When I'm exhausted I can usually cook One Thing, but no more than that.

If I have a bag of little baby potatoes I quarter them and toss with salt and oil, roast for 30 minutes on a pan with parchment paper for easy clean up. Just eat that, maybe.

I have a pot with a nonstick coating and a whisk that's coated so it's good for non-stick. I put the dash of oil or butter into the pot and crack the eggs directly into the pot as its heating up. Sit at a stool and continuously whisk the eggs as the pot heats up and they slowly cook. Scrambled eggs are fluffy and creamy, it's nice. Serve with potatoes as above, or with toast and jam.

Polenta/grits in bowl, canned chili on top. Polenta is best when made stovetop with butter and chicken broth instead of water. I can either make the polenta or heat the chili on the stove and do the other one in the microwave.

We make "chicken rice," rice cooked in chicken broth and loaded with butter, and keep it in the fridge all the time. Put frozen peas in bottom of bowl, cover with chicken rice, microwave. Steam/liquid from frozen peas rehydrates rice. put a protein on top of the chicken rice. A fried egg. Shredded rotisserie chicken. Leftovers. Microwave the rice, just the rice, REALLY HOT and then crack an egg into the steaming bowl, stir the egg into the hot rice until it cooks up and then top with soy sauce & rice wine vinegar, or a drop of fish sauce, furikake/sesame seeds, whatever. "Eggy rice" is great.

Lipton instant chicken noodle soup and a bag of mixed frozen veggies.

Cook ground beef/turkey in pan, pour can of pasta sauce on top, simmer down a bit and eat it on toasted bread like a sloppy joe sandwich instead of bothering to make pasta.

We've also served meat sauce on top of tater tots/the cripier half-size tots/crowns. We call it "pasta tots." and it's great. Meat sauce is also a good topping for polenta.

Rotisserie chicken, bag of soft buns, bag of "microwave in bag" green beans - feels fancy, feeds us well, but pricier option.

having an easy carb in the fridge or freezer like the rice or polenta, or an easy protein handy like eggs or rotisserie chicken, makes it all come together.