We started our year with the program Cooking For One. Many people who have gone through the circle of life find themselves a family of one again and find it hard to scale down their cooking. They have lots of leftovers, boredom, and wasted food.

Scaling down a recipe can be tricky. How do you add half an egg? It seems one large egg is one quarter cup. You beat the egg slightly, take out two tablespoons, and save the rest in the refrigerator for another recipe.

Another tip, if you like crock pot cooking, is to buy a smaller size crock pot and reduce the recipe. Don’t heat up your oven for just one serving – buy a toaster oven. It is perfect for small servings.

Prepared salad mixes are great for one person, and bagged frozen vegetables are handy, as you can pour out one to two servings. If you cook too much, there is always the option of packaging it in portions and freezing for use at another time.

This program came with some great recipes. A fun one is Chocolate Cake in a Mug (microwave), one serving: 1 mug (12 oz), 4 T all-purpose flour, 4 T sugar, 2 T baking cocoa, ½ tsp baking powder, 1 egg, 3 T milk, 3 T vegetable oil, 3 T chocolate chips (optional), splash of vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add egg and mix. Pour in milk and oil and mix. Add chocolate chips (optional) and vanilla, and mix. Bake 3 minutes. Cake will rise over the top, but that is okay. Allow to cool. Tip out onto plate. This recipe is based on a 1,000 watt microwave. It may take more time if your microwave is not as powerful.

If you would like to join our group, we meet the third Monday of the month at noon. Call 735-5493 for more info.