Ok, tell me -- when do you cook? Right before dinner? Or do you cook ahead of time?
I've never figured out how to cook dinner right before we eat it -- unless it's the weekend.

Hi Nataly
I try to cook as often as I can. Because I work outside the home on MTW, I spend Sunday afternoon getting the dinners ready for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. For tomorrow's dinner, for example, right now there are 2 steaks in the fridge, 4 cleaned potatoes, sour cream, salad and green bean. Everything is on the same shelf in the fridge. So tomorrow, when hubby gets home, all he has to do is get everything off of that shelf and start cooking (he gets home about 45min earlier than I do).
Tomorrow night I'll get everything ready for Tuesday (ravioli, bread sticks, salad). Then the same thing for the next day- which I think will be soup and cobb salad.
I have to do this, otherwise we resort to fast food, or else I am scrambling to get dinner ready with 2 screaming hungry kids hanging on my leg!

I cook right before dinner almost every night. I don't think I'm organized enough to do it ahead of time. Sometimes it means that we eat a little later because I'm not sure what to fix, or if I've made a menu, I don't want to fix what's on it. We normally have a few really quick things on hand just in case I'm really tired at the end of the day...my husband doesn't really know how to cook (at least not for a vegetarian).

I need to start doing what Earthmama is doing, what a great idea! I start getting things ready to cook about an hour before my husband gets home from work. My boys have a big snack when they get home from school and lately my daughter (2.5) has wanted a bowl of cereal around 5:00. That tides everyone over until we eat at around 6:30.

Despite owning several Make-ahead-and-Freeze cookbooks, I never actually DO it! One of these days though.....

lol glad i am not alone in the 'would love to but never have planned and pre-cooked meals' group!! i always say it's a good idea, but like mamajama - 1/2 the time no longer want whatever it is that is planned for that night. or i end up coming home late so we arent eating together, or various other reasons... maybe one day