Five dinners for one. Every leftover has a plan.
Ray's 5 No-Waste Dinners takes you from Sunday to Thursday with everyday groceries. Each night's extra becomes part of the next night's supper, so nothing sits in the fridge going bad.
- 5 printable recipes, sized for one
- Ingredients from any supermarket
- 2 short shopping lists, by aisle
- Plain steps: the heat, the minutes, what you'll see
Free, no card needed. Gumroad asks for your email address and sends you the download link.
Sunday to Thursday
Sun. Sunday Chicken
Mon. Potatoes and Eggs
Tue. Chicken and Rice Soup
Wed. Papa's Picadillo
Thu. Eggs in Purgatory
Fri: the other half of the pepper
One dinner hands off to the next
Read the "Leftovers go to" line before you turn on the stove, so the extra already has a job.
Sunday, No. 1
Rosemarie's Sunday Chicken
Chicken thighs and potatoes in one pan.
leaves a thigh and half the potatoes
Monday, No. 26
Potatoes and Eggs
Sunday's potatoes go in the skillet with two eggs. Breakfast for dinner.
Tuesday, No. 40
Chicken and Rice Soup
Sunday's extra thigh goes in the soup. A second bowl goes in the freezer.
leaves half a cup of rice
Wednesday, No. 53
Papa's Picadillo
My father's Cuban ground beef, over Tuesday's rice.
leaves half a jar of sauce
Thursday, No. 25
Eggs in Purgatory
Two eggs cooked in Wednesday's sauce, with bread to mop it up.
And Friday? Half a pepper is waiting in the fridge. The last page tells you what I do with it.
Everything you need for the five nights
23 pages. Read it on a tablet or computer, or print the pages you want on regular letter paper.
Five recipe cards
Ingredients with tick boxes, the prep you do sitting down, numbered steps, a "Done when" line and a "Leftovers go to" line.
Two shopping trips
A list for Sunday and one for Wednesday, by aisle. Each item says which dinner it's for, and what to do with the rest of the package.
Already in your kitchen
The short list of staples to check before you go: olive oil, salt, pepper and a few dried spices.
The leftover map
Where every extra goes, night to night: the thigh, the potatoes, the onion, the rice and the sauce.
A mini savings worksheet
A usual week next to the five-dinner week. Your own numbers, not mine.
Large, clear type
Easy to read on a screen, or on paper by the stove.
Nothing fancy on the list
No specialty stores and no gadgets. Ordinary pans you already have, and a meat thermometer.
- Chicken thighs
- Potatoes
- An onion
- Carrots
- Celery
- Eggs
- Chicken broth
- White rice
- Ground beef
- A bell pepper
- A jar of tomato sauce
- Green olives
- Grated Parmesan
- Sliced bread
You'll know when it's done
Every card ends with a "Done when" line: the temperature to look for and what the food looks like. Every step names the heat and the minutes.
"Keep a meat thermometer by the stove. The number tells you when it's done. Not me, not the clock."
Ray
Why I made it
My wife Rosemarie did the cooking for forty-five years. The first time I made her Sunday chicken alone, I followed the card. I ate chicken for six days and threw out the rest.
These five dinners are how I stopped doing that. Shop twice, Sunday and Wednesday. Cook them in order. At the end of the week, fill in the little worksheet with your own numbers.
Ray
Questions people ask
Is it really free?
Yes. No card, no catch. Gumroad, the shop that delivers my PDFs, asks for your email address so it can send you the link.
What happens after I tap the button?
Gumroad opens. Type your email address and confirm. Gumroad shows you a button to open the PDF right away, and emails you the link too, so you can open it again later.
Do I have to print it?
No. It opens on a phone, tablet or computer. If you like paper by the stove, it prints on regular letter paper. It's 23 pages; print only the ones you want.
Will you send me emails?
Gumroad sends your receipt with the download link. Now and then I may send a short note with a recipe or news about my cookbook. Every email has an unsubscribe link at the bottom.
What do I need in the kitchen?
Ordinary pans with a lid, a pot, a knife and a board, and a meat thermometer. Each card tells you which pan before you start.
I can't find the email.
Look in your spam or promotions folder for a message from Gumroad. Still nothing? Come back here, tap the button again and use the same email address.
Five dinners. Two trips to the store. Less in the garbage.
Get the recipes now and cook the first one on Sunday.
Free printable PDF, delivered by email through Gumroad.