The food in my refrigerator has changed drastically since Adrian died last year.
The first thing that happened is that a lot of things rotted, becoming moldy and disgusting. I could not eat them up fast enough. Every time my daughter visited, she would throw something out. My grandchildren sniffed at everything I offered them before they would touch it.
I used to make a lot of pasta with red sauce because it was one of Adrian’s favorite meals. Now I find myself hardly ever making pasta. I don’t know how to make a single serving, and reheated pasta is no longer al dente.
I try to make smaller batches of whatever I do make—mostly stir-fry vegetables, chicken or shrimp. I put the leftovers in the freezer when I’ve made too much. But I still get tired of eating the same thing over and over.
One solution I’ve found is to prepare a basic chicken soup broth and then add the leftovers to that as they accumulate. My chicken soup gets more and more interesting as time goes by, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly what was in it.
Salad is another problem area. Salad greens do not last as long as I would like them to. I have a fetish about eating greens every day, though, so what I do now when they start looking peaked is throw them in the pan with the stir-fry. Or the chicken soup.
Did I forget to tell you that my other fetish is not throwing food away? Got that one from my mother. But sometimes food just needs to be thrown away and not eaten.
In order to avoid throwing away as much food as possible, these are the things I no longer keep in my refrigerator: giant jars of salsa, cream cheese, most other cheeses (except brie, which I love too much to let rot), and sour cream. Adrian was a big fan of sour cream.
My package of parmesan has hardened into stone and can barely be shaved. Why do I need it if I don’t make pasta anymore?
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When house guests come, I stock up my refrigerator with extra fruit and special foods for them. After they leave, I try to pawn off what’s left on my daughter.
My sister Laura came to visit recently, and the first thing she did was to throw away everything in my refrigerator that she thought questionable. Laura has a sharp nose.
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In some ways it’s nice having a slimmed down, empty-ish refrigerator. It’s much easier to find things in it, or to wipe down the shelves when I need to. And it hardly needs cleaning anymore with only me poking around in it.
As a single, you know exactly what’s in your refrigerator and how much of each item is left.
Food shopping is drastically different when you’re a single, too. I remember when Adrian and I were members of Sam’s buying club and would come home with huge jars of pickles, giant packages of smoked salmon.
Yesterday I stopped at our new Wednesday afternoon farmer’s market at East Hill Plaza. I bought vegetables from several vendors: one cucumber, one ear of corn, a garlic bulb and two tomatoes.
I can do my weekly shopping at the supermarket in ten minutes.
Life is more predictable, streamlined and manageable now.
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When I first did the food shopping alone after Adrian died, I wanted to cry when I saw how little I needed to purchase. This simple act was one of the hardest to get used to.
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My refrigerator has slimmed way down, but I haven’t. I keep busy during the day, but in the evenings, sometimes I take too much comfort in the dark chocolate-covered cashews I buy in huge bagfuls from Wegmans.
That and a good movie from Netflix get me through the night.
