Putting a home-cooked meal on the table never gets stale.

So you got your Fresh Direct, your Peapod, your Munchery. You Sun Basket, your Hello Fresh and your Blue Apron. And how did any of us ever even survive before Grubhub, Seamless (aren't they the same thing?) and UberEats. Of course, you can always walk in and take out. That also works. (Apologies to the many food delivery options I might have missed.)

Each of these are designed to aid the ever-increasing number among us who are too time crunched to leisurely peruse the food aisles of a Fairway or local farmers market, for whom shopping, cooking and getting a decent homemade meal on the table – especially on a weeknight – is just all too much.

As a food stylist I’m fortunate that my career not only allows, but requires, that I haunt the grocery aisles in search of inspiration and seasonal freshness. (Though I often have to remind myself that I’m the exception.)

Recently, I had the pleasure of styling a cookbook that hit booksellers earlier this fall: From Freezer to Table, by Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer. It brings back the old-fashioned concept of cooking, when you have the time, freezing it for later, coming home, heating it up and – voila! – bringing to the table the home-cooked meal you and your family deserve. There are lots of good reasons for adopting this prepare-in-advance method versus another night of take-out: it’s healthier, it’s ultimately cheaper, and it makes you happy.

Real food made from scratch – when the time is right, even if all the ingredients are delivered to your door in a nifty, temperature-controlled box. Who cares how it arrives; it’s what you do with it that counts – freeze it for meals to come or eat it now!

Here are some of my favorite shots from the book. Photos: Mitch Mandel. Props: Stephanie Hanes.