The 'What Do' of Changing the Way You Eat

I've wanted to expand my food options for awhile, but I have no idea where to start. I look at produce and I start by getting ideas. I think things like:
"Ooh these green onions/green beans/ potatoes/ heads of romaine lettuce/(you get the idea) look and smell so good!"
And I buy these yummy looking things.
I don't do it with any malintent, I genuinely think I'll use them. I don't expect to end up throwing out that bunch of green onions or peppers or- whatever- after their shelf life has expired and I haven't come up with a way to incorporate them into my personal food pyramid.

To simplify- I'll think something like 'Wow, that's really nice spinach!' and then something akin to this thought process almost inevitably occurs:

'You know what would be really good? Spinach and cheddar.'
'Hm...Spinach and cheddar...could be pretty yummy..'
'How about taking my homemade mac and cheese recipe and..'
'But how on earth would I...?'
'I mean, would I- like...chop the spinach? Saute it first? Shred it?? Layer it?'
'Hmm...What if I added spinach to my eggs and cheddar instead, for the mornings? I mean that could be yummy right?'
Then:
'Hmm...Still haven't mastered the perfect egg though. I hate runny eggs. How do I get that firm and just moist enough but not too chewy--ugh. Maybe a quiche?'
'...Is that what a quiche is?'
'Maybe I should Google this.'
'...Or...a forum?..'
*Anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes (er- an hour) later*
'Alright, so....um....this...looks...good...but...what?'
'Alright. Forget the quiche. What the hell do I do with this spinach I just bought?'
'F$%&, I'll figure it out later.'
'Ohh that's...I'm fairly positive that used to be spinach. Whoops.'


I, like many people in the world, eat too much junk. I eat out too much, and my food choices need a serious overhaul- I know this. I am aware of it every damn time my stomach gets mad at me after a bad choice, or when my mental energy is shot, or I'm hungry even though I JUST had a really heavy (and probably fattening) 'meal' not an hour and a half ago.

The thing is, I desperately want to change that, in the moments of clarity in the storm of chaos that encompasses life management when you have chronic health issues and a generally 'work in progress' life, I dream of healthier food choices and how they'd change things.

So I see these ingredients and I know that they'd be great for me. I need these vegetables and fruits and good alternatives to all the crap I ingest. But how to incorporate them is a battle I just can't seem to gear up for. Perhaps it's partially because old habits die hard.

Things are simpler if food isn't constantly needing to be prepped and checked for freshness and edibility. And you have to know so many things: Is this ripe? Is this a good one? Is that spot normal? How long do these last? How do I store it?
And most often,
What the hell do I DO with this?
How do I cook it?

These questions overtake me; I find myself looking wistfully at the beautiful fruits, vegetables, greens, et al. with a sense of overwhelming frustration. Why isn't there a place that this knowledge is compiled?! Where the hell can I look, instead of running crapshoot searches on the internet? Again and again, I find myself in the nearly unshakable mindset that I'm never ever ever going to know what I'm doing.