When you don't feel like cooking

[freeazabird]

When you don't feel like cooking, what are some of your healthy go to options? I waste way too much money on Doordash!

[chemistk]

Leftovers.

If I somehow don't have any leftovers, I always keep a few cans of decent soup around for a quick dish.

If we don't have those, PBJ or Ham+Cheese sandwiches plus some carrots or an apple usually will work. Or, carrots, peanuts, and some crackers if I don't want to prepare anything.

[Omy]

I can make a meal out of some combination of cheese, nuts, veggies, yogurt, guacamole, hardboiled eggs, canned tuna, and cottage cheese.

[Metalcat]

Well, I bulk cook for the week, so I always have pre-portioned meals in the fridge ready to reheat.

My other easy go-to meal is fresh chopped veggies, hummus, hard boiled eggs, and a piece of toast and cheese if I have it. I always keep hard boiled eggs and hummus made in the fridge, and always have peppers, cucumbers, and baby carrots on hand since I eat a ton of raw veggies.

DH's lazy go-to meals, which take about 10-15 minutes:
-Frozen fish fillets from Costco: defrosting takes a few minutes under the tap, sprinkle with salmon spice and olive oil, broil for 8 minutes. He serves it with a side of whatever he feels like making. Sometimes instant pot brown rice and beans.
-He buys this really good Tom Yum broth, throws in Costco chicken and cilantro won tons, some egg noodles, baby spinach, and a soft boiled egg

There are so many easy convenient meals you can make. Especially if you buy a few premade/ultra processed items like DH uses. It will still be infinitely cheaper and likely healthier than take out.

Just get a couple easy go-to meals that take minimal preparation under your belt and keep the basics you need for them on hand.

[StarBright]

I like something that is like a really big snack:

• A cup of yogurt, a piece of fruit, a piece of toast w/ butter
• an apple, a couple ounces of cheese and crackers or toast
• carrot sticks, hummus, a pita, and grapes
• Good bread w tomatoes and mozzarella popped under the broiler

Does heating count as cooking?
I love janky chilaquiles when I don't want to prepare a meal. I dump some salsa or enchilada sauce in a pan on the stove. Once it is hot I dump some tortilla chips in and then I crack an egg on top. I sprinkle it with some cheese if I'm feeling fancy.

[HipGnosis]

Chicken nuggets or fish sticks and frozen vegetables.
I make my own nugget dip with things like bbq sauce, hot sauce, cheese dip/sauce, honey mustard, balsamic dressing.
I make my own version of tarter sauce.
Butter, honey-mustard and/or hot sauce for the vegs.

[Zikoris]

Sorry in advance for being the thread meanie, but part of being an adult is doing necessary stuff you don't feel like doing. You can do some things to make it easier, like bulk weekend cooking or whatnot, but ultimately sometimes you just need to suck it up.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Things we keep on hand for days like this:

-Trader Joes orange chicken & veggie fried rice
-Wings (Costco sells some that are delicious & already seasoned)
-Gyozas (Costco)
-Frozen pizza
-Egg sandwich (you can make one in 5 minutes or less)
-Quesadillas
-Pasta with olive oil & grated cheese & some seasoning

We also have tons of frozen meal (previously homemade) options in the freezer. When I see our stash is running down, I meal prep over a weekend, & fill the freezer again.

[sisto]

We try to keep a few things on hand for this. Sometimes you just want something fast or need something fast because of a time crunch.

Frozen cauliflower crust pizza from Costco
Prepared meal from Costco like Kevin's or some Indian food. We usually keep some frozen bags of cauliflower rice on hand as well and put the premade food over it. That way you are still semi healthy eating.
I also try to keep some sort of meat on hand in the freezer that's already cooked or some soup that I freeze. Usually fast to thaw out and we always have fresh veggies to go with.
When I BBQ or smoke meat, I will make extra. Like buy in bulk on sale at Costco. Takes same effort to make 1 or a grill full. Usually pull some a bit early so when it's reheated it doesn't get overcooked. Use a sealer to package it and write on it with a sharpie.
This idea also works well with batches of chili or spaghetti too. Instead of sealing in a bag, I use good quality storage containers.

[Scandium]

I guess anything dry that keeps in the pantry for a long time would qualify? Pasta, some frozen italian sausage. Barely counts as cooking..

If you must get takeout; first don't do doordash, since they add on to the price. At least go get the food yourself!
Cava is reasonably healthy, but not particularly cheap. Two people can share a bowl.
Poke bowls can be healthy. Pricey, but not the worst..
Chinese food can be reasonable (for takeout), though not always healthy. Again, two can share one dish+rice, or leftover the next day.

[Fomerly known as something]

Trader Joe’s freezer aisle.  Lots of meals that “cook” in less than 10 minutes in a skillet for less than a door dash meal.  Breakfast for dinner.  Toast plus scrambled eggs with either veggies or even chips.

[uniwelder]

My go to has always been frozen ravioli and pasta sauce.

[ATtiny85]

Pull something from the freezer, stockpiled during those time when we felt like cooking. I'd guess we have at least ten dinners in there at any given time.

Sort of like dealing with a market crash, take care of it in advance.

[JupiterGreen]

Pretty much what everyone else has said, have options ready in the freezer because this happens to all of us. Aside from that, I'm also fond of my rice cooker because it's easy to load up then just come back in 30 minutes and pair it with whatever you have on hands, beans, veggies etc. And this might seem like a lot of prep, but I'm also partial to salads, I usually top with nuts, black beans or grilled tofu (I make in advance), it's lovely and healthy. You can also do lazy nachos, tortilla chips (or something like doritos) topped with cheese and melt in the microwave, add salsa and whatever else you have on hand-delicious junk food that can have some healthier components depending on the toppings you add.

[Catbert]

This really depends on what you *always* have around.  If you have eggs, pasta and/or broth around along with a few random veggies or cheese I could make you any number of quick and easy meals.

[freeazabird]

Thanks everyone. I'm curious for those who freeze meals, what type of meals freeze well? Anything you realized you should stay away from freezing?

[FireLane]

My quick, low-effort meals for when I don't feel like cooking:

Oatmeal - rolled oats, brown sugar, milk or water, sprinkle of cinnamon, microwave for 2 minutes, add any fruit or nuts on hand
Tuna melt - can of tuna, mayo, salt and pepper, slice of cheese on a toasted English muffin, add dill pickles if available
Grilled cheese - melt cheese on toast, with sliced tomato if available
Peanut butter and jelly on rice cakes
Scrambled eggs with shredded cheese and any veggies I have in the fridge
Ramen noodles or instant chicken noodle soup - ready after 3-5 minutes of boiling on the stovetop, optionally toss in chopped broccoli
Rice and beans - I use Goya's yellow rice packets, which cook in 25 minutes, and toss in salsa or chopped cucumber
Boxed mac and cheese - I usually add a can of sweet peas
Elbow macaroni with baked beans, sprinkle with grated parmesan
Frozen tortellini, ravioli or other filled pasta - I buy this in bulk from Costco, it boils in 5-10 minutes, serve with salt and a drizzle of olive oil

[Blue Skies]

If I don't feel like cooking I would usually go with hummus and pretzels and/or carrots.  Or a sandwich if I have lunch meat or leftover meat in the fridge.

Premade pizzas aren't super healthy, but they are fast and easy.  We always have them on hand. 
Soup too, both canned and homemade frozen.

Lasagna freezes really well.  Make a big pan of it, eat some and then portion out the rest and freeze it individually. 

[dcheesi]

Dry pasta, jarred sauce, and frozen (turkey) meatballs. Throw the sauce and meatballs in a pan to heat, boil the pasta. Easy peasy.

Microwave quesadillas: low-fat cheese, low-carb tortillas, maybe some jalepeños if you're into that, or maybe a few black beans if you got 'em. Two to a plate and nuke for a minute. Serve with salsa or hot sauce.

Microwave chicken taco/burrito/whatever: same as above, but add pre-cooked chicken from the freezer (nuke for 2 minutes to thaw, then add to the rest and go another minute).

Jarred or canned curry sauce, chicken from freezer (or canned). Heat chicken & sauce, serve over rice (optional).

Vigo's red beans & rice -just follow the directions, easy one-pot meal.

[ATtiny85]

Soups, stews, casseroles, and the like freeze perfectly. We use single serve plastic containers. Wontons and maultaschen freeze good, but require some prep when removed. I have also frozen chunks of cooked meat and had success.

[Fresh Bread]

Thanks everyone. I'm curious for those who freeze meals, what type of meals freeze well? Anything you realized you should stay away from freezing?

I freeze veggie chilli & soups as they are super easy to defrost & heat up in the microwave and it doesn't matter if they are mushy. The only thing I don't like freezing is bread because it gets a freezer flavour to it. Whatever you freeze, you want to minimise contact with air as that causes freezer burn.

I usually have a couple of things in the freezer for days like yours eg frozen pizza and there's usually a portion of something homemade. The frozen pizza isn't great which stops it being eaten on good days!! 

[jeninco]

Sorry in advance for being the thread meanie, but part of being an adult is doing necessary stuff you don't feel like doing. You can do some things to make it easier, like bulk weekend cooking or whatnot, but ultimately sometimes you just need to suck it up.

Sure, but the fact is that those of us who cook 99% of the time have "monkey meals" up our sleeves that we can make with hardly any muss and fuss. (Named by my older kid, who looked at a couple of recipes I use for such things and said "Geez, that could be made by a monkey!")

[Metalcat]

Sorry in advance for being the thread meanie, but part of being an adult is doing necessary stuff you don't feel like doing. You can do some things to make it easier, like bulk weekend cooking or whatnot, but ultimately sometimes you just need to suck it up.

Sure, but the fact is that those of us who cook 99% of the time have "monkey meals" up our sleeves that we can make with hardly any muss and fuss. (Named by my older kid, who looked at a couple of recipes I use for such things and said "Geez, that could be made by a monkey!")

That's why my advice is to always get comfortable with a few of these. I get takeout so rarely that it would actually take me more mental effort to figure out what to order rather than to just mindlessly throw together the kind of idiot-proof meal I've made hundreds of times and know that I always have what I need on hand to make.

But it takes a bit of effort to get those kinds of meals established.

Not a lot of effort, mind you, hence the facepunch from @Zikoris because blowing money on take-out instead of picking up just a few basic simple meals is a HUGE waste of money.

We actually have a rule in the house. We never get take-out as a lazy option. We only get take-out as a special, luxury, indulgent option.

[jeninco]

Sorry in advance for being the thread meanie, but part of being an adult is doing necessary stuff you don't feel like doing. You can do some things to make it easier, like bulk weekend cooking or whatnot, but ultimately sometimes you just need to suck it up.

Sure, but the fact is that those of us who cook 99% of the time have "monkey meals" up our sleeves that we can make with hardly any muss and fuss. (Named by my older kid, who looked at a couple of recipes I use for such things and said "Geez, that could be made by a monkey!")

That's why my advice is to always get comfortable with a few of these. I get takeout so rarely that it would actually take me more mental effort to figure out what to order rather than to just mindlessly throw together the kind of idiot-proof meal I've made hundreds of times and know that I always have what I need on hand to make.

But it takes a bit of effort to get those kinds of meals established.

Not a lot of effort, mind you, hence the facepunch from @Zikoris because blowing money on take-out instead of picking up just a few basic simple meals is a HUGE waste of money.

We actually have a rule in the house. We never get take-out as a lazy option. We only get take-out as a special, luxury, indulgent option.

True, that. The last time we went out because I was super-hungry and "didn't feel like cooking", I realized while waiting for my food that I could've cooked something tastier, we'd have already finished eating, and it would've been a fraction of the cost. That was ... I dunno, 5 years ago?

[Zikoris]

We actually have a rule in the house. We never get take-out as a lazy option. We only get take-out as a special, luxury, indulgent option.

We do the same. There's no such thing as "I don't feel like cooking so I'll get takeout" in our household. If we're eating restaurant food, takeout or otherwise, it's a planned thing, because we want to eat something specific.

[Omy]

Same here. We used to eat out a lot, but when covid hit we started making every meal at home. After several months of that we decided ordering something special once a week was good for our morale and supported our favorite local restaurants.

[Telecaster]

I find my main barriers to cooking are either it is late and I don't feel like cooking and cleaning up, I don't know what to cook, or I don't have anything to cook and need to go to the store. 

To combat the latter two (and really all three), I do meal planning.  And while it takes a bit of time on the front end, it saves a huge amount of time on the back end.  I have a spreadsheet of main course ideas that I know how to cook and can scan if I need ideas.   Then I make a daily meal plan for the week.   Lunches and breakfasts don't need to be planned.   Leftovers become lunch or breakfast, along with some eggs and a loaf of bread.    Then I make one trip to the store and buy everything I need for five nights (we wing it on weekends).   Before I started meal planning I was making multiple trips to the store each week.   For weeknights (when I was working) I tried to focus on meals that didn't require a ton of prep time.  There are tons of great meals like this.  If you've got everything on hand, many meals can be made from scratch faster than delivery.   In the last year, I've been learning Chinese cooking, which is a super power for fast weeknight cooking.  Vastly cheaper than delivery. 

The spreadsheet is my friend.  If it is Tuesday and no-knead pizza is for dinner on Wednesday, I get the dough going that night.  Doesn't take much time.   On Wednesday, making the pizza will probably take less time than delivery.  Pizza dough also freezes well, so you can have a couple ready to go in case you don't have a plan.  Last night I got some shallots soaking so I can make Suon Kho tonight. 

To combat the first item (it is late and I don't feel like cooking), I like to parcook a couple pizza crusts, top them and freeze them.  Way better and way cheaper than store bought frozen pizza.  Lasagna can be made ahead of time and frozen, along with chicken pot pies, soups, chili, etc.  The only trick is you have to eat out of the freezer occasionally, but that's okay and you can meal plan that on the spreadsheet. 

[Metalcat]

For meal planning I'm going to plug the Paprika app yet again. The company really should be paying me for how much I promote it, but it's frickin' amazing for meal planning.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

One of my fastest I don't feel like cooking meals is scrambled eggs.  We eat them with toast or with corn tortillas, which we keep on hand.  I can open a can or jar of fruit and call it good.  It gets us eating in about 10 minutes.  Even with paying $3 per dozen for eggs (and it takes work to find them at that price), the eggs for the meal only cost $1.50 - $2.25 depending on how many I make.

I cook from my pantry, freezer, and basic perishables.  I meal plan for every day of the week, and often for more than one meal per day (lunch and dinner).  I grocery shop to replenish perishables and staples.  I buy produce that is either on sale or already cheap, and work that into our meals.

Tonight my "don't feel like cooking" meal is rice and beans, however it does take about 90 minutes to cook the beans in the Instant Pot, and the rice would take an hour in the rice maker, but I have some rice in the fridge.  (Somehow cooking rice int eh rice maker doesn't feel like cooking but making it on the stove does).  I don't even eat beans, but the rest of them do and I'm the one responsible for making dinner.  I like to make rice and beans because it's healthy, and they can top their bowls with shredded cabbage and salsa, which count as vegetables but I don't have to prepare them.  I'll cook a couple of eggs to eat with my rice, along with some steamed broccoli (which is already prepped and cleaned).

Honestly, I'm the one who messed everything up by making soup last night instead of tonight (to accommodate a guest who wouldn't have eaten the meal I'd originally planned).  Friday is our usual soup night, but now I'm not in the mood for it, and I'm not really in the mood to make something complicated.  Takeout isn't an accepted solution -- we don't allow ourselves to get food out due to lack of planning or just not being in the mood to cook.  Not that we never get takeout, but it's planned for nights when we've spent all day cleaning out the garage or something like that.

The way we eat, which avoids highly processed foods, there are only freezer meals if I've made them. And there are some in there, but they have meat and it's Friday and we don't eat meat on Friday.  I thought about making vegetarian pizza with a dead simple pizza dough and pre shredded mozzarella, but college kid #2 can't eat gluten and will be home for dinner after starting a new job, so I wanted to make something gluten free.  We need to eat the leftover rice anyway, so throwing on a pot of beans made sense.

[NotJen]

Thanks everyone. I'm curious for those who freeze meals, what type of meals freeze well? Anything you realized you should stay away from freezing?

I freeze literally everything.  My freezer is my favorite appliance.

I freeze all my leftovers as soon as I make them (unless I know I'll eat it the next day).  I really like my own cooking, and I don't feel like freezing affects my enjoyment of it.

[StarBright]

I find my main barriers to cooking are either it is late and I don't feel like cooking and cleaning up, I don't know what to cook, or I don't have anything to cook and need to go to the store. 

Clean up is the #1 reason I want to order take-out usually. Though that is closely followed by super busy life combined with just being tired of cooking.  I find I only have so much brain power to devote in any given week and somewhere between the 14-20 day mark I give in and get take out. 

Clean up is the worst. We are also at the phase where we are training our kids to help and it just takes so much extra work! My brain is fried by the time we've prepped ingredients most nights.

[NV Teacher]

Soup with toast topped with a slice of good cheese.

[Freedomin5]

We freeze chili, dumplings, meat/veggie sauces, curry, soups, stews, homemade pizza pockets…

On days when we don’t feel like cooking (which for me is basically all weekdays), we will eat dumplings/potstickers/gyoza, or I will make a pot of rice in the pressure cooker (literally one cup of rice , one cup of water, press one button, and done) and pour soup or a sauce over it. Or just noodles with eggs and veggies added directly to the pot and using the water the noodles were cooked in as a soup base. Or just a hearty stew - if you put veggies, a starch (like pasta or potatoes), and a meat/bean in it, then you basically have all your nutrients in one bowl.

Burritos also freeze well, and if you stuff it with rice, beans, sautéed veggies, and meat, then you have all your food groups in one thing that can be microwaved or popped in the toaster oven.

You can also boil several eggs at one time and then keep them in your fridge. When hungry, take a hard boiled egg, slice/mash it, add mayo, put it on bread. And voila…egg salad sandwich. Or just eat the hard boiled egg as is…which is what I do because mashing an egg with mayo is sometimes too much work.

I also prefer making things that can be cooked/warmed up in one pot/pan, thereby minimizing clean up.

[Omy]

I made egg salad using an avocado instead of mayo today...so good.

[Ron Scott]

Dress up nicer than usual go out to a good restaurant! Once a week must.

[seemsright]

I have a few meals that I can make in 15 minutes or less with little clean up.

We love tacos around here So I have come up with quick tacos

Shrimp tacos.  Shrimp cooks so dang fast. I keep a bag in my freezer at all times.

Sliced beef tacos I buy the steak-ums from the freezer area of the grocery store. And keep one box in my freezer at all times.

If I plan ahead and I can throw a roast in the crockpot and throw random from the fridge door on top and call it a day. Must be in crock pot by 9am to make this work for dinner.

Then we eat these meal ideas with a bag of frozen veggies from the freezer, and some tortillas that i always keep on hand. Add some hot sauce and everyone is happy around here.

[TreeLeaf]

Amy's vegetable soup.

Avocado toast.

Vegetable stir fry.

Spaghetti.

Frozen pizza.

Random things from cans that I can heat up.

Random things from freezer that I can heat up.

Random fruit, vegetables, nuts.

There is a surprising amount of food that can be bought that simply requires heating up in a pan, in the oven, or in the microwave. I would start out with basic things that just need to be heated up.

Cooking - on the low end - is easier and faster and cheaper than driving to a restaurant for take out, imo. It's actually the lazier option if you think about it for a while. Even if you pay someone else to deliver the food it's probably easier to heat something up in a pot than work a job to pay someone else to deliver the food.

I would start with simple things then work my way up. Virtually anything is better than fast food.

[fuzzy math]

Chopped salad bag w all the fixins. Mix one with a plain lettuce bag and you have enough for a meal for 2 ppl

[Trifle]

My go-to lazy fast meal is to throw stuff (beans, leftover veggies, fresh veggies, meat, whatever) onto a whole wheat tortilla, top it with shredded cheese, and microwave it for 25 seconds.  Add sauce of your choice and voila -- a "burrito." 

Also -- you can microwave eggs really fast.  Put an egg in a small glass or ceramic bowl, be sure to WHISK it, and then mike it for 30 seconds.  Scrambled eggs lend themselves to all sorts of things, including sandwiches.  Bonus if you use a glass pyrex bowl for this -- the egg comes out in a neat round disk shape. 

My son's go-to fast meal is ramen with frozen meatballs.  You put the meatballs (we get them at Aldi) into the pan under the dry ramen noodles, add water, and boil for 3 or 4 minutes.  The meatballs are thawed right when the ramen is done.  Then add the ramen seasonings, a shot of oil, and any other toppings you want.   

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

Chopped salad bag w all the fixins. Mix one with a plain lettuce bag and you have enough for a meal for 2 ppl

+1 A bag of salad mix and a few baby carrots/cauliflower etc. is a very quick and easy meal.

[JupiterGreen]

For meal planning I'm going to plug the Paprika app yet again. The company really should be paying me for how much I promote it, but it's frickin' amazing for meal planning.

Is it the Paprika Recipe Manager for $4.99? Or is there a free app?

[Dicey]

Dress up nicer than usual go out to a good restaurant! Once a week must waste.

FTFY

[clarkfan1979]

My mom was visiting from out of town and picked a night to cook. At the last minute, she claimed that she was too tired to cook and asked me to order some take-out and pick it up and she would pay. I refused to get in my car to go pick-up take-out food at 7:00 p.m. on a Tuesday. I was also two beers deep at the house in full relax mode. I instead offered to cook something simple at home.

She insisted that it's easier to order take-out and drive to pick it up. I replied, "If it's so easy, why won't you do it?" She finally agreed to let me cook something simple at home, which I didn't mind doing. In her world the words "cooking" and "convenience" do not co-exist.
 
When my mom is with my step-dad, my mom cooks or it's take-out. If she doesn't feel like cooking, my step-dad picks something up on his way home from work. I think that makes sense for them.     

[Dreamer40]

Take out can be ok sometimes, but it’s a lot cheaper to at least go get it yourself instead of using DoorDash or any other delivery service.

You could also keep some Trader Joe’s frozen foods around. It’s not hard to put frozen gnocchi (I also add a handful of frozen peas or green beans) in a skillet for 5 minutes. Or put a frozen pizza in the oven. Not particularly heathy, but fast and cheap compared to delivery food.

Everyone’s cooking suggestions here definitely are better ideas, but these are two cheaper alternatives to DoorDash.

[Sandi_k]

My "can't be bothered thinking about dinner" options are:

- Cereal or Oatmeal or a bagel

- Flour tortilla with shredded cheese

- Corn tortillas chips, melted cheese, and refried beans with salsa and cheese dip

- Annie's Mac & Cheese

[Must_ache]

Subway

freefootlong code should work on online orders to buy one get one until some time in March.

Why make food when I can get 2 subs for $9 and drive two miles to get them.

[jeninco]

Subway

freefootlong code show work on online orders to buy one get one until some time in March.

Why make food when I can get 2 subs for $9 and drive two miles to get them.

Because you can make something that tastes better, is healthier for you, better for the planet, doesn't involve additional miles driven, and leaves you with time to go for a walk after? Just spitballing, here...

Things we make:
A variety of sheet-pan dinners, depending on what's in the crisper. So turn the oven on to 425 or so, cut some potatoes into cubes and toss with a little olive oil, then put them on the pan and stick it in the oven. Maybe cube up a red onion and put that in too. Add some protein (a little chunked sausage is good, or those last chicken thighs in the freezer) sprinkled with appropriate spices. Add some chunked hard veggies if using (also tossed with a little OO -- this would be your cauliflower, broccoli type things).   Of not, then take out a bag of leafy things, toss them with a little lemon juice in a bowl, and when the things in the oven look tasty, toss them over top.

Frittatas, with whatever we have around.

We also freeze chili (could be in a bowl with tortillas, or as nachos with all types of things), spaghetti sauce, and soups, and any of those can be heated up from freezing in 15 minutes or less (start in the microwave so the frozen block comes out of the container).

I also do pretty comprehensive meal planning, so I generally know what we're having for dinner, and I do the shopping once/week with a complete list, including garnishes.

[mistymoney]

When you don't feel like cooking, what are some of your healthy go to options? I waste way too much money on Doordash!

Not like it's super healthy, but just take a pot of boiling water and add pasta and frozen broccoli according the minutes to cook info so they get done at the same time, drain most of the water about 2 minutes before done and add jarred sauce and cook down/finish. You can even do the no draining pasta cooking to get it done faster, so about 2 cups water to 1 cup pasta, add a cup of sauce and just cook till desired tenderness, adding more water if necessary. Add the broccoli whenever it would be done at the same time as the pasta.

making dahls is usually pretty quick and simple, but does take a little time to chop and saute some onions and cooking the lentils and rice can take longer than the pasta and is more like "cooking".

[Villanelle]

I boil pasta and dump some sauce on it.  I keep a few jars/cans of sauce in my pantry, and sometimes cook some and freeze it in small portions perfect for one dinner for 2 (we are a 2 person household) and enough leftover for another dinner or a couple lunches. 

If I'm so inclined, I'll toss a few frozen meatballs (again, sometimes homemade and sometimes store-bought) in with a red sauce, or some cooked chicken (which I always have in the freezer) for a white sauce or pesto.

I always, always, always have pasta, sauce, and a couple cooked meat options in the freezer.  I think that's key--just having a few items on hand at all times so you can make your go-to quick meals.

(If speed is important, but thin spaghetti or angel hair since it cooks fastest.  For some reason, I don't like angel-hair--maybe because it is so easy to overcook and get mushy--but thin spaghetti works well.) 

Another option is tacos/burrito.  Frozen ground beef with basic spices (I usually cook it with diced onion as well, since that goes with pretty much any cuisine, as well as back pepper and garlic), frozen in meal-sized batched.  Tortilla, canned beans, cheese, salsa, and any veggies I have on-hand that make sense. 

[Arbitrage]

Well, since I ignore the "healthy" requirement, I usually do one of these:

Suck it up and eat leftovers I didn't feel like eating that night
Breakfast for dinner (fried eggs, toast, corned beef hash or fried spam)
Frozen pot stickers, maybe with frozen chicken nuggets or pizza rolls
Quesadillas
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Frozen chicken pot pies
Pasta - kids are fine with just butter, salt, and parmesan cheese
Sometimes my wife comes to the rescue with a simple meal
Add fresh fruit to all of the above

If I don't need to prepare food for others and am feeling super lazy, I'll probably just eat PB&J and/or cereal.  Between these various options it is super rare for us to get restaurant food solely for the purpose of feeding us.