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A home cooked meal after a long, stressful day at work is fantastic, but coming home to cook that meal after that long, stressful day is, well, not so great. An easy way to cut the stress out of workweek meal preparation is to cook in quantity on the weekends and freeze the leftovers in meal-size portions. If you are picturing yourself slaving over a hot stove all weekend just so your family can eat well during the week, forget it. It doesn't have to be that complicated.

The key to success without stress when it comes to make-ahead meals is to think in terms of one pot meals and sauces on Saturdays and Sundays. After a few weekends of this, the freezer will be well stocked with very little effort on your part. A crockpot is a lifesaver when it comes to make-ahead meals. For instance, my Italian husband makes killer spaghetti sauce in a crockpot. We own two large ones, so whenever he makes it, he makes a double huge batch and ladles it all into freezer containers. Some of my favorite one-pot freezable meals are beef stew, chili, hearty soups of all kinds, and even pot roast and gravy, which can be sliced and frozen to serve with a vegetable over instant mashed potatoes.

Certain staples are good to keep on hand at all times when you may want to eat out of your freezer. These include pastas, instant mashed potatoes, freezer garlic bread and rolls, frozen raviolis and tortellinis, microwavable vegetables, cornbread mix or cornmeal, shredded and sliced colby-jack cheese, and corn chips. The great thing about freezing chili is that you can make so many different meals out of it-nachos, chili casserole with cornbread topping, chili over rice, lots of good stuff. If you have a family member with a flair for making it, all the better.

Whenever I roast a chicken or turkey I boil the carcass down, throw out the bones and skin after boiling, and freeze the broth. Then, on a cold day, I thaw in the microwave, throw a half-pound of kluski noodles and some frozen peas in a pan with the thawed broth, and in twenty minutes I have homemade chicken and noodles. This is good with some refrigerator biscuits and jam that can bake while the noodles are cooking.

Some desserts freeze up well too. We especially like to freeze bread pudding. Cupcakes and cookies freeze well, and all manner of fresh fruits in season mashed with a little lemon juice and sugar freeze well too. Thaw the fruit and ladle it over a biscuit with some whipped cream for instant shortcake no matter what the season.

Cooking can be fun, and weekday meals don't have to be hasty take out affairs. All it takes is a big pot, a crockpot, a little planning, and friends and family who like to eat well. Try it for one month and you may never hit a drive through again.

Learn more about this author, Pamela Grundy.
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