Our lives are busier now more than ever! Many of us are continuing to work from home for the foreseeable future, so not only are we occupied with work-related tasks but also taking care of the house at the same time.
To top it all off right now with our children going back to school or e-learning, parents will have to play even more roles at home at once. For the next several months at home, parents across the country will be workers, parents, teachers, homework helpers, and home tenders all at the exact same time.
That is a lot of work! With all that going on, how is a parent supposed to find time for some “me time” and self-care? Let alone putting a decent, home-cooked meal on the table for your family? After all, you don’t want grease-covered takeout bags and styrofoam clamshell containers to become a regular fixture at your dinner table, do you?
When lives get busy and full of responsibility, always remember that crock pot meals are a work-from-home parent’s best friend!
Easy-peasy meals
It isn’t just the meal prep it takes to cook a great meal for your family that can make it difficult, it is finding the time and motivation to do all that stuff after you get done with a long day that is the real killer. Cooking meals from your crockpot helps you eliminate the big pain points that come along with creating a delicious meal for your family.
Crock pots just make everything so easy! Do your chopping and minimal prep first thing in the morning, toss it all in the pot and let it do its magic. Your crock pot does the cooking for you while you are working hard at your desk or helping your kids with homework. Then around dinner time is a few finishing touches and you have a ready-to-go meal waiting for you.
Make a bunch at once
If there is one thing that crock pots do well, it’s making a LOT of food! Very rarely is a crock pot recipe made for two or only yields a couple of portions. No, when you are cooking with a crock pot you should definitely expect to have plenty of leftovers!
But, you know what we say to leftovers when our lives are as busy as they are now? Yes, please! Making huge portions from your crock pot means you have at the very least one more meal this week covered and an extra night off cooking for the week. Leftovers beat a greasy, unhealthy fast food dinner any day of the week, and some recipes are even better the next day!
More than just soups and stews
While most people think of soups and stews when it comes to crock pot recipes, cooking in a crock pot does not pigeonhole you into making endless soups and stews. Though we do fancy ourselves a hearty bowl of chili or a mean bean soup, variety is the spice of life after all! Crock pots are capable of creating dishes of all sorts.
Yes, chili, soups, and stews are great, but feeling like something different? Cook some chicken breasts or a pork shoulder low and slow for several hours! Shred it up and you’ve got chicken or pork for sandwiches and tacos! Add some half-cooked rice or pasta to a mix of sauce and beans and you’ve got some jambalaya, rice and beans, or a nice pasta Fagioli!
Want a little help with dinner time while you are working from home, helping with homework, and generally trying to keep your home from becoming a complete disaster?! Break out the crock pot and start working on some easy-to-make meals that your family will love like Spicy White Chicken Chili, Ham, Great Northern Bean and Collard Green Soup, and Pot Roast with White Beans and use that extra time you save to enjoy some relaxation time.
