What doyou cook for dinner?Once you locate a recipe (and for some of us, that's a leapwe'll never make), do you have the time to prepare it? Thedesire to make the effort? And most important, you've got tolike that dish a lot -- because you're going to be eating ituntil you're 85, right? Single cooks often complain that theycan't find recipes for one or two servings. Instead, they'rewritten to serve six people, eight people, or small armies. Ofcourse, you can put your mathematician's hat on, do thedivision, and whittle that recipe down to two servings (what'sone-tenth of 2 cups?), but if you miscalculate, you're lookingat a culinary disaster and a lot of wasted time.All of this makes the bold assumption that you cook. Many, manysingles don't. Some admit to cooking, but only for other people.We singles seem to have a confidence problem in the kitchen.We'll do it for oth...

...ers, but not for ourselves. Soapartment-dwellers arrive home from work each night carrying notonly their briefcases, but also their take-out boxes. And all ofthem will discover with time that avoiding their kitchens notonly becomes old; it's also expensive. But the truth is thatwhile we might think cooking for ourselves is expensive, it'snot -- particularly if you cook multiple portions which may thenbe frozen for later use. Cooking is actually far morecost-effective than relying on convenience foods.It used to be that we headed to a restaurant to escape thegrind, to enjoy a night out away from home. We wanted someoneelse to do the cooking and the cleanup, and we were quite happyto pay for that luxury. These days, however, we're eating lessand less often at the restaurant, shunning candles and "I'll beyour waiter this evening" for take-out -- preferably orderedahead of time by phone, so that we don't have to wait once wearrive at the restaurant.Market research firm the NPD Group found that in 1996, morerestaurant meals were taken out than eaten on premises. Incontrast, 41 percent of restaurant meals were carried out 10years before. 1996 was the first year the pendulum swung in theother direction, and it marked the beginning of a trend that hascontinued and gained strength. The bottom line in 1998 is thatconsumers want their food prepared by a restaurant, but theydon't necessarily want to eat it there. "Restaurants arebecoming prepared-food supermarkets," says NPD's Harry Balzer.Taking into consideration our changing demographics, NPDprojects the fastest-growing restaurant meals from now until2010 will be: weekday lunches at a restaurant without kids, up80 million meals per year; weekend dinners at a restaurantwithout kids, up 61 million meals per year; and weekday dinnersat a restaurant without kids, up 48 million meals per year.According to recent surveys: * Americans, excluding those who live in institutions, eat morethan one of every five meals at away-from-home eatingestablishments. * Fast-food restaurants serve four out of 10meals eaten at away-from-home eating establishments. * Four outof 10 consumers say they have changed their eating out habits toreflect nutritional concerns. * Adults eat roughly 30 percent oftheir calories away from home. * Americans spend more than 40cents of every food dollar on food eaten away from home. *Today, only 55 percent of dinners include one homemade dish. Tenyears ago, the figure was 64 percent. The number of ingredientsis also at an all-time low. * Dishes such as potatoes, bread,and salad are served less often. Vegetables, once in more thanhalf of all dinners, are now served at only 43 percent ofdinners. * The number of take-out dinners has more than doubled. Source: Perspectives '97: Consumer Reviews, Trends, Forecasts;"Eating Patterns in America," an annual survey of 2,000households conducted by the NPD GroupHome meal replacement ("HMR") is a single person's mantra. HMRis everywhere -- in restaurants both mainstream and upscale, insupermarkets, and at eating establishments that specificallymarket themselves as HMR providers -- with a few tables andchairs thrown in for good measure, of course. Appetizers,entrees, salads, side dishes, breads, desserts (and wines andspirits) are packed up and ready to go and usually just requirea quick reheating before you serve them. While it's a handyalternative, and many of these establishments are well-stockedwith nearly anything your stomach desires, consumers pay forconvenience, and sometimes they pay dearly.According to Census Bureau data, the average single person earns$28,000 per year, while the average married couple earns nearly$49,000. The bureau has also found that single people save lessthan marrieds; the average single saves $1,300 per year, whilemarried couples manage to stash an average of $3,521. So itbehooves a single person to think about putting that chef's haton every once and a while. After the initial expense of buying afew ingredient staples, it's a good idea to put aside your ideasabout dividing a recipe down to one or two servings, and insteadfollowing it to the letter. Spending a half-hour in the kitchenon a dish that will last you several nights is a time-savingstrategy. After all, if you're entering the kitchen either everynight or every other night to start cooking all over again,cooking may soon become a chore.While there's too much variance among consumers to determine howmuch money the average person could save by brown-bagging it towork, or merely cutting down on business/social lunches, it goeswithout saying that if you're used to going out every day,ordering drinks and/or appetizers and/or dessert, and paying atip, you're going to see substantial savings if you startpacking your lunches, at least occasionally. While it's aconservative estimate, let's say you spend $5 each weekday onfood -- that could be your morning cup of coffee, or arelatively inexpensive lunch out with your co-workers. That's$100 per month, or $1,200 per year. Keeping a spending diarywill quickly open your eyes. If you purchase the insomniac'sspecial -- a jumbo latte -- for $3 every morning before you facethe office, that's $60 a month.If you've seen the light and have committed to gracing yourkitchen with your presence -- but you're stumped for ideas -- goonline. It's a cook's paradise -- even a single cook's paradise.You'll find everything on the Internet, from simple recipes tomore adventurous ones. And for those of you who want to see whatthe finished product will look like, you'll occasionally findpictures online, as well. Some suggested sites includePillsburyCompuCookSouthern Living OnlineSafeway.comCooking Light Onlineall of which have comprehensive, easy-to-use recipe indexes forall skill levels.If your idea of a kitchen is a room where you store your emptytake-out boxes, consider these tips before you begin your nextculinary adventure: * Although you might be tempted to divide a recipe that feedsfour or more, many cooks find that the recipe doesn't turn outas successfully if they attempt to modify it. It's best tofollow the recipe exactly, then freeze your extra portions.You've just saved yourself time and effort, because you'll haveat least two meals -- if not more -- ready to defrost, andyou'll appreciate them on nights when you're tired and have nodesire to cook. * Water boils more quickly when you cover yourpot with a lid. * If you're planning to cook vegetables alongwith your pasta, toss them into the water a few minutes beforeyour pasta is ready. You'll have less to clean up later. * Ifyou're cooking pasta (a single person's friend -- it's bothversatile and inexpensive), cook enough for two nights. * Get aCrock Pot. You can toss in as little or as much as you like, andyou can't possibly make a mistake.So get familiar with that kitchen of yours. It may be a galley,but it's still home. What have you got to lose, other than money?...