With weeknight dinners, the path from fridge to stove to table takes many detours. When your after-work job--as Mom--ranges from trigonometry tutor to marching-band-instrument finder, you need family recipes that are flexible and undemanding.

You can stress or you can strategize. The second option has a much happier ending. Take healthful ingredients, add easy ideas, and build in flavor choices for finicky eaters. Now mealtime becomes manageable, and your kids arrive to 6:30 p.m. choir practice well-fed, happy, and on time.

Our form of fast food doesn't mean unhealthy. We've held down the fats and focused on pumping up the nutrition with vegetables and other goodies.

Keeping the cost down was easy: Everyday staples are used in new ways instead of fancy cuts and expensive add-ons. And, if you don't get to the meal on the night you planned, the ingredients we recommend will be fine in the refrigerator for a few extra days.

Each of these quick-to-serve menus is a complete, hearty meal for four.

20 MINUTES

$13 TOTAL COST

No-Bake Tuna Noodle Casserole

Take advantage of the amazing array of flavored cheeses that melt into a creamy sauce when stirred into pasta.

SHOPPING LIST

Dried wagon-wheel pasta Cucumber-dill light semisoft cheese Solid white tuna in water

FROM THE PANTRY

Milk

No-Bake Tuna Noodle Casserole

Peas are the traditional side dish with this favorite. Try them in
the form of this fresh-tasting pea salad: While the pasta cooks
in a bowl toss together one cup of thawed frozen white whole
kernel (shoe peg) corn, one cup of thawed frozen baby peas
a chopped stalk of celery, and one-half of a chopped red sweet
pepper. Toss with two tablespoons of vinegar, a teaspoon of
brown sugar, and a dash of red pepper flakes. You're finished.

START TO FINISH: 20 MINUTES

8 oz. dried wagon wheel macaroni or medium
  shell macaroni
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
1 6 1/2-oz. container light semisoft cheese with
  cucumber and dill or garlic and herb
1 12 1/4-oz. can solid white tuna (water pack),
  drained and broken into chunks

1. Cook pasta in lightly salted water, according to package
directions. Drain and return to pan.

2. To the pasta add 1/4 cup of the milk and the cheese. Cook and
stir over medium heat until cheese is melted and pasta is coated,
adding additional milk as needed to make of creamy consistency.
Gently fold in tuna; heat through. Hakes 4 servings.

EACH SERVING: 417 cal., 10 g total fat (7 g sat. fat), 66 mg chol.,
552 mg sodium, 45 g carbo., 2 g fiber, 33 g pro. Daily Values:
2% vit. A, 7% calcium, 20% iron.

50 MINUTES

$13 TOTAL COST

Pork Tenderloin with Carrots and Fries

The oven cooking bag is a kitchen tool that's underused. It keeps the pork moist, while the carrots cook to an ideal state of tenderness.

SHOPPING LIST

Pork tenderloin Crinkle-cut fresh carrots Maple syrup Frozen french-fried waffle-cut potatoes

FROM THE PANTRY

Rosemary Black Pepper

Pork Tenderloin with Carrots and Fries
Find oven cooking bags in the paper products section of your
supermarket; find precut vegetables in the produce section.

PREP: 15 MINUTES ROAST: 35 MINUTES OVEN: 425[degrees]F

1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 3/4- to 1-lb. pork tenderloin
1 16-oz, pkg. crinkle-cut sliced fresh carrots
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed

By combining the bagged tenderloin and the carrots on the
baking sheet with the fries, dinner is prepared in just one pan.

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 of a 22-oz. pkg. (about 4 cups) frozen
    french-fried waffle-cut potatoes or frozen
    french fries

Salt and ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425[degrees]F. Shake flour in a large oven
cooking bag. Place tenderloin and carrots in bag. In a small
bowl combine maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of the oil, 1 teaspoon
of the dried rosemary, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pour into oven
bag; close bag using ties provided. Turn bag to coat meat and
carrots with maple mixture. Place filled bag on one end of a
large shallow roasting pan. Cut six 1/2-inch slits in top of bag.

2. in a medium bowl toss potatoes with remaining 2 tablespoons
olive oil and 1 teaspoon rosemary. Transfer to roasting pan next
to cooking bag.

3. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes or until a thermometer
inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 155[degrees]F
and potatoes are browned and crisp. Carefully, remove meat
and carrots from oven bag. Cover meat and carrots with foil
and let stand 10 minutes before serving. Season to taste with
salt and pepper. Makes 4 servings.

EACH SERVING. 488 cal., 22 g total fat (4 g sat. fat), 50 mg chol.,
97 mg sodium, 54 g carbo., 6 g fiber, 20 g pro. Daily Values:
575% vit. A, 27% vit. C, 7% calcium, 17% iron.

40 MINUTES

$12 TOTAL COST

Veggie Jumble Stew

Dinner is quicker and the flavors deeper when you build the dish, layer by layer, all in one pot. Serve the stew over planks of toasty, thick-sliced bread to soak up the savory broth.

SHOPPING LIST

New potatoes Brussels sprouts Baby carrots Frozen pearl onions Celery Garlic Apple cider White bread White cheddar cheese

FROM THE PANTRY Olive oil Flour

Veggie Jumble Stew

Mix and match the vegetables you and your family like. Keep
vegetables small--about thumb size--so that they all reach
perfect doneness at the same time. The recipe has been
tested both with frozen and fresh vegetables; it's delicious either
way. Using fresh, however, adds to the preparation time.

PREP: 20 MINUTES COOK: 20 MINUTES

2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. new potatoes (halve any large potatoes)
1 1/2 cups packaged peeled baby carrots or
      3 parsnips, cut into 11/2-inch pieces
8 oz. small brussels sprouts (halve any large
  sprouts), or one 9-oz. pkg. frozen whole
  green beans
1 cup frozen pearl onions or purple boiling onions
2 stalks celery, cut into 11/2-inch pieces (1 cup)
1 1/2 tsp. bottled minced garlic or 3 cloves garlic, minced
    1 14-oz. can vegetable broth of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups apple cider
    1 loaf of unsliced white bread or 6 slices bread
4 oz. thinly sliced white cheddar cheese or Swiss cheese
Fresh apple wedges

1. In a 4-quart Dutch oven or large pot heat oil over medium
heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Add potatoes, carrots, brussels sprouts, onions, celery, and
garlic. Cook and stir for 5 minutes more.

2. Stir in broth and cider. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer,
uncovered, about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

3. Meanwhile, cut 6 thick slices lengthwise from loaf of bread
(see photo, below). If desired, toast bread and halve slices.

4. To serve, place bread on six individual plates. Divide stew
among plates, pouring over bread. Top with cheese. Serve with
fresh apple wedges. Hakes 6 servings.

EACH SERVING: 461 cal., 12 g total fat (4 g sat. fat), 16 mg chol.,
818 mg sodium, 72 g carbo., 7 g fiber, 15 g pro. Daily Values:
205% vit. A, 77% vit. C, 25% calcium, 27% iron.

30 MINUTES

$13 TOTAL COST

Turkey Dinner Burgers

This burger couldn't be any meatier, but there's some subtlety here that elevates it to dinner-worthy: a peppery, sweet glaze; a switch to poultry; and that bun! It's a potato roll that brings its own kind of hearty style to an old friend.

SHOPPING LIST

Lean ground turkey or chicken Breadcrumbs Jalapeno jelly Shredded red cabbage Red onion Potato rolls

FROM THE PANTRY

Olive oil Egg