Here's the thing about weeknight dinners. It's been a long day, maybe you're tired from work but you're definitely already hungry and the thought of cooking can be daunting. So you fight an inner struggle. Maybe you pull out your phone and order Seamless or duck into your local sandwich shop. Perhaps you convince your significant other to go out to a restaurant or meet a buddy at the bar and make a dinner out of peanuts and hot wings. Either way, you waste the food you have at home and reluctantly spend your hard-earned cash just to avoid cooking during the week. But you're better than that. And your dinner can be better too. There are easy ways to make your dinner prep easier and quicker than ever before. Implement these tips and you'll have dinner on the table with extra time and money to spare.

Make cleanup
more clever

Take a few extra minutes during your cleanup routine to prep for tomorrow's meal. This ensures there are no surprising setbacks once you're ready to cook. So while you're loading the dishwasher or wiping down the countertop, take that chicken out of the freezer, toss your meat into a marinade, chop up and bag your veggies or put all the cans or jars you'll be using together in the panty (ensuring that you have everything you need). Soon, it will be automatic and tomorrow's meal will come together even quicker.

Seafood cooks almost instantly

If you're looking for quick-cooking proteins, remember that fish and seafood can be cooked in almost no time at all. Shrimp, scallops and thin pieces of fish require just two to three minutes on the stovetop or under a broiler. And some you can enjoy without cooking at all. Simply prepare your side vegetable or grain first and as that wraps up, you can prepare your protein—that's how quickly seafood usually takes to finish. Need some help deciding what seafood to cook? Bon Appétit has over two dozen fresh recipes to choose from.