5-minute dinner

To get things rolling, here's one of the fastest dinners I've found, if you have two or three kids helping it can be done in 5 minutes (we timed it once at a Relief Society activity). It does require that you do one of the most helpful time-savers for cooking dinners: when you buy hamburger on sale, brown it with a chopped onion, divide and freeze (I use old margerine tubs with an "H" on top written with the ever-popular Sharpie). Now I know there are many versions of taco salad, but this one works for us, the kids get some choice in what goes on their dinner and everyone comes out happy.

Grab from freezer and pantry:
a container of browned hamburger from the freezer (or for even healthier and cheaper version, grab a can of black or kidney beans - rinsed and drained -  instead),
a pack of cheap tortilla chips (also can be frozen to keep on hand),
a pack of grated Mexican cheese (tossed in the freezer from the last time HyVee had their $.99 sale)
a can of tomato sauce and one of refried beans.

Put the hamburger in the micrwave for one minute while opening the tomato sauce and pouring into a saucepan on medium - high. Add hamburger and turn it down to medium, stir in about one-third of the can of refried beans and your favorite mexican-type seasonings (Penzey's Adobo is good, cumin, cilantro, ancho pepper powder, etc). Stir occassionally - should be simmering until everything else is ready and on the table.
Meanwhile one helper is chopping lettuce, tomatoes if you have some, others are heating the remains of the refried beans in the microwave, putting some cheese in a serving bowl, finding the salsa and sour cream (we use fat-free, we're used to it so there's no turning back).
If your budget allows, pull out some guacamole and sliced olives (I freeze the guacamole that comes in pouches and thaw in a bowl of water - afterwards squeeze out all the air, fold and clip the corner and put back in the freezer til next time).
Smash the chips somewhat and put in a large bowl and microwave for one minute -- this heats them up and refreshes them.

If you have enough help you can have someone slicing some apples or combining some favorite canned fruits.
Lemonade goes nicely with this.