Recipes and Meal Plans for Smaller Households

For most of my adult life, I cooked for a family of four.

I knew how many chicken breasts to buy, how much pasta to boil, and exactly how much food it took to feed my husband and two growing boys.

Then those boys grew up.

Suddenly, most nights it was just Ken and me at the table, and somehow cooking dinner got...weird.

I was still shopping and cooking like there were four of us. We'd eat dinner, put the leftovers in the refrigerator, and a few days later I'd find myself throwing away food we never got around to eating.

And don't even get me started on the half-used ingredients.

A bunch of parsley for one recipe. Half a bag of spinach for another. A container of sour cream I bought because I needed two tablespoons.

By the end of the week, cleaning out the refrigerator felt like throwing grocery money directly into the trash.

That's how Two at the Table started.

Not because I stopped loving to cook. I just needed to learn how to cook differently.

Cooking for Two Is More Than Cutting a Recipe in Half

I've learned that cooking for two isn't necessarily easier than cooking for a family.

Sure, you're feeding fewer people. But most recipes and grocery store packages aren't designed around a two-person household.

And there's another problem nobody solves by simply cutting a recipe in half:

You still have to decide what you're making tomorrow.

That's why I started approaching dinner differently.

Instead of planning one recipe at a time, I started looking at the entire week.

If I'm buying spinach for Monday's dinner, where else can I use it?

If a recipe only needs half an onion, what's happening to the other half?

Can I buy one package of chicken and use it for two completely different meals without feeling like we're eating the same dinner twice?

That became the idea behind Two at the Table:

Cook for two. Shop for the week. Use what you buy.

Recipes for Two

Sometimes you don't need a meal plan. You just need something good to make for dinner tonight.

That's why I've also been building a collection of recipes specifically designed for two people.

These aren't giant family recipes with instructions telling you to "freeze the leftovers." They're dinners I actually make now that most nights it's just the two of us.

You'll find quick weeknight dinners, comfort food, soups, pasta, chicken, seafood, and plenty of recipes that still feel worth cooking even when there are only two plates on the table.

Want Me to Plan the Whole Week?

This is where Two at the Table really comes in handy.

Instead of choosing five completely unrelated recipes and buying a grocery cart full of ingredients, I create five dinners that intentionally share ingredients.

Not five versions of the same meal.

Five completely different dinners that just happen to make smart use of what you've already bought.

My complete Two at the Table collection includes:

• 12 weekly dinner menus
• 60 dinners designed for two
• Five dinners in every menu
• Overlapping ingredients to help reduce waste
• A grocery list for every menu
• Recipes and instructions all in one place
• Lifetime access

You can choose a menu, grab the grocery list, go shopping, and stop wondering what you're going to make every night that week.

GET THE COMPLETE TWO AT THE TABLE COLLECTION

Not Sure Yet? Start With a Free Menu

If you're new to Two at the Table, you don't have to buy anything to see how it works.

I've put together a free Two at the Table sample menu with five dinners for two and the grocery list to go with them.

It's the easiest way to try the system in your own kitchen and see whether planning dinner this way works for you.

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A Note From My Kitchen

There's still plenty of family-style cooking happening around here.

When the boys are home, I'm right back to pulling out the big pans and cooking enough food to feed everybody. I don't think that part of me is ever going away.

But most weeknights, it's just Ken and me.

And I've realized this season deserves good food, too.

I don't want dinner for two to mean frozen meals, eating leftovers four nights in a row, or deciding that cooking isn't worth the trouble anymore.

I still want to try new recipes. I still want to sit down to something we're excited to eat. I just want to buy what we need, use what we buy, and make deciding what's for dinner a little easier.

That's what Two at the Table is really about.

I'm glad you're here.

~ Holly ❤️