What's for Dinner?

I find myself asking the "What's for Dinner?" question as late as 3 pm some days...where does the morning (or afternoon for that matter) go? Ironically, I actually do my grocery shopping for 2 weeks at a time, having planned dinner for each of the days of those 2 weeks. But laziness sets in, or I forget to pull meat out of the freezer to thaw, or I realize I forgot to buy a key ingredient at the store and I don't want to drop $5 for it at the corner market when it's only $2.25 at Shoppers. So I'm faced with the dreaded question...or as my mom calls it, the "Daily Dinner Dilemma."

To add to matters, my 9-Month-old is a little less inclined to let me get away with making anything labor-intensive these days. Gone are the days are propping her up in the Bumbo and sitting her on the kitchen counter while I cook...not that I ever used it on a raised surface or anything. ;)

I thought I'd share the secret that got me through the DDD yesterday...I like to cook large batches of yummy recipes when I cook, so that I can freeze half (or even 2/3!) for later. Of course, this doesn't work for everything, but many things freeze well. So 3 weeks ago we had Chicken Cacciatore for dinner and it was delicious...and it was just as yummy last night when it reappeared as "Twice-Baked Chicken Cacciatore Potatoes" when I realized that I meant to make Twice-Baked Potatoes earlier in the week and had forgotten to, leaving very yummy potatoes at risk for growing eyes while my husband's out of town this week and I go visit my parents. It sounds like a funny dinner, but Mike really liked it and renamed it "Chicken Cacciatore Surprise," saying "Surprise! There's a potato in there." This is just one time that having leftovers in the freezer saved me lots of hassle. I seriously pulled it out of the freezer at 3 and through it in the crockpot on high for 2 and a half hours to thaw and heat up while I did other things.

Here's the recipe for a Cacciatore that freezes beautifully:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
3/4 cup white cooking wine
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried crushed rosemary
1/2 tsp dried crushed thyme
1/4 tsp crushed oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper

Saute onion and garlic (and 1 cup sliced mushrooms if you like them...my husband doesn't) until tender. Mix remainder of ingredients in Crock Pot and add chicken and Onion Mixture to pot. Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours, or until chicken is fully cooked. Shred chicken with fork. Enjoy over linguine noodles (or potatoes!).