We’re in the home stretch, Friends!  These last few days before Summer are filled with report cards, field trips, computer training, packing up the classroom, and still coming to school with undying energy and excitement.  Top that off with a handful of health problems, and it’s a recipe for one exhausted Mom at the end of the day.

Do you want to know my secret for staying sane and getting dinner on the table?

It’s called the Crock-Pot!

This morning, before I left for work, I put four chicken breasts in the Crock-Pot with a bunch of BBQ sauce.  When I came home from work, (after dealing with a natural gas leak, a gazillion kids who couldn’t get home, making phone calls to families, and then getting stuck behind a big accident on my alternate route home) dinner was almost ready.  I took a frozen pizza crust out of the freezer, topped it with the cooked chicken and a bit of the sauce it was cooking in, added some chopped onion and cilantro (fresh from my garden), and a little mozzarella cheese.  I baked it up for a few minutes and dinner was finished!

I’m telling you… that Crock-Pot is my BFF.  Want to know my other secret?  There’s a lot of paper-plate-eating these days.  Ooh, I can’t forget to tell you, I also called, “Family Clean Up!” when dinner was just about over.  I sat myself down to fold laundry and my kids and hubby emptied the dish washer and threw away our paper plates.  

With my trusty Crock-Pot, paper plates, and help from my family, I think I’m going to make it…

just maybe!