There are certain items that are plentiful and priced right at the grocery stores post-holiday. Stock up on these Smart Ingredients, and you have tools for dinner success that you can use throughout the next few months, and make many cheap and easy — and delicious — dinners.

Ham

What is leftover from the holidays is priced extremely well in stores right now, or even, buy one get one free. A great Cook Once, Eat Twice food, ham can be made for one delicious elegant dinner, with the leftovers used for many recipes including Ham and Cheese Muffins, Split Pea Soup with Ham and Ham and Swiss Baked Ziti (from the cookbook 40 Dinner Duos: Cook Once, Eat Twice.

Ham and Swiss Baked Ziti

Serves 4-6 (easily doubled)

• 8 ounces Ziti or similar pasta
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (cut fine if you can only find slices or cubes
• 1 cup leftover ham, cubed
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Cook garlic in butter for 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Stir in flour and salt, increase heat and stir until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Add milk, heat to boiling and stir until smooth. Add mustard and cheese, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth.

Pour pasta into ungreased 2-quart baking dish. Add ham and cheese sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and Bread crumbs. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and browned.

Shrimp

Used for cocktail around the holiday season, it is priced at less than half of what you can find it for at other times of the year. Stock up and freeze in 1-lb. portions for a great “Smart” dinner ingredient. See the “Recipes” tab on our website for recipes for:

Shrimp Creole

Shrimp Po Boy Sandwiches

Coconut Shrimp

Shrimp Etouffee

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos

Cream of Mushroom Soup

While I often prefer to make my own white sauce with mushrooms, I must admit canned Cream of Mushroom soup is an undeniable Smart Ingredient when it comes to easy weeknight dinners. When I need a quick or easy comfort-food dinner, I use it to make Ground Beef Stroganoff, Pot Roast in the crock pot, or Tuna Casserole. The excess from the holidays should be priced at half what it is the rest of the year. If this is an ingredient you use, stocking up at half price is a great way to shop “Smart”.

French’s Onions

These gems are a nice bonus to top casseroles, salads, burgers and at the holidays… of course… green bean casserole. With the holidays gone, nab a can or two you can use over the next few months.

Cranberry Sauce

The price of canned cranberry sauce has really gone up this year, so nabbing some at a holiday price is a bonus. I love cranberry sauce (fresh or canned) to make Cranberry Brie Pizza, Apple Cranberry Pie, Cranberry Brisket, Cranberry Meatballs and Cranberry Chicken. At a sale price, I will buy at least a dozen cans if this Smart ingredient, and know that it will add up to so many appetizers and dinners in coming months.

Happy shopping and stocking up!

This month’s Cookbook Giveaway winner has yet to claim their prize (check your inbox for a “You Won!” e-mail from Organizing Dinner), so we are just hankering to give something away. Buy any cookbook this week, and get another FREE! Buy one for you, and one for a gift, or two great books just to help yourself find success in the kitchen. Purchase your book through our website, and in the “Comments” section, enter the name of the other cookbook (of equal or lesser value) you would like us to include with your purchase. Valid this week only, on purchases through organizingdinner.com. Not valid on purchases through Amazon, Borders, barmesandnoble.com or any other retailer.

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Day 17

Menu: Corned Beef and Cabbage

On St. Patrick’s Day or anyday, corned beef and cabbage is a stress-free, easy meal. The entire meal can be boiled in one pot (if you choose), for a delicious well-rounded meal. The “corned” part of the name, means that the beef has been seasoned and brined for you, and therefore requires no further seasoning. I do, at the end, place mine in a baking dish and top with a spicy-mustard and apricot preserve glaze and bake for about 40 minutes, but you can omit this step and serve a mustard sauce on the side.

Game plays applied:

One pan meal – Corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, carrots and onions can all go in one pot. Start the beef early, and add everything else during the last 45 minutes.

Day 18

Menu: Frozen pizza and homemade vegetable soup for the kids, (while Mom and Dad celebrated our 13th anniversary with dinner out).

Game Plays applied:

With certain babysitters I can say “make anything in the 70 Meals book, we have all the ingredients on hand” and a healthy homemade meal is done. With others who are younger and less kitchen-experienced, the frozen pizza is as much “cooking” as I will ask.

Multimealing - I made the vegetable soup during dinner cleanup the night before.

Day 19

Menu: Chili

Game Plays applied:

Flexibility – Chili is one of the most flexible dishes out there. I can start a great chili with chicken, ground beef, steak and/or a plethora of vegetables and other ingredients. Tonight I made my favorite chili with chicken, black beans, corn and black olives. As it takes a few hours to simmer, I made a large pot so there is some in the freezer for another meal.

70 Meals, One Trip to the Store - there are a few recipes for chili in the 70 Meals, One Trip to the Store cookbook. Chicken and Black Bean Chili is one of them.

30 Days of my play-by-play dinner, continued. For game play definitions, see previous post.

Day 4

Homemade Butternut Squash Soup and pasta salad.

Game Plays applied:

Multimealing: I made a large batch of squash soup to bring some to my Dad who just had surgery, and keep some at home for dinner.

Flexibility: I love the flexibility of pasta salad. Using noodles and basic pasta salad seasonings I always keep on hand (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt and Italian Seasonings) I can make a pasta salad using any number of add-ins I may have on hand. Tonight I used blue cheese, avocado, cucumber, onions and tomatoes.

Day 5

[Tonight I have to work. My sitter knows she can make anything in the 70 Meals, One Trip to the Store cookbook as I have all the ingredients on hand. Here's what she chose. The kids loved it.]

Lemon Honey Chicken and Brown Rice

Game Plays applied:

70 Meals, One Trip to the Store: Lemon Honey Chicken

Day 6

Herb-Crusted Beef Roast and Roasted Potatoes

While this may sound like a complicated meal, it is actually one of the easiest, elegant dinners I make. I use and Eye of Round cut, which I find extremely reliable in both cut and preparation. The crust is made by cooking up some onions, garlic and mustard in red wine. Rub this on the roast with some tarragon, salt and pepper, and put it in a roasting pan surrounded by one cup of beef broth, and cubed potatoes, and into a preheated 350 degree F oven until it reaches 140 degrees F. This roast is also typically sold in a 4-pound quantity, which is a perfect amount to feed 5 for dinner one night, and make Beef Stew the next.

Day 7

Beef Stew

Game plays applied:

Cook once, eat twice: last night’s lovingly-prepared roast and potatoes became an extremely flavorful beef stew by just cubing leftover beef and placing it and the remaining potatoes in a crock pot with the remaining beef stew recipe ingredients. This can be done at any point of the day, which worked well with the day’s busy schedule, work and after-school activities. [From the 40 Dinner Duos; Cook Once, Eat Twice cookbook.]

I’m going to give you an actual day-by-day walkthrough of 30 days of dinner in my house. I have met so many of you in my classes and online who have expressed that, while you believe me that making a hot, healthy, homemade meal every day is possible… with kids, a full-time job and other obligations… you aren’t sure it’s possible for you.

It is. If you look at it as a game, and set out to win. I hope that reading about my dinner experiences and strategies will infuse you with some offensive strategies to bring into your own home. This “reality blog” will not be glamorous, as I am no superwoman. What I do know is how to play the dinner game. And winning this game means making a fresh, homemade dinner for my family every night, amid working, driving to after-school activities, and managing a generally busy schedule. I will tell you what I made, but I will more importantly walk you through my playbook and show you my game plan in action. I plan to condense entries into 3-day posts so you are not getting a post every day.

Here is the Organizing Dinner playbook, for reference:

Multimealing - The term “multitask” is an understatement these days. If we’re not multitasking, we’re not getting it done. Multimealing is more specific. It refers to making the absolute most of your time spent in the kitchen. It means while making breakfast, you boil the pasta for that night’s dinner. While simmering dinner on the stove, you are making muffins for the next day’s breakfast. You get the idea.

70 Meals One Trip to the Store – For those of you who don’t know how the 70 Meals plan works, here’s a quick run down… you can make any one of the 70 dinners in the cookbook with what you have on hand at home, after following a quick and easy stock-up shopping list. There are 3 meat bases in the book, chicken, ground beef and fish. If you have one of those meats on hand either frozen or thawed, that equals more than 15 dinner options based on that meat alone (there’s another 20 that are all vegetarian, so there are those options too). But if I reference, “I have chicken”… under the 70 Meals game play, that automatically means 17 dishes I can make.

Cook Once, Eat Twice – One night’s cooking efforts becomes two night’s unique meals.

Gifts to Self - When one step of dinner is done in advance. i.e. chicken precooked and frozen, vegetables pre-chopped, etc.

2/3 Rule - Don’t set out to make a full 3-course meal on a busy weeknight. Of 3 courses, success is more attainable if 2 are fresh/homemade, one is prepackaged or frozen.

Day 1

Menu: Baked Crab Cakes, Thai Peanut Pasta Salad, and Sweet Potato Fries

Game plays applied:

2/3 rule: crab cakes and pasta salad homemade, fries frozen/packaged

multimealing: cooked the noodles while I made the lunches during breakfastime

Day 2

[My thought process about tonight's dinner] It’s 6 am, and I will be gone all day until 5 pm. I have ground beef thawed in the refrigerator. With the 70 Meals game play, I know that means there are 17 dishes I can make with what I have on hand at home. My favorite is Beef Stroganoff, but I know the kids would prefer burgers, straight up. Plus I have the pasta salad left over from last night, so burgers make more sense. I will have 40 minutes to get dinner on the table after we get home, before activities. No problem.

Menu: Burgers, leftover pasta salad

Game plays applied:

70 Meals: hamburgers

Day 3

[Thought process about tonight's dinner] I have plans tonight (yoga and wine at a very Zen local studio with about 25 friends . Hubby will be home with the kids. I am home early in the day, but not later. Hmmm, crock pot or something easy to leave out for hubby to make? Went with easy meal for hubby to make…

menu: Grilled Chicken Sausage, Rice and Brussel Sprouts

Game plays applied:

Multimealing: I made the rice for hubby while making lunches during breakfastime. All he had to do was grill the sausage and brussel sprouts.

There’s a big game on the horizon, and the thing on many foodie’s minds is not the points spread, but the table spread. For a game day, there’s nothing we love more than chili. Those of you who have gotten to know what Organizing Dinner is about can probably guess our number one reason why: it’s flexible! Our favorite 3 chili recipes include these ingredients, separately, as their base: hot italian sausage, chicken, and sweet potatoes. Talk about variety! In addition to that, we’ve recently had chili made with ground beef and cocoa powder, and chili made with steak and garbanzo beans that were both delicious. In our opinion, as long as you put out an abundant choice of toppings, the sky is the limit for ingredient combinations that go into the chili. And if you know us really well, you can probably guess our number two reason why we love chili: it can be made ahead of time! Almost all chili holds up great in the freezer, or even the refrigerator for up to two days. (The Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Chili below is one that is best served immediately, as opposed to frozen, but if you want to make ahead and freeze, substitute one package of Velveeta for the cheddar sauce.)

Here are two chili recipes that pit Pitt against Green Bay, just like the big game. The first is a Philly Cheese Steak-inspired chili, and the second pays tribute to the dairy/beef state of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Chili. Choose the recipe that best represents your team, or make both for a Steelers Vs. Packers spread. Also, visit our website for our favorite vegetarian chili recipe made with sweet potatoes and kidney beans.

Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Chili

Steelers Chili

aka Philly Cheesesteak Chili

Ingredients

Heat oil in large heavy pot over medium high heat. Combine salt, pepper and flour with a fork. Toss sirloin cubes with flour to coat. Brown meat in pot on all sides and remove meat to a plate. If necessary add more oil to pan and add onions. Cook onions over medium heat until they begin to soften. Stir in garlic, green, red and jalapeno peppers and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano and mushrooms. Continue stirring for one minute. Return browned meat to pan and pour in beer and beef broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Stir in tomatoes, and cook for 45 minutes or until meat is tender. Serve with a squeeze of Cheese Whiz, and saltine crackers, or toppings of your choice.

Green Bay Packer Chili

aka Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Chili

Packers Chili

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2  14-ounce cans Diced Tomatoes, undrained
• 2 small cans chopped green chilies
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon paprika

In a large saucepan, cook the beef, onions and garlic until meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, chilies, broth, pepper, chili powder and cumin and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate, small pan on stove melt butter and flour over medium heat, stirring frequently, to make a paste. Stir in milk aggressively until blended. Stir in cheese until melted. Add cheese sauce to chili, and stir to blend. Serve immediately over noodles (optional) and/or with toppings of your choice such as diced red onion, crumbled tortilla chips and jalapeno slices.

As we near the end of what we can call “cooking recovery week” another flexible, one-dish dinner gives a nice break to you hard-working cooks. 

Baked Pasta

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 10 ounces thick pasta noodles
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 10 ounces red sauce
• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Optional additions:

• 1/2 pound sausage or ground beef, browned
• 1 1/2 cups spinach
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
• 1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese
• Fresh basil

Boil noodles according to Al Dente package directions. Coat a baking dish with olive oil, and pour noodles on top. Fold remaining ingredients into noodles, including optional additions. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F.

It’s always good if you can bring fun into making dinner, and fortunately, Fall food lends itself to festive presentation. I am definitely better at the “flavor” end of food than I am the “fun” (I did NOT make this apple , but for those of you who don’t so much looove the cooking but might enjoy a little decorating, play to your strong suit.

• Decorate the top of a fruit or pot pie by cutting a message in the air slits.
• Fancy faced pizza is always a big hit with the kids.
• Give food “legs” with pretzels, and eyes with raisins.
• Put the first letter of each person’s name on their plate with julienned vegetables.
• Making anything “mini” says fun. Ever tried King’s Hawaiian Sweet rolls? They are delicious for cheeseburgers, and make fun sliders. Use the mini rye toasts for mini reubens.

Here is one I did create that brought smiles to my kids:

Shepherd’s Pumpkin Pie — delicious Shepherd’s Pie in pumpkins my kids got to hollow out.

Ingredients
4 pie pumpkins, seeded
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup broth
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup peas
2 cups mashed potatoes (see website for recipe)
paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, melt butter. Add flour and stir until thick paste forms. Add onions and carrots, continue stirring, and stir in broth. Add beef and Worcestershire sauce, and cook about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Stir in peas. Add equal parts beef mixture to each pumpkin, and top with equal parts mashed potatoes. Sprinkle top with paprika. Cook in preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.

Today, again, were cookin’ once and eating twice. Pasta sauce is best when culminating flavors that set together over a slow cooking process. When you use leftover pot roast to make your meat sauce, you are getting an already flavor-packed ingredient to marry with the tomatoes. This recipe from Cook Once… Eat Twice! creates the most savory, meaty, flavorful sauce, you will surprise even yourself how easy it is to achieve such great taste. Check out our latest Facebook post for our favorite Pot Roast recipe, though any leftover Pot Roast will do for this pasta sauce.

Meat Sauce

• Leftover Pot Roast (approximately 1 pound)

• Either 2 – 20 ounce cans of tomato sauce OR 15 fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled

• 1 pound pasta
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Remove pot roast and vegetables from gravy. Place in large stock pot or crock pot. Cover with tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes. Simmer on medium-low heat for approximately 3 hours until pot roast separates easily with a fork. Cook pasta according to package directions. Serve sauce over pasta, topped with Parmesan cheese.

I gave a cooking class to a bachelorette party this weekend, and I heard a concern from the young bride-to-be, that I hear often from people in my classes: “I know how to cook chicken, I’ve mastered ground beef. I want to start cooking other meats, but I don’t know what to buy or how to cook it.”

One of the cuts I discussed with her was Eye of Round. There are many reasons I love this cut and consider it a Smart Ingredient. It is reliable, it makes a beautiful roast, it is always a nice low-fat cut, it’s inexpensive, and it is versatile. A four pound roast typically costs me a little over $10, serves my family of 5 a Roast for one-night’s dinner, with enough leftover to make into Beef Stew. Last week’s post gave you the recipe for the stew using the leftover Round, and below I give you my favorite preparation for the Eye of Round roast. These recipes are part of the Cook Once… Eat Twice!, 40 Dinner Duos collection.

I alos included another great way to use this cut to make roast beef sandwiches in the crock pot. Perfect for football parties, tailgaiting, or just a great weeknight dinner. Sometimes all you need is one great cut of meat to achieve many different dinners.

Roast Eye of Round with Herbed Mustard Crust

Ingredients

• 1 eye of round roast, approximately 4 pounds
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons red wine
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & pepper
• ½ teaspoon tarragon
• ½ cup beef broth

Heat oven to 450°F (225°C). Line a roasting pan with foil; place roast, fat side up on a roasting rack in the pan. Add broth to the pan to keep juices from burning. Combine mustard, red wine, garlic, and seasonings. Rub roast all over with the mustard mixture. Put in the oven; reduce heat to 325°F (165°C). Roast for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer registers about 150° to 160°F (80 C) for rare to medium. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Eye of Round Roast Beef Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 pound Eye of Round
• 1 can Pepperoncini with juices
• 1 bottle or can of beer
• 1 can tomato paste
• rolls

Place first four ingredients in crock pot or slow cooker. Stir to blend. Simmer 6 – 8 hours until beef is falling apart. Serve on rolls with cheese if desired.

Last week when I was in Pennsylvania, the first thing I saw when I walked into a grocery store, was the preparations for Philly Cheese Steak. I had to laugh at the cliche, but also thought, boy does that look good! It was just cut up onions and peppers, in a cooler alongside some meat, which one might think is nothing special. What WAS special about it was the promise of a great dinner with less effort. Isn’t this what we are all hoping for… a little help with domestic duties? A little time saved? In other parts of the country, you may find already cut up stew meat and veggies around this time of year (see recipes for both below).

While it’s a huge favor to buy ingredients that are already precut for us, it is also important to remember to do this for ourselves. Even those of us who love to stand in the kitchen and prepare for hours don’t often have the time to do it. We all need to maximize our time and efforts. Do yourself the favor of preparing some of your dinner ingredients (chopping, dicing, mixing) while you’re cooking the breakfast, or have a bit of downtime during the day. You will be one step ahead of the game, and one step closer to dinner relief at “crunchtime”.

Philly Cheese Steak

Ingredients

• 20 oz. thin sliced rib eye or eye roll steak
• 6 tablespoons oil
• Cheese (in PA, I heard a lot of talk of using Cheez Whiz®… I recommend Provolone)
• 4 crusty Italian rolls
• 1 large onion, sliced
• sweet green and red peppers, sliced
• mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, and mix well. Cook on low setting for 2-3 hours. Discard bay leaves before serving.

* This recipe comes from the Cook Once…Eat Twice! method, and therefore, the beef is already cooked. If using raw meat, increase cooking time by one hour for doneness.