What's for dinner?

I hate that question. It inevitably gets asked every night, either by myself or by Scott, and neither of us wants to hear it or answer it, but we always have to ask it. I don't really mind cooking, its just that I can never think of what to cook. Looking up a recipe does no good, because I never have everything I need and I don't have the time or motivation to go to the grocery store. And by the time I get off work, go to the gym, and get home, it's already after 6. I'm not motivated to even THINK about dinner until at least 7:00, so we end up eating after 8:00 every night. As a result, I have gained weight. Something must be done. Thanks to Mandy, I have a dinner plan for tonight: tacos. I have to go to the gym, so I will start cooking them as soon as I get home.

Last night I fixed chicken over rice with cream of chicken soup poured over it. I like chicken, but I absolutely despise cooking chicken. It really grosses me out and makes a huge mess. I end up using 3 plates, a cutting board, 5 knives and 5 forks in my attempts not to cross-contaminate. I put the frozen chicken on a plate and thaw it in the microwave, and have to turn it over half-way through with a fork - that fork cannot be used for anything else as it is contaminated. Then I take the chicken out, rinse it off under the sink, and put it on a new plate (because the other plate has nasty chicken juice all over it). Then I have to cut out those disgusting white veins, so that messes up the cutting board, a fork and a knife. None of the three of those can be used for anything else because they have now been contaminated by the chicken. I put the chicken in a pan to cook it and have to use another fork to turn it over, and another knife to check if its done. Once it starts getting cooked, I don't want to use the same fork or knife that I used before it was cooked, so those go in the sink and I get another set to use to put the cooked food on the plates to serve it. I can use this set to eat my half of the meal, but Scott needs another set for his. So not only does it take forever to cook chicken, but there are also a huge pile of dishes to clean afterwards. This just isn't worth it to me!

Things would probably be easier if I planned my meals out ahead of time for the whole week, and did my grocery shopping based on my "plan". I envy anyone who actually has the time, discipline and motivation to do that. I do not have any of the three. It is a huge accomplishment that at 11:00 this morning, I know what I'm fixing for dinner tonight.

Any suggestions and or comments on this topic are welcome.