Growing up in my family, the weeknight dinner time was sacred. At 6:15 p.m. every night the four of us (and our West Highland Terrier) sat down to a home cooked meal tag-teamed by my parents.

The fact that Monday through Thursday (Friday was pizza night) to a dinner complete with meat, starch, veggie, bread and salad boggles my mind as a wife and mother. Both my parents worked full-time and this daily feat was made possible by Mom's ability to plan ahead and keep the deep freezer well stocked and the fact that Dad worked in town and could pick up any fixings we were missing for supper quickly and easily on his way home. My mom is also one of those great cooks who can open her pantry and just whip up a four-course meal in 30 minutes.  

Unfortunately this ability to "plan ahead" was not inherited (neither was the ability to make tasty meal from the pantry that wasn't jarred sauce and noodles). It has taken me almost three years of marriage and returning to work after a maternity leave to figure out how to avoid eating takeout four of five nights a week.

This all changed two weeks ago as I was trolling through the Target aisles when I spotted the book Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller.At first I didn't pick it up thinking, "Yeah, like I need another cookbook claiming to help me get meals on the table fast." I already own two Rachel Ray books which haven't helped solve this problem. The recipes are OK, but the meals require some plan-ahead time as my kitchen is never stocked with all the necessary ingredients to any of her recipes.

When on maternity leave I caught Miller's show on the Food Network and liked her concept of cooking double batches (eat one now, freeze one for later) and "morphing" what you cooked on Sunday into a completely different meal on Wednesday. That seemed like something I could do. Also, her ingredients were similar to what I already had in the house so it wasn't a stretch for me to make her recipes. In addition to focusing on the two methods mentioned above, the cookbook also includes an entire section of recipes you can make with items found in your fridge and pantry. Miller also makes a point to say if you don't have an item in the recipe just omit it or substitute something else for it (just like my mom would instruct).

I eventually did pick up Quick Fix Meals and it has already paid for the $12 I spent on it in two delicious (and healthy) meals we ate this week along with a freezer stocked with three meals for the future. I spent a good part of Saturday reading through the cookbook (of course I was multi-tasking while watching Ocean's 13) and flagging recipes to try this week. I did take a good 15 minutes to write out a complete shopping list including some items from her "pantry must-haves" list and then hit the grocery store for some serious shopping (sans child thankfully).

Sunday we enjoyed the Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Garlic-Scented Pita Chips (I now have 2 large containers of it in the deep freeze). On Monday we sampled the Apricot-Jalepeno Chicken with Sesame Noodles and an Asian Carrot Salad on the side (again, I now have another full meal of this in the freezer). Tonight we're having the Wild Mushroom Tart with either a Carrot Rosemary Salad or a Spinach Blue Cheese Salad with Maple Dressing (oh, that's a Rachel Ray recipe).

There are enough recipes for us to keep going through the book for a while and I do enjoy that Miller's recipes also focus on nutrition using whole grains, limited oils and fats and low-sodium products. I am also quite pleased to have had "two hits" in a row after a few major slow cooker disasters I had tried before the holidays (I had NEVER seen chicken that black before).

In addition to picking up the book I suggest you also get yourself a deep freezer (Craigslist is a good place to find one) -- you'll need all the room for stocking up!