As nice as it would be to always be on top of things, there are days/weeks (O.k. even years) when that just doesn’t happen. So, one strategy to continue to avoid last minute stress, eating out, and relying of prepared food (freezer meals or boxed & canned items) is to have a backup plan for your lack of planning. 
This is essentially also a menu, but instead of planning a week at a time for instance, it is a list of potential meals that either rely on pantry staples you always have around or are really quick to prepare, and preferably meet both requirements.
A recent post at Happy Herbivore highlighting 23 quick meal ideas is a good source of inspiration for this list, as well as a springboard for additional ideas that could work from your existing recipe pool.
Meals that center around quinoa, a quick cooking whole grain, are also a good bet.
Some of my other favorite quick fixes are:
Tomato Basil Cream Pasta
and
Thick and Creamy Potato Soup
The goal in this case is not a perfectly well-rounded meal (although that would be nice), but rather something to fall back on, to fill your stomach and provide some nourishment that is superior to things like; nothing, fast food, snacks & junk or whatever else you would be eating for dinner without the backup plan.
C
