I absolutely love that my 14 month old now sits down and eats full family meals with us.  I enjoy spending that time with him and especially love preparing fun and wholesome meals for him to eat.  However, as with all new phases, this has put a crunch on our daily routine.  After working a full day and picking him up, I’m lucky to get home by 5:30.  He is always instantly at the pantry door asking for a snack- not to mention his current bedtime is about 7pm.    This has caused me to adapt from a “quick and easy” weeknight cooking style to what I now call “lightning fast!”

I really love cooking, and of course I wish I had time to prepare elaborate meals from scratch every evening, but I’ve learned to appreciate that every time we sit down together and eat a good meal is a success.

This time of year, quick cooking tends to involve my crock pot.  Here is one of the simplest (and tasty) recipes I know.  I hope to share many more!