We’re kicking off a series of blogs about MyPlate this week. MyPlate is a simple guide to help us think about food groups at meals and snacks. A few of us Spend Smart. Eat Smart. blog authors will share how we use the MyPlate ideas at home.

I’ve shared in blogs before that most of the time I am cooking for myself. I have heard friends share that they dislike cooking for themselves because it seems like so much work for just one person, and it is too difficult to eat healthy that way. They end up eating one thing for their meal because cooking multiple things feels like too much effort. I agree that it can be difficult, and I would like to share some of the strategies I use to enjoy cooking healthy meals with multiple food groups, even if they are just for me.

I do not cook for one. I typically make full recipes to avoid wasting partial packages of ingredients. I pack up leftovers in single-serve containers and freeze them. So when I do put the effort into cooking, I reap the benefits more than once.

I keep a constant rotation in my freezer. I put things in it regularly and I take things out of it regularly too. I do not eat the same meal over and over again in a week. The result is my freezer always has a mix of soups, burrito bowls, stir fry, sheet pan meals and more ready to defrost and eat.

I prep ingredients, not just meals. When I am cooking something, I do not just make what I need that day. Having prepped ingredients on-hand makes it easier to cook meals with multiple food groups later. Examples of ingredient prep for me include:

• When I grill chicken, I fill the grill with 2 or 3 packages of chicken. I cool and freeze it, so it is ready to throw into salads, wraps, pasta or stir fry later on. Being able to skip the step of cooking protein is a huge time and effort-saver.
• When I make rice, quinoa or farro I make 6 or 8 servings and freeze it in small containers to avoid having to dirty a pan the next time I need a grain to add to a meal.
• When I chop veggies like onions that I use in recipes frequently, I chop up several and keep a bag of chopped onions in the freezer. I can throw these into dishes without having to dirty a cutting board. I use these for cooking only, not raw eating.

If you usually cook for one or two, I hope you’ll consider trying some of these strategies to make healthy meals simpler to prepare. Please share your tips as well! You can let us know what makes healthy meals easier for you on our social media.