Food storing... Party of One Waste Not Want Not

My kids are in college and my DH works evenings and fends for himself. So its just me, myself and I. I am having a huge problem of buying food and it either going bad or there is plain too much to eat.

For example a package of Turkey Kielbasa can I freeze it in portion sizes. 

Then I will buy the little cans of saurkraut and only eat a couple tablespoons.

Do you all make things ahead in batches and freeze them.

I have seen some recipes that you all make and thought maybe I could make a veggie lasagna and freeze it.

I am just so overwhelmed right now.

I must not be the only one with this issue.

My surgery was in October with Dr DeSimone Syracuse NY.... I will fiqure out the ticker thing later LOL

I have a family still at home but am the only one that eats "my" food. I freeze all kinds of stuff. I make a recipe called lazy lasagne, let it cool in the fridge for a day and then cut it into one portion servings, I put those in snack size ziplocs and freeze them. I keep a bowl a spoon at my desk at work and just throw whatever I have in there and I am set.

I would freeze your kielbasa and saurkraut as a meal together in ziplocs or containers.

I dont always freeze stuff, but if I have a lot or am getting sick of it I will. It is so nice to have premade meals I know my nutrition counts on.

RIght now in my fridge I have 5 trader joes sausages and 5 containers of buffalo chicken salad sitting on my top shelf. If it gets to be the end of the weekend and I havent eaten them I will slice up the sausages and put each one in a bag. The salad is in containers and I could throw those in the freezer but I dont think they will rewarm well because it is yogurt based...plus I love it and will eat it allll

I freeze stuff. I know in the beginning it can be very overwhelming on how to cook after surgery. I try to boil a dozen eggs every week. I also try to always have canned tuna on hand so there is always a meal I can grab. 

It does get easier. You will find as you get down the road farther. 

I was living by myself and i had a big freezer in the garage. Now - there are 2 of us so the freezer got upgraded to a newer - bigger one.. frost free.

note: if you do freeze items - make sure you label them - what it is and the date. absolute must. I use blue construction tape (the one you use for taping walls before painting) and a permanent marker.. that way I can stick a piece of the paper tape to anything and not worry about the glue...(specially for any glass or plastic containers) 

I have a vacuum sealer - that is a blessing - things don't get freezer burns..    

we even freeze my BF cake - he likes a simple pound cake - but he never eats the whole thing - so we typically cut that in half, and freeze half so it is like fresh after 2-3 weeks... and I am not tempted by it...

My freezer is my best friend!

Yes, it can definitely be overwhelming in the beginning to figure out all this and come up with strategies that work for your own situation - but you got this. PLUS you've found OH and this is where I find most of my best ideas and then adapt as needed.

So my favorite "kitchen tool" is a silicone muffin pan. I portion things out into it, stick it in the freezer, then pop out the little hockey pucks of whatever, toss them in a labeled freezer bag, and then easily pull out what I need for an individual meal. Often I cook something directly in the muffin pan, let it cool, then put it directly into the freezer - from zucchini noddle lasagna to egg cups, to dumping 1/4 cup of store bought tomato sauce into the cups to eat over turkey meatballs (I was constantly throwing away half used jars of tomato sauce that got moldy). You can also do even smaller portions - like an ice cube tray for things like sauces or LF gravy where the port is maybe a tablespoon. 

I saw you were on the daily menu post and that's an awesome place to get ideas - keep visiting it and you'll find tons of recipes. Oh and as for kielbasa, I totally buy the 5 or 6 pack and put it in the freezer - then I hack one off, microwave it was a minute to thaw it and then cook it in a pan or in my toaster oven if I'm being super lazy. 

thank you for your replies and ideas

I would love the zucchini noodle lasagna recipe! 

Recipe might be a bit of an overstatement...but here's what I do.

Brown 12-16oz of ground meat (I usually use turkey or chicken)
Slice the zucchini into 24 rings - pick a zucchini that looks like the rings will fit into your muffin pans, I usually need two small ones
Mix together 1.5 cups ricotta (I usually use part skim or low fat) with spices to your liking - I use some chopped garlic, oregano, and basil
You'll need shredded mozzarella cheese - usually around a cup, I use part skim, pre shredded

Now you're ready to build your little zucchini noodle lasagna muffins!

Put a spoonful of tomato sauce at the bottom of each muffin well (I use store bought "Light Ragu"), then start layering your ingredients. I usually do a zucchini round, meat, sauce ricotta, zucchini round, meat, sauce, ricotta, sprinkle of mozz on top.

Then bake in a 350 degree oven until....they're done. The cheese is bubbly and it's a bit browned. 

Sorry I don't have something more exact.

I threw out a ton of food in the beginning, too.  I still shop like I weigh 240 lbs.  My dogs, all Chihuahuas, have all gained weight in the last 5 years because I hate to waste food so they get what I don't eat.  Yeah I know they aren't supposed to eat people food but I'm talking about chicken or steak.  My neighbors also get a lot of food I don't eat.

I get on food kicks and buy a ton of stuff on sale and as soon as I do that I no longer want the food.  Go figure.

I am getting better at shopping.  Before I buy something I ask myself if I will really eat it in the next week and if I'm honest I know I won't.  I tend to want to buy things because it's a good deal, not because I know I will eat it.  I'm getting better.

Now I just try to buy for the coming week.  Truthfully I have enough food in my freezer to go without shopping for a month.  So now I only buy things that I'm not planning on eating right away if it's on sale and freezes well, like meat.

My best friend is my Food Saver.  Now when I cook I make a lot and freeze the rest in plastic containers.  After it is frozen I take it out and seal it.  My own version of Lean Cuisine.

The hardest thing for me is fruits and vegetable.  I really prefer them fresh so I try to just buy a small amount for that day or the next.  I hate it when I see a great sale on something like broccoli because if I get it most of it will be tossed in a week.

I also take advantage of sales on meat and chicken.  The other day I got 10 lbs of chicken hindquarters for $5.90.  I took it home and sealed them and dated them and popped them in the freezer.  I just took one out of the freezer and put it in the fridge for tonight.  I usually have half for lunch and the other half for dinner.  So for $6 I got 16 meals. 

my problem right now is that I really only like eating things once or twice. The thought of eating leftovers is not working well for me. I am going to try to freeze stuff