Want to know why I love spring break? This may sound silly, if not a bit self-serving, but during this week, the gym is ghost town and I never have a problem securing my favorite spot in the workout room … all the while trying to ignore the fact that those in absentia are likely supine on a beach sipping a Mai-Tai and bathing their SPF-slathered bodies in some serious sun. (No, I'm not bitter. Not bitter at all.)
But whether you're enjoying a really awesome vacation or, like me, sticking close to home (I'm a freelance journalist, folks; so that puts my vacation budget right at four dollars and fifty-seven cents), I hope you're enjoying your own brand of much-needed down time.
Alas, though, it's back to regularly scheduled programming next week, which brings with it all the crazy machinations of juggling school schedules with work schedules and other must-dos. And also to return with a vengeance, at least in my house, is the dreaded post-homework interrogation. A battering ram of questions, it's always aimed at me when I'm at my most vulnerable (i.e., while attempting in vain to decrypt the bill, which has somehow become the object of my cat's fascination; she's obsessed with paper — namely, shredding said paper into tiny, unreadable bits). And the nightly grilling also always involves this: What's for dinner??
Oh, how I tremble at that query.
First off, meal-planning can be a real pain in the rear. And second, cheffing a healthy spread that your progeny will actually consume is akin to solving Pi.
Rejoice, my meal-making chums! I have a solution to our dinnertime quandary: the slow cooker.
Besides writing for this venerable publication, I also work for a company called the Five Star Institute (which, incidentally, is fronted by Fort Worth, Texas magazine’s founding publisher, Mark Hulme). Five Star teamed last year with the Crockin’ Girls, a pair of small-town Texas mamas whose super-easy, time-saving recipes have reignited interest in slow cookers from coast to coast … and internationally too. Just this week, while copyediting the Girls’ newest pub, Crockin' Clean magazine, I thought to myself: This would make a perfect blurb for my blog! The mag features “75 guilt-free selections for breakfast, sides, entrees, soups and even desserts” — vegetarian and gluten-free options included — that are a breeze to make. Seriously, guys: You just throw in the ingredients and the slow cooker does the work. It’s like a plugged-in personal chef.
For the record, I don't make squat for mentioning the magazine. It's simply my editorial gift to you, dear friends, because I know how challenging menu planning can be — especially after a vacation week (whether that vacation was spent in paradise — or not). Tack on the healthy factor, and it's enough to make even the most intrepid chefs give their oven mitts the heave-ho.
Crockin' Clean is available in late April. For the full scoop, check out www.crockingirls.com.
