Cooking at the end of the day may be the last thing you want to do. Between work, school, community activities and all of the other demands on your time, you just want to relax. Yet, you have a hungry family to feed.

Making sure all family members are getting the right foods in the right amounts takes some planning. Since every family member has different tastes and wants, all of them need to be a part of the planning process.

If you have children who do not want to eat school lunches, then carried lunches need to be planned. Even though fast food may seem like the best option for adults, money and calories can be saved with carried lunches. Taking the number of people in the family who want to carry their lunches five times per week is a lot of meals. It can seem especially overwhelming when you are trying to plan nutritious evening meals as well.

For efficiency, make a written plan. Set up a grid with the days of the week across the top and the names of each individual needing a lunch down the left side. Add a row for dinner at the bottom of the left side. Next, fill in the boxes with the "menu" for each meal, making sure to choose foods from all of the foods in MyPyramid. (www.mypyramid.gov).

Typically, lunch will be some type of sandwich, fresh vegetables, fruit, yogurt and a beverage. If the person carrying the lunch has access to a microwave and can reheat items, leftovers from the night before may be a good choice.

The dinner menu that all family members will eat should include food from the grains, vegetable, fruit, protein and dairy groups. For example, whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce, fresh lettuce salad, garlic bread, watermelon chunks and milk would include all of these groups.

After you have filled out the grid for all family members and dinner meals, make a shopping list. To save time and effort, think about how the grocery store is organized, and make your shopping list match that store layout.

Check your pantry to see what items you have on hand. If any menu items will be made from scratch, check the recipes to see what you need to buy. Try to limit high-cost items on the list such as frozen meals, sugary beverages and foods that are not in season. Leave room to make changes if something your family likes in on special that week.

Another way to help your family eat nutritiously during the busy week days is to do much of the food preparation on the weekend. When you have a menu, recipes and the shopping done, set aside some time on the weekend and ask all family members to pitch in.

Carried sandwiches for the week can be made on the weekend and frozen. Just remember to leave fresh vegetables like lettuce and tomatoes off as well as condiments such as mayonnaise. Those can be carried separately and put on at meal time. If canned fruit is used, buy reusable containers and portion out the fruit on the weekend. Keep these individual portions refrigerated until you pack the lunch.

For the evening meals that are planned ahead, main dishes can be at least partially prepared ahead of time. If several dishes call for cooked ground beef, you can cook it all ahead and portion it out to recipe-sized amounts and freeze it. Tacos, chili and spaghetti sauce are some examples of foods that require cooked ground beef. To take it a step further, go ahead and make up these foods and freeze them so that all you need to do is thaw them all day in the refrigerator and heat them at mealtime.

Find ways to make food preparation faster. If you are making meatloaf, instead of making one big loaf that will take over an hour to cook, make individual meatloaves in muffin tins. These single servings are just the right size and leftovers can be frozen for later use. Some electric appliances can also save time — the electric grills that are on the market can be faster than heating up the outside grill. Don't forget that you can also grill vegetables!

November is here and December is right around the corner. These are both busy months with all the extra school activities, as well as the holiday preparations. Here is a quick recipe to make on a busy night.

Gringo Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 cup chicken, cooked and diced

1 jar Gringo Black Bean & Corn Salsa

1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed

2—15 oz. cans of chicken broth

1—15 oz. can corn, drained

Stir broth, chicken, salsa and corn together in large saucepan. Add Velveeta cheese—stir and simmer until cheese melts. Serve with crunched tortilla chips and top with sour cream. Variation: add cooked rice. Serves 6. Nutritional Analysis Per Serving: Calories—410, fat grams—20, Sodium-2460 mg, Carbohydrates—27 grams, Dietary Fiber—2 grams. Note: eliminate some fat and calories by substituting low-fat versions of Velveeta, chicken broth, tortilla chips and sour cream.

Recipe Source: Nancy Briggs, University of Illinois Extension, Family Nutrition Program Coordinator