"Fast" Food

I've recently rediscovered the magic of the make ahead split 'em and freeze 'em meal. Martha Stewart Everyday Food has some really good recipes for this. Tonight I made the Mediterranean Tuna Noodle Casserole- the idea is that you make a big portion, cook one casserole tonight and freeze one 8X8 for down the road. I've started looking more closely, and many of her recipes are like this. I'm going to try the Vegetable Enchiladas next. My only problem before is that I only have one 8X8 pan, and go crazy when it's stuck in my freezer. The new solution is Glad Ovenware. Just make sure you preheat the oven before using the plastic ovenware, otherwise it can melt during the high heat that your oven uses to come up to temperature.
Its also good for sending casseroles to new moms etc. I'm sure someone will let me know that it produces some horrible chemicals when cooking, but can't be worse than the stuff that Long John Silver puts in their food, which we (very rarely) go get if I don't feel like cooking

Last night I made the Shepherds Pie from Everyday Food, which Jackson went crazy for- after piling on the ketchup. This one doesn't recommend how to freeze it, but it can be made the day before and put in the fridge. I cheated a little, and used some frozen mashed potatoes they had a Trader Joe's (they were delicious by the way, even if they had a few ingredients that were a little more chemical, i.e. "butter flavor" then I would normally put in my food.) Martin was impressed by the way I used a fork to decorate the top of the mashed potatoes as recommended in the recipe-is he easy to please, or what?

In a future post I'll give my secret to serving, but not cooking, hot breakfast every morning.