Next car on the meal train.

Next car on the meal train is related to the efficient cooking car.   Stair stepping is when you cook more of an ingredient for one nights dinner so you can use it for the next day's dinner.  

One idea is to chop extra of anything that goes on a pizza.   Put it in a small container or zip lock and put it on the door of the freezer.   Of you are like most people putting it in the main freezer portion is like putting it in a black hole.   lOL.

If you are making sweet and sour chicken or pork, save a little pineapple for your pizza meal later on the week.    Ham cubes come in a bag and can be used for many meals including ham and pineapple pizza.    I get three to four meals from a door to five dollar bag.  

Pineapple and ham pizza
Ham and cheese quiche
Ham and beans
Ham  and split pea soup
Chop salad
Ham and scrambled eggs.
Ham and scalloped potatoes

Wednesday's stirfry rice can become Thursday's rice pudding, or part of the rice and bean burritos another day.    ( rice has a short fridge life.  Use it fast.)

Many other ideas are in a recent blog.   Examples

The slow cooker can be your best friend on the kitchen.  There is something about coming home to dinner cooked and the smell is glorious.    Just don't forget to plug it on or turn it on!    Slow cooker recipes are all over the Internet and many cookbooks address them as well.  Betty Crocker   on line cookbook is a good resource for ideas.

Many people freezer or marathon cook. It can be a few batches of something  or you can cook for a day and eat for a month.    I don't have the stamina or time to do that.    Plus, I would rather not fill the freezer with items like carrots that can be in the fridge.    My freezer is precious territory and can be better used for meat and vegetables.    And ice cream......did someone say ice cream!
A few go to easy meals always help when you are going to or have had a hard day.   Always have a back up easy meal to revert to when you just don't feel like cooking or you are having an Alexander  day.   It used to be a jus sandwiches when beef roast was within reason.  I froze th thin slices of beef in a freezer shrink bag and always had sourdough brown and serve baguettes.    Dinner could be done on fifteen minutes flat.    Now, I resort to pizza.    I buy pizza on sale cheap and can add toppings .   Sometimes , we make it from scratch. But a frozen pizza that I can get for less than three dollars with coupons can also fit the bill and everyone eats it without complaints.  

The pressure cookers of today are electronic and a lot safer than our great grandmothers version.    Split pea soup can happen in  a flash.    There are pressure cooker cookbooks and a lot of recipes on line.  

Next : your own personal cookbook.