8 days and a wake up!

On the 15th, I return to work in the real world. No more editing photos in my sweats and sleeping in til 8am.

This was always the plan. Eventually, the kids would all be in school all day and I would go back to work. It happened about a month earlier than I really needed it to, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Thankfully, I have a very supportive family to help out with the kids until school starts.

Something I have to miss is dinner with my family. My shift, after 5 weeks of training, will not end til 10pm most nights. I relish dinner - mostly because I absolutely LOVE to cook. My family, especially my husband, have always had high praise for my culinary efforts. 

If I didn't plan this out, my husband would have 3 kids to bathe, to help with homework and do all evening chores - including dinner. Since I know my husband well, I decided the only way they could manage the nightly routine - including dinner - I had to go the way of the freezer meal. So today marked my first efforts. I got chili, Italian chicken, pot roast, pork chops & veggies, BBQ pork chops and taco meat freezing now. 

I also decided to try my hand at vegetable beef soup. I winged it without a recipe. And holy wow. Did I mention I can cook?! DELISH. I know you're wondering what the recipe is, right? Well, I didn't measure anything but here's the list:

Cut up stew meat

1 pack Lipton's onion soup mix

1 can Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup

1 can green beans (with juice)

1 can whole kernel corn (drained)

1 box beef broth

6 whole carrots, chopped into slices

4 celery stalks, halves and chopped (I also used some of the leafy ends)

6 potatoes, quartered

1/2 onion, chopped

Maybe a half cup of chopped bell pepper

Black pepper

Salt

Lawry's seasoning salt

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Summer savory

Basil

Oregano

I basically threw it all together and simmered it until the potatoes and carrots were soft enough to stab with a fork, and the stew meat was very tender. 

My teenage son had two helpings of soup tonight. I'm calling this a successful dinner. The best part is that I have enough for at least two more dinners for my family of five! Winning!!