I am incapable of cooking in small amounts. We have five kids, all adults now. I always cooked in large batches and we had extra people around the table often. The kids are grown and gone, and I still can’t get used to cooking for just two people. Maybe it’s the southerner in me.

OP, double recipes. Freeze what you don’t use. Most things freeze really well. If you can’t freeze it, refrigerate it. In my house, someone would eat it for breakfast or lunch. Cold meatloaf for breakfast makes me sick, but my kids loved it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you Swedish?

Am I the only one missing the joke?

I always cook enough to have leftovers so this would not be an issue.

OP, if you are that good at cooking exactly what your family will eat, please come teach me how to do it. My two boys (16 and 11) can hoover up more than I expected to feed them and their dad & sister.

My "trick" is that I don't eat meat, so I always have a second entree available. It is often leftovers, but at least it doesn't look terribly weird to us to serve salmon filets with chicken cutlets. If there aren't enough hamburgers, DH will have a salmon burger with me. Then you can fudge the salad, veggie, potato/pasta ratio and call it a meal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you Swedish?

If OP was Swedish, the visitors would be asked to wait outside while the family ate!

I have pasta and beans in my pantry, frozen gnocchi and ravioli, and we usually have items to whip up cheese and crackers or veggies and hummus for an appetizer.

I would stretch the protein by reducing serving sizes, add another side dish, and put out snacks before dinner.

Anonymous wrote:Are you Swedish?

Keep a frozen pizza or a freezer meal like a lasagna or chili or something on hand. Make a pasta side to any meal, and just serve smaller meat portions. As long there is enough overall quantity, it doesn’t all have to “go together.” And why not pick up the phone and order takeout every now and then?

I'm fine with leftovers, but otherwise I'll just add a side or put out more bread or salad or whatever.

Happens here. I was making a Japanese stir fry with steak. I made sure that no one was allergic to shellfish and threw in a bunch of shrimp. I defrosted a chicken breast in the microwave, diced and threw that in with extra vegetables. I usually have shrimp, chicken and a big bag of frozen stir fry veggies from Costco in the freezer.

On chicken Parmesan night when I can’t magically come up with another three scallipinis, I’ll make extra pasta, slice the chicken parm and throw it in with the pasta. I usually have salad and some veggies that I can add.

I think most people plan for leftovers so if someone else shows up it’s not such a thing. Honestly, I don’t know how you cook exact portions with teens, bc mine will eat a normal portion one day and then like a triple portion the next based on where they are in their growth cycle. Basically my strategy is to always have a 3-part meal with two parts portioned out (e.g., chicken/roast veggies, salmon/asparagus, veggie chili/stuffed peppers) plus one part filler (pasta/pasta salad, roast potatoes, french fries, rice, bread and butter, cornbread, etc.)

I also always have the stuff on hand for a simple charcuterie platter (nuts, cheese, some kind of cured meat, crackers).

So if we randomly have people around I want to invite to stay to dinner, I quickly put out a tray with some of that stuff and cook some extra “filler” and If it’s 2+ people I will also add an additional veggie side like cooking some frozen peas, quickly steaming green beans, etc.

Make more and learn to like leftovers!

Op, don't have them stay if this is a big ask of you. No one wants to stay, even kids, with this vibe.

I keep lots of pretzels, popcorn, chips and salsa. Also have mini hot dogs in the freezer. When extras show up I usually put out an "appetizer" -- whatever I can come up which I usually do not do so everyone comes to the dinner table a little less hungry.

My grandmother used to say FHB- which we all understood to stand for family hold back!