Crockpot Festival!

Barbara is hosting a Crockpot Festival at her cooking blog!

Normally I save this kind of message for my own cooking blog, but I figured that someone else might be in the same position I'm in right now. I just got Big Brother's school calendar in the mail today, and I know the other kids' calendar will soon follow. Then it will be the cross-country meet schedule, and basketball season, and, well, you know the drill! I'm going to need all the great ideas for slow-cooked meals I can find--and all of these are family-tested.

So despite the fact that I haven't even finished my August menu plan, I'm using this excuse to think ahead and browse among the offerings in the Crockpot Festival. Check it out!

Friday Fast--Not Fast Enough!

It kind of grosses me out that my kids enjoy the occasional can of Chef Boy-ar-dee ravioli. I make my own spaghetti sauce which they happily eat. So I'm not sure what it is with their craving for the canned stuff.

But when it's on sale, I pick up a couple of cans and keep them in the pantry for days when they're extra hungry after school.

Days like--today.

I wasn't paying much attention when Middle Sister used the microwave. There weren't any screams or anything, and Big Brother was in the middle of a long story about something that happened in his history class today. But Big Brother saw what she was cooking.

"Ooo, Chef Boy-ar-dee! If there's any left over, it's mine."

That got my attention. "Who's having Chef Boy-ar-dee?"

Middle Sister said, "Me!"

"You're not supposed to eat that today! It's got meat in it!"

Big Brother thought about that for a second. "I doubt if there's any real meat in there, Mom."

All these years of Catholic school, plus what we do at home, and the idea of Meatless Friday appears to be a new concept. I think it's time to get the kids more involved in the menu planning!