Whole foods are Nature's original "fast" foods and are great for busy people with odd schedules. By choosing whole foods, you'll eat more wholesome foods and less processed foods. You may also find making one change at a time a way to break old habits and create new ones, until you have your meal plans the way you want them. I have a general meal plan where the days can be used one for another, when necessary. If you don't have a "map", it's difficult to know where you are going. MONDAY: Big Meal - large cut of meat and all the fixin's. This ends up providing leftovers, sandwich meat, stir-fry ingredients, freezer foods to use another day. This may be a week-end meal for you. A good meal for the slow-cooker. TUESDAY: Leftovers - they may or may not take on the same form as they did on Monday. If you don't like "leftovers" try them on Wednesday. That extra day makes them nearly new instead of leftover. I prepare 5# of potatoes at a time into mashed potatoes and freeze them in dollops (food portion scoop or ice cream scoop). When frozen, I vacuum seal them in a FoodSaver Bag. Take out what you need and thaw in the refrigerator and reheat, or "nuke" them. WEDNESDAY: Stir-fry (add some brown rice - which can be made once and frozen, and fruit for dessert) This is a good way to use up veggies in the crisper drawer or frozen bags of stir-fry veggies - or a combination of the two. I usually prepare enough meat from this meal to use in a salad or on a wrap later in the week. THURSDAY: International - something as simple as a taco salad (and other simple South-of-the-Boarder favorites), Jamaican Steak, Chicken Teriyake, spaghetti, etc. Baked potatoes topped with chili (that you had in individual servings in the freezer), plus a tossed salad and some fruit. I portion all soup/stew/chili in small plastic containers. When they are frozen, I pop them out of the containers, stack them and vacuum-seal them in a FoodSaver. Take out the number of servings needed, re-seal the bag and toss it back into the freezer. Thaw the next days portions in the refrigerator overnight. I fix 5-pounds of hamburger with taco seasoning in it and freeze it in portion-size containers. You can use canned beans or prepare them in advance. Leftover beans will freeze well for use the next time. I do the same with meaty spaghetti sauce, which has a lot of uses. I make Hamburger Stroganoff and freeze the meat mixture and cook the pasta or rice, or use freezer rice or leftover from Stir-fry night. Take advantage of the salad bar at the grocery store for small amounts of fresh chopped veggies for things like stir-fry or pizza toppings. FRIDAY: Vegetarian (or Fish/Eggs/Cheese) I make up a large recipe of baked bean burgers and keep a stack in the freezer along with homemade burger buns. I prepare several cans of tuna into tuna patties and keep a stack of them in the freezer. Grilled fish. You can also enjoy "breakfast" type foods. SATURDAY: Soup and/or Sandwich SUNDAY: Homemade pizza, something on the grill, or a dinner salad topped with meat and/or beans. We nearly always have fruit for dessert. We follow the old Basic-4: Bread & Cereal - 4 servings Fruits & Vegetables - 4 (or more) servings Meat/Alternative - 2 servings Dairy - 2 servings -Grainlady

I haven't gotten into the freezing thing much (expect chili one time and I LOVED IT) but I have a menu for 1 cook day 2 staple ingredients 3 meals Staples: Shredded Chicken & Rice On prep night - boil chicken in water w/chicken broth, boullion cube or salt and cook a ton of rice, 5c+! shred chicken while hot and put the food away. If using black beans for fajitas, go ahead and soak them in water too! Meals - Chicken fried rice Chicken fajitas w/ black beans Mango chicken w/rice Dessert - Red Raspberry Sherbet Mango and Mandarin Chicken Fry frozen Mangos in some oil with lime/lemon juice and season with salt n pepper Add chicken and mandarin oranges once most of the water has evaporated and season again to taste (cajun seasoning is nice if on hand) heat rice *I add a bit of soy sauce to mine afterwards Chicken Fried Rice scramble egg(s) and fry in oil, set aside in a bowl saute green onion, fresh ginger or minced garlic, and 1c frozen peas, add to bowl that's set aside add more oil, salt and pepper chicken, 5c cold rice, add soy sauce, 1-2 tsp sesame oil, and 2-4 tsp rice wine. once combined well add bowl of other ingredients voila!! *rice has to be cold when added to the pan, light soy sauce needs extra salt & rice wine makes all the difference to make it taste like real fried rice. Try to add liquid seasonings to pan not directly on rice. (sesame oil and rice wine will run $2 each, but since so little is needed it will last forever! and since you only need like a tsp of ginger it won't cost much if you buy a tiny piece - ours was less than $.50, just use a fine grater to shred it, to store it put it in a glass of water in the fridge and change daily) Chicken Fajitas cook beans w/ lots of seasonings and just enough water to cover them heat fajitas shells in oven or prep for frying pan and warm up some rice season chicken, lime/lemon juice is nice, and fresh/frozen bell peppers Add cheese, rice, beans, chicken, salsa, lettuce, tomatos, sour cream... yum! *beans are done when cut in half and no white is showing and is tender of course Red Raspberry Sherbet Ingredients 2 cups low-fat milk 2 cups frozen raspberries or 1 (10-ounce) bag, thawed 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract sugar to taste Directions In a food processor/blender, combine milk, raspberries and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a shallow dish or bowl and cover with plastic. Freeze until firm. *got this recipe from Food Networks' Robin Miller - she has tons ideas for oawc!! So that's my menu for one week. I would love to hear your ideas also as I'm new to this and want some more recipes and menu plans to keep it going!! I hope your family enjoys this as much as we did!! (=

Local shelter for abused women ... for which building program my daughter helped raise money several years ago. Several agencies which help the disadvantaged, homeless. etc., locally, including Food Bank and Salvation Army, which provides services in distant places in Canada and internationally, as well. Agencies which work for national and international relief, medical, justice and various human rights issues, including Amnesty, Doctors Without Borders, CUSO (Canadian University Service Overseas), which began as an agency supporting univ. under/grads. doing educational, relief and justice issues abroad, mainly Africa, and which recently gets other, mainly gov't., support to multiply my contribution by about nine, as is true of Farm Radio International, working almost entirely in Africa. Mainly the gov't. support multiplies my one buck contribution to the Canadian Food Grins (keyboard error: that's "Grains") Bank to four, to further their service providing food aid in many countries. Some, mainly rural, congregations provide the production from one or a few acres of land to them each year: the local church which my grandfather attended prior to moving away in 1910 is one, which has a sign beside a local road indicating that service. The seminary and university from which I graduated, and some local libraries. For the non-church ones, I used to write a cheque to them individually, but in recent years have transferred some stocks which have appreciated in value to the local United Way, which transmits funds as I designate (for a modest fee: $12.00 each, in addition to the contribution to them) which allows me to avoid paying income tax on the capital gain. When one makes substantial levels of contribution, that tax saving can be substantial, making major reductions in income tax liability. Churches with current or earlier connection, and our national church's relief, development, justice, human rights and other services. These have been made, thus far, with tax-deductible contributions, but not part of the avoidance of capital gain tax regimen. It was experience and training gained there that had a great deal to do with the spirit behind supporting the other justice and humanitarian systems. ole joyfuelled

Lars' Algerian Chicken is easy, delicious and just as good cold or at room temperature as it is hot. It's good reheated or made into sandwiches or chicken salad too. I like it a lot. However, here in the sticks I can't often pick up the more unusual ingredients, and I never have fenugreek so I leave it out. You pretty much HAVE to have the sumac, though, so I got some from Penzey's and it lasts for several chickens. I don't always have whole chickens either, and I've just used chicken pieces successfully. And, of course, I never grill, so I do mine in the oven at 350F, works just fine although it would probably be much better on the grill. Algerian Roasted Chicken Lars--based on recipe by Chef Farid Zadi 1 whole chicken 4 cloves of garlic 1-1/2 tbsp Kosher salt 1 teaspoon of sumac 1/2 teaspoon of sesame seeds 1/2 tsp coriander seeds 1/2 tsp fenugreek 3/4 tsp cumin 3 tablespoons of butter, room temperature 1 tbsp minced Thai basil (or 1/2 tsp fennel) 2 lemons 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Freshly ground black pepper extra herbs, 1 tsp each minced fresh oregano and basil, optional 4-5 sprigs of thyme Start charcoal for outdoor barbeque, using large chunks of mesquite wood and charcoal. Place the chicken in a roasting pan with a rack. Slide your fingers under the breasts to separate the skin from the meat, turn the chicken over and do the same with the thighs. Mash the garlic with 1-1/2 tablespoons of salt in a mortar and pestle or finely chop the garlic and incorporate the salt into it with the side of your knife or back of a spoon. Add the sumac, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, and cumin and mix to pulverize the seeds. Add butter and basil and combine to mix. Tuck pieces of the butter into the "pockets" under the skin. Squeeze the juice of one lemon all over the chicken, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle freshly ground black pepper. Season the cavity with pepper, tuck in the lemon halves and more herbs into the cavity if desired. Place the chicken on the barbeque and cover, leaving vents fully open to maintain heat. Baste the chicken every 15 minutes alternating water and pan drippings. Midway through cooking turn the chicken 90 degrees. Continue frequent basting. The cooking time for a 3-1/2 pound bird is about 1-1/2 hours, depending on how hot your fire is. Cook to an internal temperature of 160°, measured in the thigh. Let rest covered about 30 minutes before carving. Squeeze fresh lemon juice into the roasting juices, and pour into a gravy boat. Add salt, if needed. Annie