Anyone who has ever held a job (or held a child, or both) knows how hard it can be to balance work and cooking. I find 
it manageable when I plan ahead (last night, Santa Maria warmed up a pot of Bolognese for me that I had made over the previous weekend), but I have some experience with these matters.
What if you don’t know where to start? What if it seems too challenging, too complicated, and too foreboding?
Recently, Mark Bittman wrote an editorial in the New York Times that is a good primer. He gives three basic recipes, suggestions on what basic equipment you should have, and, most importantly, discredits a common excuse for not cooking, the shortage of time:
“Americans watch 35 hours of television a week, according to a Nielsen survey. (Increasing amounts of that time are spent watching other people cook). And although there certainly are urban and rural pockets where people have little access to fresh food, about 90 percent of American households own cars, and anyone who can drive to McDonald’s can drive to a supermarket."
He also details why cooking at home is healthier. As for next steps, I have two suggestions. If bringing a pot of water to a boil is a foreign concept, start with Bob Sloan’s “Dad's Own Cookbook.” After that, just get Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything.” It’s true to its name. Soon you’ll be making up your own recipes, but you have to start somewhere.