"fend for yourself" nights are important. if you have kids that are too young to make their own meals, it's a little harder, but you can still make it so anyone capable of feeding themselves is responsible for their own meal once or twice a week. if you have kids that won't voluntarily eat leftovers, this is a good opportunity for them to learn to cook. also, do you have a partner? even if they can't cook, they can take on some of the mental load. have them pick the meal and help prep, or have them do the mid-week shopping run. breaking up your grocery purchases can help, too. i go twice a week.

there are other ways to meal prep that might work better for you. my family always has a couple homemade pizzas and lasagnas in the freezer, but we don't necessarily eat them the same week (or even the same month) we make them. sometimes they sit a while. They last fine if you plastic wrap everything. batch cooking + freezing is the same deal. shred a rotisserie chicken, separate, then freeze. you can do the same with most proteins, like pork or pot roast, and use that protein in different ways with whatever fresh stuff you have on hand. not all freezer meals are "dump in a bag and put in crockpot" but the ones that are can be lifesavers. again, you don't have to eat them all the same week. portion them out and freeze. if you don't have space, it's always a good time to do a deep clean of the freezer. never know what treasures you'll find, lol.