Most working parents don't fail at dinner because they can't cook.

They fail because 5pm is when three things collide: kids are hungry, you're still half at work, and the fridge is a pile of ingredients with no plan.

Willpower is already spent. So the question "what's for dinner?" feels heavier than it should.

The fix is not a 40-recipe Sunday prep. It's deciding before the freeze.

Use this 20-second filter tonight:

• Protein you already have

• One vegetable that cooks in the same pan

• A carb that needs almost no attention (rice, tortillas, pasta)

That's a meal. Not a performance.

If it takes more than 25 minutes or more than one pan on a weeknight, it's a weekend dish wearing a weekday costume.

Save the fancy stuff for Saturday. Weeknights need a default.