arewethereyet

Three cheers for the slow cooker! With Tim working all these crazy hours, and me having a full-time job and a commute besides, I have been scrambling all week to put good, easy, healthy, and gluten free meals on the table. I’ve also been struggling to do it in a timely manner, so I’m not cooking and cleaning twice (as my husband gets home closer to 8pm than either of us would prefer to be sitting down to dinner). Yesterday I busted out the slow cooker and made a 10+ hour pot roast. It was not the best meal I have ever made but it was all the things I’ve been scrambling to do (good easy heatlhy gf) and plenty tasty. Tim had seconds… so it couldn’t have been too bad! LOL I am on a quest now to come up with new recipes that I can use to accomplish all the above. If you have any to share I’ll happily take them - even if they are no GF I am finding that I am getting better and better at figuring out how to convert them. (Yay.)

 The biggest saving grace with this meal plan yesterday was its impact, or non-impact, on my sanity. *One pot to clean (and frankly I took a scrubby to it to get the big stuff off and then I tossed it in the dishwasher.

*Advance prep - all the veggies etc were cut up the night before so I didn’t have to feel rushed in the morning before leaving for work, or rushed to get a meal on the table at night. No rushing… woot!

*Forgiveness on the cooking time - Tim was late (had to run an errand on his way home) and then poof we had company… but no matter. Our meal was not burnt or cold… it was perhaps even better than it would have been 2 hours earlier.

 I hope what you are reading here isn’t simply seen as a product endorsement for slow cookers. I mean, yes, please, use yours instead of fast food but that’s not actually my glee in blogging here. It’s really because I have realized that having home cooked meals even when stressed out is good for my body and my mind. I like knowing exactly what I am putting in my body - whole foods all the way, and no I don’t mean the market! I like planning out the meals enough to do prep the day before, to know what I need on hand. And as it turns out, I’m pretty fond of this easy clean up thing too LOL.

 Thank you for all the comments about wedding pictures. I am highly critical of all pictures of me, and I am struck by how much better I could have looked. That said, when I look at them without my “I’m not good enough” lens on, I see a woman (and a man) very much in love and that’s what ultimately wins me over. I’m going through the photographer’s private for-Ellen-only site right now. Once I get through my choices, we will release the URL to the world at large (ha ha ha) and that can include any of you if you’d like. Log-in info will follow in a future blog.

Take care and keep warm. Big hugs! Ellen