Two chicken thighs on one lined pan: one for tonight, one for tomorrow. The foil goes in the trash.
The dinner handbook
My wife cooked for forty-five years. Then it was just me and a frying pan. This book is 34 dinners for one from kitchens that test their recipes, most of them on one lined pan, plus the four numbers that tell you it's done and where every other half of the can goes.
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How it works
Nothing ships. Nothing to install.
The arithmetic
On a big grocery chain's own website at the end of September 2026, a store-brand can of black beans was 92 cents. A can of tuna was 96 cents. A bag of frozen green beans was 98 cents. Every one of those is a dinner in this book, or most of one.
The expensive part of cooking for one is the half you throw away. A pound of hamburger averaged about $6.92 in August 2026, and raw, it keeps only one to two days in the fridge. The book shows you how to split it and freeze it the day you buy it.
| A 15-ounce can of store-brand black beans (September 2026) | $0.92 |
| A 5-ounce can of store-brand tuna (September 2026) | $0.96 |
| A 12-ounce bag of store-brand frozen green beans (September 2026) | $0.98 |
| A pound of ground beef, government average (August 2026) | $6.92 |
| This book | $18.99 |
A forgotten pound of hamburger is about seven dollars in the trash. The book costs $18.99, and it tells you where every other half goes.
Look inside
Exactly what opens on your phone. And the download has a large-print edition too, for easier reading.
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What is inside
Two chicken thighs on one lined pan: one for tonight, one for tomorrow. The foil goes in the trash.
Get your copy
One payment. No subscription, no upsell, nothing else to buy.
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Buying it for a parent? Check out with your own email, then forward them the email with the download link. The large-print edition is in it.
Questions before you buy? Write to Mel
Who is telling you this
My wife cooked for forty-five years. Then it was just me and a frying pan. I'm seventy-two, and the first seventy I never made my own dinner. I still hate cooking, and I refuse to scrub a pot.
So I didn't invent a single recipe in this book. Every dinner comes from a kitchen that tests its recipes: the big recipe websites and magazines, a test kitchen, and the food makers' own directions. Each card says where it's from, and the back of the book lists them all. The food safety numbers come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and FoodSafety.gov. The prices were checked in September 2026 and each one says where it came from.
What I add is what I got wrong the first time, so you don't have to. And I count the dishes honestly. If a pan needs washing, the card says so.
Mel
Two things to know before you buy
Every recipe comes from a kitchen that tests recipes, not from me. I found them, kept the ones a tired person can manage, and wrote down what I got wrong and what's left to wash. The back of the book names the source of every one. There is no health or diet advice in it.
Not every dinner is one serving. A slow cooker and some sheet-pan dinners only work at a certain size, so where a tested recipe makes two, I don't shrink it. You eat one tonight, and the card tells you where the second goes and how many days it keeps. And the ten minutes in the title is your part: on some nights the oven or slow cooker does the rest while you sit.
Ask within 30 days and you get your $18.99 back. Just reply to the email your book came in.
Questions
Anyone cooking for one who's tired by evening and done with big pots and piles of dishes. It's also for anyone who never learned to cook. It's in plain English, and every step is spelled out.
No. I didn't. There are no knife skills in it, no big pots to lift, and no standing at the stove for an hour. You need a pan, a sheet pan, some foil, a timer and a cheap food thermometer.
Ten minutes is about your part. Chapter 4 is dinners that take ten minutes or less in all. On other nights you spend about ten to fifteen minutes and the oven or slow cooker does the rest. Every card tells you your part and the oven's part, from the recipe's own times.
From kitchens that test recipes: Allrecipes, Betty Crocker, Food Network, America's Test Kitchen, and food makers' own recipe pages. Each card names its source, and the back of the book lists them all.
Yes. The cooking temperatures, fridge and freezer times, can rules, thawing and slow cooker rules come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food safety service and FoodSafety.gov, read in September 2026.
No. It's dinner, not a diet. If you follow a diet your doctor gave you, ask your doctor.
A PDF, a large-print PDF and an EPUB. Read it on a phone, tablet or computer, or print the recipe cards you use most.
You have 30 days. If the book doesn't help, ask for a refund within 30 days of buying and you'll get your money back in full.
Not ready to buy?
Not ready for the whole book? Take the checklist. It's one printable page: fourteen things to have in a kitchen for one, from the frying pan to the four safe numbers to the stool by the counter.
Tell me where to send it and it's yours. Stick it on the fridge.
Ready when you are
One payment. No subscription, no upsell, nothing else to buy.
Instant download30-day money backSecure checkout