Egg fried rice for filling family meal is simple to make at home: boil and cool some rice. In a wok or large pan, lightly saute finely diced onion with some garlic and ginger. Chop and add whatever veg you have lurking in fridge eg carrot, pepper, broccoli. Throw in a handful of frozen peas and cook for 3-4 mins. Beat 1 or 2 eggs with a little soy sauce, push veg to side and pour in egg. Let egg cook until just set, then add cooked rice and stir well. Cook for another 2-3 mins until rice hot, stirring frequently. That gives us more than enough for a hungry family of four.
Children add a bit of soy sauce, we add some chilli sauce. Can serve as side dish with say chicken made into a stir fried dish(or quorn chicken style pieces). Small amount of meat goes further. Or can eat as is. We make it towards end of month too use up odds and ends. Kids love it.
We never buy it from takeaway or supermarket as prefer the home cooked one. Add some beansprouts for crunch.
Is easy to eat fresh, if you plan your meals and make them at home. Can make bread and cakes, pies flapjacks etc cheaply at home. Is not difficult. Don't need gadgets. Just time. But will have plenty of that if get rid of Sky and don't veg out in front of tv of an evening!
Buy staples ie ingredients like rice, flour, lentils, onions in bulk from Asian supermarkets or Tesco, Asda etc online. Don't go into stores otherwise you impulse buy rubbish. Especially with kids in tow. Look online for good deals, Aldi, Lidl do cheap good quality veg if you don't have good market handy. You have to shop wisely and not just go to nearest supermarket.
This is hard if both working but the internet is your friend. Do bulky shop periodically with free delivery and then you can free up some time to get perishables more frequently.
Problem is where you don't have the money to do this type of shopping, ie have weekly sum. Or if you don't have the energy or inclination!
My parents brought up 6 children like this, they never spent any money on things like Sky Sports. Luckily, we are a bit better off and can be a bit more relaxed about things, but we still make the bulk of our food from scratch. And don't buy expensive ingredients that are rarely used.
All these cookery shows make people think you need well equipped industrial kitchens and unlimited budget for fancy schmancy food. Even Jamie Oliver (though I give him credit re school meals) recipes have stoopid salads with pomegranate seeds etc! Nice but not necessary if you are in tight budget! Home made coleslaw is so easy and yummy, I don't understand how the slimy supermarket version manages to sell at all!
Any way, in my view it is not difficult to eat well on most low budgets. It is a big effort though.