Remember when we had time to prepare multiple meals on weekends. Books focused on the wisdom of taking time over the weekend to get ahead for the busy workweek.

Now, many people's weekend calendars are as overscheduled as those they fill out for their jobs with nonstop errands, events and obligations. Having an entire weekend day to cook meal after meal for many seems like a nostalgic luxury — fast foods and prepared foods are the realities.

However, even if endless errands get in the way of hours of cooking, consider downsizing to preparing parts of multiple meals ahead, which will ensure homemade flavor throughout the week.

Manufacturers, who have test-marketed and market-researched us, are often the first to see the benefit of such strategies. Fortunately, we can use their findings to inspire our own homemade timesaving offshoots.

Sargento, for instance, has a new line of meal finishers, including Salad Finishers and Potato Finishers. They prepare all ahead — grilled chicken, dried cranberries, roasted pecans and a blend of mozzarella and asiago cheeses — so all you need to "finish" is lettuce and dressing for the salad. Choices like cheddar broccoli sauce, Monterey Jack cheese and bacon crumbles are ready to go in order to "finish" baked or other potatoes.

We can follow such leads to find parts of meals, which we can quickly complete in advance on weekends, that would keep on giving the gift of gourmet, homemade meals all week long.

This works well with virtually anything: salads, soups, side dishes, entrees and desserts.

Take a look at recipes you would like to try and decipher what ingredients you could quickly bag ahead on weekends; the final steps would just take minutes on work nights. A sauteed bell pepper and spinach dish from "Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden" by Jeanne Kelley (Running Press, $35) is a good example.

The spinach can be prewashed, red bell peppers presliced and raisins premeasured and sprinkled with fennel. When it comes time to cook, all that's left to do is saute peppers and raisin mixture in olive oil, spoon it over dressed spinach and serve warm or at room temperature. It can become an instant main dish if you toss in chopped store-bought rotisserie chicken or shrimp that's been precooked.

Go from time-strapped to downright indulgent when you extend this partial make-ahead strategy to dessert.

Recently, Fine Living TV network gave a good idea during their on-air, between-show timesavers. The website www.fineliving.com/smarttips also features many easy tips in the food and entertaining area of the Smart Tips section. For a dessert "salsa," chop, bag and refrigerate fresh pineapple in advance, as well as a separate bag of chopped chocolate, a teaspoon of sugar, chopped macadamia nuts and cashews, ground cinnamon and chopped fresh or ground ginger. During the week, sprinkle it on ice cream for a no-time luscious and elegant dessert.

Similarly, you can easily stir up this fresh grapefruit sauce on a weekend and then warm it just before serving. It can top anything from ice cream, cheesecake and granola to poultry, meat or fish.

PINK GRAPEFRUIT SAUCE

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 cup preferably fresh or store-bought (preferably pink) grapefruit juice

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

3 cups (preferably pink) grapefruit sections

For serving:

Sorbet

Cheesecake

Granola

Yields 5 servings.

To prepare ahead: Combine the 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch in small bowl, stirring well with whisk. Combine grapefruit juice, the 1/4 cup water, sugar and lemon juice in small saucepan; bring to simmer. Add cornstarch mixture to juice mixture and bring to boil. Cook 1 minute, or until thickened, stirring constantly. Let cool, cover tightly; refrigerate.

Bag and refrigerate grapefruit sections.

To finish dish: Bring grapefruit sections to room temperature. Reheat sauce over low heat on stovetop, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; gently stir in grapefruit sections. Cover and let stand for 2 minutes. Serve sauce warm over sorbet, sliced cheesecake or granola.

Variation: Also good as part of a main dish, spooned over meat, poultry or seafood.

— Adapted from "Cooking Light Complete Cookbook" (Oxmoor House, $34.95).

SAUTEED BELL PEPPERS AND GOLDEN RAISINS WITH BABY SPINACH

8 cups (about 6 ounces) baby spinach leaves

6 red bell peppers

2/3 cup golden raisins

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon, extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Yields 8 to 10 servings.

To prepare ahead: Wash baby spinach leaves; let dry. Bag and refrigerate. Wash and dry bell peppers. Cut into strips. Bag and refrigerate. Measure golden raisins, sprinkle with fennel seeds, double bag and store in pantry.

To finish dish: Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers; saute until slightly softened, about 7 minutes.

Add raisin-fennel seed mixture; cook until peppers are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, toss spinach with remaining olive oil and vinegar in large, shallow bowl. Season to taste with sea salt, and then spoon pepper-raisin mixture over spinach. Good served warm or at room temperature.

Variation: To turn into main course, toss in chopped store-bought rotisserie chicken or shrimp that's been precooked.

— Adapted from "Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden" by Jeanne Kelley (Running Press, $35).

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "Cooks' Books" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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