crock pots are great tools.

and so are freezers..

i would NOT ever buy food at wal-mart..
i am lucky, there is a buying club here
where i can get large bags of rice and beans...10-25 pounds..

and a case of tomato sauce and some tortillas....

I often make big pot of rice (they make cookers for rice now)
and beans which are easy to do from scratch in the crock pot

jsut soak over night then simmer and add onion, garlic, chili powder
and maybe some tomato sauce

and then have lots of tortillas, cheese, salsa, avocados, sour cream and celantro...burritos--i think i could live on burritos...with the giant tortillas (some have sun dried tomato, some are spinach...)

you can always freeze or refridgerate rice and beans..

also a pizza dough....boboli or another (I like the whole wheat or sprouted wheat ones) can be easily made into a meal by adding tomato sauce, peppers, olives, mushrooms and cheese...parmesan and mozzerella

i also have recently discovered making hummus in the blender or food processor....using canned garbanzo beans, sesame tahini, lemon juice and garlic...no cooking required if you use canned beans....

it is great as a spread or dip

the book Diet for a Small Planet is very helpful in learning to combine food to make sure you have complete protein,

also there are lots of online recipe collections..
google cook or recipe or food