Now that the fall and school year are in full swing, time seems to contract – especially on weekday evenings. Intellectually, I know there are 24 hours in every day, but sometimes it sure doesn't feel like it! One way to free up some precious evening time is to do some plan ahead cooking (and, no, that doesn't mean planning ahead to pick up takeout on the way home from work – though sometimes that's a necessity).

There are lots of ways to do plan ahead cooking but they all start with one key ingredient: a plan. Having a menu for the week makes all the difference. It allows you to make sure that you pick up all the ingredients you need in one (not four) trips to the grocery store. It means you don't waste time trying to decide what to make. It means you can gang together the cokoing of certain dishes and plan wisely for leftovers. The 30 minutes you'll spend on a weekly menu will come back to you threefold.

Once you have your menu and have done your shopping, you have several options for the actual cooking:

• Some people do a big burst of cooking on the weekend and store things in the fridge or freezer for a quick weeknight heat up. I have to admit that this isn't my favorite because i want to spend my weekends out and about, doing things I enjoy. Indoor cooking is a great option when it's cold and rainy outside, but not on crisp, clear falls days!
• Use a slow cooker. There is no rule that says you can't use the slow cooker to whip up some chili or some short ribs or a braised roast or a chicken pot pie base while you are at work – even if a different dinner is planned for that evening. When you get home, you can put whatever you've cooked in the fridge and heat it up another day. (Anyway, chili taste so much better when it's had a day or two to sit. Same with beef stew.)
• Cook once and use twice. Roast two chickens instead of one. Roast double the vegetables. make a roast twice the size you need in the slow cooker. Etc. Use the extra for the next meal — a soup or stew, enchiladas, soft tacos, a stir fry, filling for an omelette or frittata. A very small amount of extra work today means much less work tomorrow

What are your favorite cook-ahead tips?