At the end of a long day at the office, what most of us dream of is a nice Indian or Chinese in front of Corrie, a long bath and early bed.

However, while you may not be in the mood for kitchen experiments, your partner and children are expecting their evening meal – pronto!

And it's at times like these when we should have a ready stock of ready-in-a-minute recipes to fall back on:

Pasta
Everybody's old faithful – humble pasta makes the perfect slap-up meal, and it looks like it took hours!

A tin of tomato and onion mix, a medium portion of penne, stock and a few basil leaves and Bob's your uncle – pasta Napoletana for around 3 Points. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve!

Stock up on a variety of spices, and keep some minced beef or bacon in the freezer for just such an occasion to create an impressive bolognaise or low fat carbonara. Mushrooms, ham and low-fat fromage frais make a tasty alfredo. And there's no end to what you can do with low-fat soft cheese.

Soup
Thick, thin, chunky or smooth, soups are the perfect dinner option – and so easy to make.

Fry some onion in a little spray oil, add the vegetables of your choice plus some stock and hot water, and voilà! Soup to feed a family.

Served with some wholewheat or garlic bread, plus a garnish of herbs and a swirl of low-fat fromage frais, soup makes a hearty meal – with minimal washing up! Best of all, any leftovers can be frozen in an old ice-cream tub or Tupperware for another lazy day.

Rice and risotto
Quick to cook, and so versatile, rice or risotto rice is a fabulously filling quick food fix.

There are great packet spice mixes at your local that you boil up with your rice for that fragrant spicy flavour. Add prawns, peas and some white wine, and you've got an easy paella.

Risotto comes in a variety of flavours – experiment with spinach, butternut or tomato flavoured versions. And once again, any leftovers will make a great rice salad for lunch at the office tomorrow.

Jacket potatoes
Who can resist the lure of a crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside jacket, stuffed to the brim with tuna, mushrooms, beans or chicken? Definitely not your hungry brood!

Desiree potatoes make perfect jackets – just wash and dry them thoroughly, prick them a few times and a rub a bit of olive oil over them. After that, rub in some crushed sea salt – this will draw out the moisture from the skin and, together with the oil, provide more crunchiness.

While they're cooking, whip up a tuna and mayo mix, or warm up some beans and grate a bit of half-fat cheddar for a delicious filling.

Go easy on the butter, and make sure to watch out for massive spuds. An average sized portion will be about the size of your fist.

Grill up
No pre-heating the oven, no complicated blending, basting or beating. Just pop your choice of mini steak, thickly sliced tomatoes, mushrooms or peppers under the grill, heat up some beans and throw a couple of slices of wholewheat bread in the toaster.

You can always add in a few greasy fried eggs and fried potatoes for the rest of the family, while enjoying your healthy feast.

And if all else fails…
Ready meals! What did people do before the days of the 'Be Good to Yourself', 'Good Intentions' and 'Count On Us' ranges? There's no shame in keeping a couple of frozen lasagnes, curries or stir-fries in the freezer for emergencies!