Here is a start.

To get these meals going, you must plan. Too often a frantic schedule and the convenience of the prepared alternative scuttle the good intentions of a harried meal-maker. You have been there, headed home from soccer practice and thinking about what you will put together when you get home. You are daunted by the idea of choosing a meal, leave alone putting it together. The kids grumble and you see a fast food place, pull in and order. This is not uncommon—we will eat fast food and have a stocked pantry of good food that goes unused. This reaction will satisfy our short-term anxiety, but traps us into a terrible eating plan.

Here is what I do to avoid this trap.

Use Momentum
Momentum is a powerful force. Al Secunda wrote of it in his book, The 15 Second Principle. In that book Al illustrates that getting something started is the most difficult part of the task, once things are rolling the work falls into line and the flow gives it a simplified feeling.
Build a Menu
To capture this ideal and start rolling, on Saturday AM, I build a grid for the week. It is a piece of scratch paper and it has seven columns (one for each day). I write the main course for each day in the column. Maybe its meatloaf on Monday, Salmon on Tuesday, Wednesday will be leftovers from the two previous days, Thursday is “on your own”, Friday is frozen pizza, Saturday is pasta, Sunday is roast beef.

I choose the “on your own” meals for the nights that are busy and I know a sit-down will not occur. Your pantry needs to have the stuff to support these nights. Healthy convenience foods are key to making this work well. As you can see, I do not eliminate prepared foods from the menu, but, they are not a dominant part of the fare.

Fill the grid by adding your side dishes and vegetables. It is easy to neglect this step, but I advise against it. Including the sides at the planning step will strengthen the chance that those important, healthy components are on the table on the given night. How often have we tossed together a batch of Kraft Mac & Cheese and eaten it with no vegetable accompaniment? Plan your sides.
Shop the List
Build your shopping list from that grid. Honestly, I build my menu with the supermarket flyers in front of me. If chicken thighs are on a good sale, I’ll consider chicken enchiladas. If chuck roast is cheap, then use one of those recipes.
Post the Plan
Put the grid on your ‘fridge, let every one refer to it. With it in view, it serves as a great reminder of your commitment—this small step is the most powerful at our house. Also, as you develop an arsenal of recipes, you’ll find more enthusiasm and support from others. You may hear, “I am looking forward to that Kiwi-Mango salsa on that salmon tonight!”
Review the Plan
Each morning refer to the plan. There may be some things you can do to get a jump on the meal prep (particularly if it is a crock pot item).
Recipe Resources
There are many books that provide meal plans that can be dome in twenty minutes or less. Use these to get started. You can purchase one of these fine texts.

One I started using recently was Cooking Light Superfast Suppers. It is from Oxmoor House publishers and is well done. I am a big fan of Cooking Light magazine too. (I recommend a subscription to anyone wanting to eat well and vary their menu.)

Whole test kitchen staffs work to streamline the prep process and get you coached for success. Use these resources.

I have found Epicurious.com to be helpful for recipes too. Be careful to understand what is involved in the recipe, as not all the recipes are short-prep.

Many magazines include recipes in each issue. You may want to hit the local library and leaf through a Women’s Day or Parenting to see what might be there—most of these are fast-prep recipes marketed to the busy segment of the magazine’s demographic.

I’ll post some of my “go-to” recipes here too—most were found in the manner described here.

Investing 60 minutes to research recipes will yield many choices. Do not put recipes on index cards; it eats up too much time. Use your printer and a photocopy machine (depending on the recipe source). Work from full sheets of paper.

To keep recipes, I think a pocket-folder with the 8.5 x 11 printouts or photocopies works fine. Sure you’ll have to leaf through it to get the recipe, but, honestly, how many recipes do you need? If you are compelled, you can build a computer database, or have several folders (one for chicken, one for beef, one for sides, etc.).

Use the back of the paper to make notes. This is where you can note effective ingredient substitutions, wine pairings or other notes. I find myself putting a comment like, “try a tsp more white pepper.”