The Bad Wife

I am a bad wife! Usually I'm a good wife. Well at least I try to be! I'm not the best housekeeper, but I'm a great cook; I educate our children at home and  I try to keep us on a budget. I try to be a Godly wife, however I don't get up at the crack of dawn to cook breakfast and iron clothes, but he knew that when he married me. Today, I'm a bad wife! Why, you ask? Because I forgot my husband's birthday!! 

I know it's shameful! The sweet man who eleven years ago sent me on a scavenger hunt all over Hattiesburg, MS for my birthday. The man who tries to surprise me every year, but can't keep a secret from me to save his life. The man who just married me AGAIN on our 10th anniversary because he loves me that much. And I, the bad wife, forgot his birthday! 

Now in my defense I've had some medical issues for the last several months that all came to a head last week and my mind has been a little preoccupied, but that is no excuse! His birthday is exactly 7 days after mine. It has been for eleven years and I forgot. Actually I remembered at 6 am this morning but that doesn't help when I don't have the car today to take the kids to buy him a present or pick up a cake because I don't have time to bake one.  

I had promised him Chicken Cacciatore for dinner, his favorite meal. Well around 2 pm I looked at that recipe...a CROCKPOT MEAL!!! {slaps head} Ugh! Well I guess we'll have to improvise! Lucky for me about this time he calls to say he's bringing home the remaining  cookie cake that his staff bought for him (even they remembered!) so the "cake" portion is taken care of....whew! Now what to do about dinner? Desperation is the mother of invention right? Wait that's not how the saying goes, but we'll use it!  So I start rummaging through the freezer and my pantry to figure out how on earth am I going to make this meal. I can't let him come home and me be completely empty handed (bad wife!) no present, no cake, no birthday dinner.  Enter in Stouffer's Chicken Parmesan in the freezer (which by the way you can get the family size box for $2.50 when you ad match Publix at Walmart through tomorrow and use the $1.50 coupon off Facebook. Sorry had to throw that in there I'm a creature of habit!)  It was like a shiny beacon of hope. So I grab the crockpot recipe and hop online and start looking up different chicken cacciatore recipes. The result? Delicious, semi-homemade chicken cacciatore! Hubby's birthday officially salvaged! Well at least the dinner part :)

Semi-homemade Chicken Cacciatore

1 family size Stouffer's Chicken Parmesan
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1/2 bell pepper, sliced thin
2-3 mini sweet peppers, sliced thin
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with garlic, peppers and oregano
2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter
mozzarella cheese, optional


Thaw chicken parmesan in microwave for 10 minutes; heat butter and olive oil in skillet. Pull out pieces of breaded chicken; scrapping off any cheese or noodles stuck to it. Brown in heated oil/butter; set to the side. Saute peppers, onions and garlic in remaining oil/butter about 6 minutes or until tender. Puree about 3/4 of the can of diced tomatoes in food processor; pour all tomatoes into pot with onions and peppers. Add chicken and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

Finish thawing pasta and sauce in microwave for 10 more minutes; preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer pasta into glass baking dish and top with chicken and sauce from pot. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes. Serve with salad and garlic bread.