Brainwave: technology + food = good?

I was just reading Emma's most recent blog post talking about the recent bit of batch cooking she did/is doing. I made the comment that the last time I tried to make and freeze extra portions, I think I did it wrong because the stuff wasn't so tasty when reheated. Then I went off on a tangent complaining about how I have so much homework to do that it's a pain when it's time for me to go make dinner ('cuz I can't make Martin cook every day). I remembered, though, that if I started using my slow cooker more I could have food ready and waiting when I got home...there would still be some preparation required, but it would free up more of my evenings for schoolwork. The reason I haven't generally been using my slow cooker though is the amount of time that I'm out is generally longer than the recommended cooking time for slow cooker recipes. There are some things you can leave cooking in the slow cooker for hours longer than recommended and they turn out fine, but not everything is like that. Okay, so here is my idea: what if I prepared my slow cooker like usual in the morning, then hooked it up to a timer? I could have it start at a specified time, allowing it to cook for not too much longer than the recommended time and be assured that the food will be ready at whatever time I decided dinner would be (which is generally pretty arbitrary around here, partly due to both of us putting off doing the cooking because we're "busy" with other things, whether it's my schoolwork or Martin's doing a computer game quest with a group of his friends). This could mean ingredients that are normally refrigerated could be sitting out in the slow cooker for a few hours before it turned on, but that probably wouldn't be a big deal. Of course, the other way I could stop having to deal with preparing dinner on a daily basis would be to learn how to freeze stuff properly and do batch cooking like Emma, but that requires more research than I really care to do for now (school is piling on enough readings and assignments for now, thank you very much).

Okay, I'm off to do more productive things now, but I had to tell someone about my brainwave before I forget :). We'll see if anything comes of it.