Three Rules of Dinner for One

Rule #1:  Do not eat a frozen meal.  Even if you and your wife normally crack open a Lean Cuisine every night, don't you do it when you're dining solo.  There's just something too sad and pitiful and mothball-smelling about that.

Make Leftover Hash or Soup instead.  Inspired by Tartelette's Roasted Vegetable Soup, The Frugal Hostess recently whipped up two - Butternut Squash & Carrot, and Potato & Onion (pictured).  It couldn't be easier.

Ingredients
Vegetables you have in your house
Salt, pepper, and olive oil
Stock, milk, or cream (optional)

Directions
1.  Skin, peel, chop, and otherwise disembowel your veggies of choice.
2.  Toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil in a roasting or jelly roll pan.
3.  Roast at 375 for an hour or so.  Check on them; FruHo doesn't really remember how long.
4.  Let them cool off, and then puree with an immersion blender.  You could use a food processor or regular blender, but it's much more messy.  TFH bought her immersion blender at a thrift store for $4.67 or something, so they aren't unobtainable.
5.  If you like more soupy soup, add one of those liquid ingredients.  If, like TFH, you want adult baby food, use just a little or none.

Rule #2:  If you have to eat alone, don't be all droopy and mournful.  Make your dinner (or lunch, or dunch) even more exciting than it would be if your usual dining partner were there.  Use your wedding crystal, or your kitschy plastic-ware, or whatevs.  FruHo eats on a tray and uses garnishes, something usually reserved for dinner parties.

Rule #3: Have a treat.  Whether that is dessert, or wine, or a grass-fed New York strip steak, you deserve to have something special when you're not used to eating by yourself.  Bonus points if you revel in something your typical company absolutely despises.

The Frugal Hostess is not eating alone tonight.  But she still gets lonely. Please comment.