If anyone had an excuse to order takeout every night, it would be Giada De Laurentiis. Because in addition to starring in TV shows on Food Network (including Giada in Italy), she has written eight cookbooks (the latest is Happy Cooking) and a book series for kids (including, most recently, Recipe for Adventure: Philadelphia!), and she has an eponymous restaurant in Las Vegas. So if this single working mom can still find the time to cook for herself and her daughter, Jade, 8? Then, heck, we can cook at home, too. The key, says the 46-year-old, is pre-prepping parts of your weekly meals, since—hello!—”food doesn’t rot overnight!” That’s why Giada relies on a mix-and-match approach to weekly cooking that saves time, effort, and money. “Planning your meals is not that hard,” she assures us. To help us master the habit, the Italian-born, California-bred chef has created a 30-Day No Takeout Challenge exclusively with Health. It draws on her own food philosophy, culinary-school shortcuts, and what she thinks both Americans and Italians get right about food.