Road Mom

No more waking up in the middle of the night to make bottles, no more changing dirty diapers, and no more hauling heavy strollers around...but different kind of challenges has evolved as the children grew out of their baby stages.  With a freshman in high school and a first grader on my hands...I have a new home and it moves around on four wheels.

I am not alone in this, many moms spend lots of hours in the day behind the steering wheel of their car.  For me, a typical day may consist of:  dropping my daughter off at school (fortunately my husband is able to drop our son off in the mornings), drive to work, leave work to run one or two quick errands (could be pumping gas, stopping by the bank, picking something an item at the store), drive over to my son's school for pick up, then it's over to track practice for my daughter, and depending on what day it is...there's Tae Kwon Do class.  My son is trying out different recreational sports right now so that changes up my schedule from season to season.  Now that would be a typical day, of course there are days when more errands are factored in, perhaps meetings, and multiple stops to the store for whatever reason.

To all you "Road Moms"...I relate to you and I feel your exhaustion.  But exhaustion doesn't excuse us from feeding our family!  Going through the fast food drive through is not only unhealthy and can get costly, after awhile the food just all taste crappy.  Do I suggest you go home after a long day of unpaid ubering to go slave over the stove for a three course meal?  HECK TO THE NO!  No honey...mama ain't got time for that.  My answer...CROCKPOT.

Your new best friend is the crockpot.  Figure out when is the most convenient time for you to chop and prep your ingredients to throw in the crockpot, for some it may be early in the morning and for some you prefer to do it late at night and have it all ready by the next morning.  For me it would work best in the morning before I leave the house, this way there is one less thing to do during the day...but I like to get my sleep in too so I will procrastinate and get home somewhere in the middle of the day to throw in my ingredients and have it cooked by dinner time when we all finally make it home.  I also prefer that sometimes because I love my food piping hot...nothing like burning the taste buds right off your tongue.  Below are some crockpot recipes that I've tried myself that I think are easy and taste really good.  Not all 'easy' recipes online are easy, or turn out the way it says it will...so always try out new recipes on your day off first and NOT on a busy weekday when you come home starving.

*Photos below are from Pinterest (not of my own).  I am sharing them because I have tried them, not to take credit for.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

Honey Garlic Chicken and Veggies

Beef Stew