a risotto, as a store cupboard option. And a pack of battered fish or fish fingers in the freezer to bake with oven chips.

And an easy way to get veg in a hurry is open a bag of baby spinach into a colander and slowly pour over a full kettle of boiling water (letting it drain into sink) - no cooking needed and perfectly wilted spinach. Or add a few tomatoes to the tin 10 minutes from the end of roasting (might even be the same time as the fish - I do that with chicken joints a lot too).

Agree with PP to cook enough salmon for 2 meals and then make a stir fry / noodle dish with the second meal.
Make a Mediterranean style fish stew base with some chunks of new potatoes and portion to freeze. Have one portion fresh using prawns or defrost some frozen mixed seafood.

I do a lot of batch cooking and have found the best way is to reframe your thinking. So each evening you think about what you are having tomorrow and get something out of the freezer and put in the fridge to slowly defrost.

Now you know what you are having for dinner when you get home and you think about the following days meal.
If anything changes then the fridge defrosted meal will be fine the following day.
Maybe make a list of quick and easy meals to refer to when you haven’t done this.
Jacket potato with tuna mayo and spring onions
Pasta with a tomato sauce, tinned tuna, olives
vegetable stir fry
Frittata with potatoes and onions plus anything else you fancy, peppers, cheese, herbs

I buy fish over the counter In Waitrose - they put it in oven bags with butter, herbs & lemon. I sometimes get a stack & keep in freezer. Otherwise just choose 5 meals for the week & plan. Label your freezer containers! Freeze bread. I bought 5 containers & rotate the contents. Pasta once a week. Having a microwave helped me most. I also tend to keep my shopping consistent, the Waitrose vouchers help as they pick up on what I buy most frequently: eggs, spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, cheese, grapes, bananas, passata, pasta. I just buy those repeatedly. It’s boring but a good base for meals.

I’m pretty much pescatarian and cook for one.
Definitely subscribe to the ‘cook once, eat twice mentality ‘ or even thrice!

I buy a whole side of salmon and slice it up into portions, wrap in cling film and bung in the freezer. Much cheaper than individual portions. Cook 2 portions at a time.

In fact any white fish gets the same treatment.

Smoked mackerel (unopened) lasts a while in the fridge, rollmops last for months chilled but they’re an acquired taste! The latter I eat with brown bread and butter.

If I find smoked salmon, I cut through the pack using scissors and freeze the sections… great on top of eggs.

Lastly, someone upthread mentioned these great silicone 2 cup freezer portion blocks by SouperCubes.

🎉🎉Lakeland now do their version at about a third of the price🎉🎉

https://www.lakeland.co.uk/28236/lakeland-2-portion-freeze-pod

You can lob a frozen block into an IKEA 365 Pyrex dish and leave to defrost.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/ikea-365-food-container-with-lid-square-glass-plastic-s39269120/

If you forget to get stuff out to defrost, pin a Post it note on the back of your front door. (or your forehead 😉)