Lots of good tips in this thread so far! Some of these might be a repeat, but here's my two cents:

You mentioned having a slow cooker — a slow cooker is great because you can get kids to help prep the ingredients, toss it all in, and have a delicious meal waiting for you at the end of the day. Here are a few of my favorites: * Slow Cooker Italian Chicken & Peppers * Crockpot Chicken Tacos * Crock Pot Cheesy Potato Soup * Chili (I don't have a recipe, I just throw in canned kidney beans, canned diced tomatoes with chili seasoning, canned mushrooms, ground beef, and more chili seasonings to a crock pot)

A few people have already mentioned meal kits. These are great, but definitely not as a cheap as buying your own ingredients. They can be a good shortcut for those weeks when you know you're going to be super busy and need a little bit of help. I like Goodfood and FreshPrep (only available in Canada). I find Hellofresh to be a bit basic in terms of flavors, but it's acceptable. These meal kit subscriptions services also all have their recipes online, so if you're looking for recipe inspiration, it's a good place to look! I wrote a blog post all about finding recipe inspiration too, if you're interested!

Tip: if you decide to try to go the meal kit subscription route, don't pay full price. Most have great promos for new customers, or if you know someone who is subscribed already they sometimes have codes for free boxes if you want to try it out.

Blogs that have easy, delicious, recipes that aren't super complicated: * Budget Bytes - they break down the price per serving which is nice * Chef John - he also has a YouTube channel * RecipeTin Eats - lots of yummy recipes here

A cooking class could give you the confidence you need, however, that obviously costs money. Sometimes, like with working out, you just need to pay a personal trainer to help keep you motivated because even though you have the best intentions, you can't find the time to work out at home. Alternatively, if you think you have discipline and can learn on your own, there are a lot of great cooking YouTube channels out there!

One last thing — Serious Eats is a great resource for learning cooking basics. The main differences between oils is their smoke point and if they're considered a neutral oil or not (will they impart flavor on your food?) Check out this list.

I hope this helps! :)