Monique mentions stir-fry: You can try out different bottled sauces (my family is addicted to a particular cheap, readily available Szechuan sauce that we stock up on when it's "on sale"), and it doesn't take long to cook up meat or tofu and veggies (we typically steam the veggies in one pan and fry up the tofu in another pan... and even my 9yo stepson likes the tofu now!) We also have a rice cooker. Because they signal exactly when the rice is done based on temperature sensing, they're worth the cost (although my was free from a lab-mate returning to Thailand after her Ph.D. was received).
Crock-pots are also good. Just load in a cut-up chicken, a beef or park roast, so potatos, carrots and onion, a bit of water and let sit on low or high setting all day. Chances are you'll have tasty meat and veggies to fis out, or you can use it as stew. We bought a new crock-pot the week after my 10-yr old one gave out.
When I was in grad school I also ate a lot of potato dishes (mushroom in butter and garlic are great on smashed potatoes), pasta dishes (spaghetti with eggplant fried in oil and then packaged sauce added with extra spices -- especially those red-pepper flakes!) and egg dishes (like the poached eggs on toast that turbo-1 mentions). (I was even known to mix in egg scrambling it into hot pasta sauce if I was craving extra protein with my pasta. I.E. you can still eat disgustingly without eating all the sugar!) Our boys still love pasta (although my husband is picky about using homemade sauce, so it now takes a bit longer to make). Unfortunately, I'm still adjusting them to the idea of more potato-and egg based dishes... but they're getting there... we'll have quiche later this week!
