Recipe(tried): Lynn...............

This is my 22nd year teaching, Lynn so I know what you're talking about! After a hard day at work, the last thing that you want to do is to come home and fix supper!

I cook a great deal on the weekends and freeze it. When I was newly married, 20 years ago, it seemed that I wanted to prepare a banquet every night for my new husband. That feeling lasted about 2 weeks--then reality set in! I had a crockpot that I used a great deal. It was great to come home to supper cooking! I always liked to cook and could cook before I got married. My mom taught me a great deal of what she knew and I cook like her. Unfortunately, it seems that my mother's cooking secrets will die with me! My sister HATES to cook, my niece calls me whenever she has to bake anything as simple as a ham, and my daughter has absolutely NO interest in cooking.

One thing to do is whenever you make casseroles is to make two and freeze one. I also do the same thing when I make spaghetti sauce, vegetable soup, chicken noodle soup, ham and cheese pie, lasagna, meatloaf, etc. I've found that the mess is just as large for one meal is it is for two!

I buy ground chuck, season it with the seasonings that we like best--chopped garlic, Heinz 57 sauce, salt, and pepper and make this into patties. I grill the patties on my Maverick Healthy Grill and freeze them. Whenever anyone wants a hamburger for supper or a quick lunch, the burgers are in the freezer. I just pop them on the grill until they are heated thoroughly. When I grill sirloin steak on the M.H.G., I make enough for two meals. One steak can be served with baked potatoes, salad, and bread. The other steak is cut into thin strips and made into fajitas, along with grilled onions and bell peppers.

Another quick meal is to fry, bake, grill, or broil skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Make enough for two meals. Serve some of the chicken breasts with your favorite side dishes. For the other chicken breasts, chop them and you can make chicken salad. Arrange lettuce, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, whatever you like on your salad, on a plate. Put the chopped chicken on the top and top with croutons and your favorite salad dressing. If you serve crackers and a dessert with the chicken salad you have a meal!

Boneless pork chops are great, too. Make enough for two meals and serve one portion with macaroni and cheese, fried apples, and steamed broccoli. Freeze the other portion and serve it later with some other favorite side dishes.

Turkey breasts are economical and delicious! I bake mine using a Reynolds Cooking Bag along with 1-2 sliced onions, an apple, a slice of lemon, chopped garlic, chopped celery, and 1/2 cup of wine. The flavor is wonderful and the turkey is so moist! After we have turkey with all of the fixings, I make turkey pot pie and turkey noodle soup.

Beef roasts and pork roasts can be done the same way! Verla posted a wonderful recipe for a beef or pork roast cooked in the crockpot. Put one roast into the Crockpot. Take 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 pkg. of dried onion soup mix, and one 12 oz. can of Coke, yes, COKE, and mix all of these ingredients together. Pour over the roast and cook for several hours. The gravy is delicious served over mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles. I've tried both the beef roast and the pork roast cooked this way and it is delicious!

One thing that has helped me is that I have a master grocery list. I usually try to go to the grocery store in a "big" way once a month. I do pick up fresh produce, milk, and bread weekly. It takes a while to type the grocery list, to shop once a month, and to put the groceries away, but you won't have to waste time by running to the store every day!

I hope that these suggestions help. If you'd like any recipes, just let me know.

Good luck and happy cooking!