I think the time/prep thing may be partially helped at least by going about it a different way than you may be now (I dunno what you're doing now, just guessing based on other people I know and their experiences).
Instead of the 'what do we make tonight' followed by 'for that, we've got to ....' thing, if you rework your larder and do maybe one or two days of prep - and rethink what 'dinner' is, you can cut down a lot of the time/cost.
Just for instance, if you buy a bunch of produce, and say, a bulk pack of chicken breasts and broil or grill or whatever the chicken, make some brown rice while at it to store in the fridge, then slice some and freeze some sliced and some whole, and cut up a lot of the produce (cut the broccoli into florets, cut up peppers, peel and cut up carrots, celery, wash lettuce and put whole leaves in some ziplocks with damp towels, etc., and store it all properly...
You can make a whole bunch of stuff out of that basic prep and some basic cabinet staples, even if they're a bit processed, like jarred sauces - stir frys, pastas, homemade pizzas (takes less time than delivery if you have a ball of ready-to-go dough, package of shredded lowfat cheese, already cut up veggies, jar of sauce and sliced chicken), quesadillas, tacos, dinner salads, sandwiches (this is one of those, reworking dinner things. Dinner doesn't need to be hot meat, starch, veg. If you've got good bread, plain chicken, prepared lettuce, tomatoes to slice, other veg, takes 10 minutes to make some hearty sandwiches, serve with carrot and celery slices, that's a quick, decent dinner), etc.
