Eating While Widowed….or How to Stop Eating Canned Soup and Fast Food Without a Lot of Fuss

There were so very many things I didn’t know would change when my husband died. That’s the understatement of the century, isn’t it?

One of the gazillion things was the way my eating habits changed. In the very first weeks, I found it hard to eat at all.  My husband died suddenly and the shock rendered me nauseated for about a month. I forced myself to eat chicken broth with pasta in it. That’s pretty much what I lived on in those early days.

From there, I graduated to fast food. I tried to choose salads and grilled chicken, but it still wasn’t very healthy.  I then stepped up to eating out alone in restaurants. Not fun, but at least I’ve traveled for work enough that it wasn’t foreign. And the pounds crept on…

I struggled with that for over two years. A long time, I know, but I was busy grieving.  I used to really like to cook, but it just isn’t as fun with nobody to share it with, nobody to appreciate it the way my hubby did.

About a year ago, I began making nutritious smoothies for breakfast. Barbara Morris, R.Ph, guest poster here and editor of Put Old on Hold magazine, http://putoldonholdjournal.com/ , turned me onto Nutribullet blenders.  I ran out and bought one, the nicest one with a heating element, like this one, available here: https://amzn.to/325oFI5 (affiliate link). It runs about $150, and I think mine is worth every penny. It’s expensive, to be sure, but when I count the money I’m not spending on meals out, I think it evens out. My blender meals are a lot healthier.

Progress! Now I was at least getting one healthy meal a day, sometimes two, as I made hot blended soups for lunch. I use fresh organic fruits and vegetables and milk or soy milk. I can find many of those in the freezer section, too. And the best part was, as Barbara Morris promised, clean up was a snap. Just one container, not lots of pots, pans, and dishes.  Buying my Nutribullet Rx was a very good move. It gets used almost every day, for healthy meals that are quick, no fuss, and good for on-the-go! As much as I like my smoothies, and I like them a lot, I still yearned for something more?….well? Plate-able.  I wanted something that felt like a real traditional meal…on a plate. I wanted a way to do that and still have it be no fuss, no muss, few pans, no-hassle EASY !!!

What would answer that need?  I knew a crockpot would do the trick, but the ones I have are all too big!  I looked high and low, all over the area in bricks and mortar stores for a small crockpot. A crockpot just for one, not an army.  All of the small crockpots I found in the stores were for keeping dips warm, not really designed for meal cooking, as they had no temperature controls.

Not one to leave any stone unturned, I was determined to find one. Eureka!  I finally found this one online:

Available here https://amzn.to/33NMfKS (affiliate link), for under $20.00, it comes in about four different colors, has three temperature settings and a removable stone crock that goes in the dishwasher. Pretty neat, I think!  This too gets used a lot.  I bought the blue one, and I love it.

I spent some time making up freezer crockpot meals, a few weeks back, and now I have about 2 months’ worth of dinners that I can grab, dump and go.  All I have to do is dump the contents of my vacuum-sealed freezer bags into the crock, turn it on, and a few hours later? I have decent, nutritious, portion-controlled meals that aren’t much trouble and I actually want to eat. And I still only have one pot to clean.

I’ll be posting again soon, about some of the meals I put up in the freezer, but in the meantime, you can find lots of recipes and cookbooks for cooking for one, slow cooker or otherwise, on my Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/mhoct6462/fix-ahead-freezable-meals-for-one-group-board/

Check it out and, if you like the ideas you see here, follow my board. Be sure to look for the other Mary Lee Robinson Pinterest boards, as well, chock full of ideas for walking the widowed path and joining the Widowlution! Better yet, follow and pin some recipes of your own. It’s a group board, and contributions are welcome.

Until next time, big hugs!

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