The van is packed.
The house is buzzing with the excitement of leaving in the morning.
We are off to Seattle to the Christian Heritage Home School conference.
This will be our third year.
We are really looking forward to hearing Kevin Swanson, who is the main speaker this year.
The girls are excited about being in the chorale again. The chorale is always absolutely amazing.
Last year, we took our crock pot,
and cooked over night so that we would have a hot lunch the next day.
This year we are taking it a step further.
We are going to be cooking our meals while we travel.
All we need is an inverter, a deep cell battery and the crock pot.
It took some time to come up with meals that would not be terribly messy to eat on the go,
but this is what we're planning for our day of travel (It will take us about 7 hours):
For lunch we have prepared ham and cheese buns to be eaten cold along with various snacks.
At lunchtime, I will start some chicken breasts in the crock pot.
By dinner time, we can get out some buns, a prepared spread in a squeeze bottle,
and have hot chicken sandwiches.
During the conference, we will again cook a roast all night for hot sandwiches in outdoor buns
with pepperoncinis, hot mustard and pepper jack cheese-
these sandwiches are a family favorite.
At lunchtime, I will put the dinner in to cook all afternoon.
One evening we will have German Sausages, and the next night, Ham/vegetable bake.
During our stay, we will also cook taco meat, Sloppy Joe's, and chicken and rice casserole.
This is vacation, and I do want to rest,
so I opted for things I could just toss in the pot and turn it on.
Traveling with a large family can be burdensome on the budget,
and not all of us deal with fast food well,
or want to take the time to find a healthful meal to sit down to,
therefore, the crock pot is the answer for us.
Brilliant! It's such a help to read the details and menus, ways and means of your on-the-road meals. It helps me think outside of the rut. I hope you have a wonderful time and are mightily refreshed at the conference. It sounds so good to me to attend something like that! And a chorale for the singers! Delightful.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome idea, I love it! Enjoy the conference, and I hope you get a little rest along the way too. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are the most resourceful person I know, Julianne! :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great trip.
ReplyDeleteWhen all is said and done (and unpacked !) please post how all the meals turned out & share a few recipes . Could you give a basic price for cooking ala-van vs take-out too? Thank you for always sharing topics of substance !
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed weekend!
ReplyDeleteDoes your family have a place to stay? Our church is only 30 minutes away and would be more than happy to provide the basement. I'm sure you already have plans, but just in case....:-)
ReplyDeleteDear Finding Balance Mommy,
ReplyDeleteWe are staying in a "rest haven" house on Camano Island. It is a bit of a drive to the conference, but where we come from, everything is two hours away, so we are ok with it. The rest haven is a free vacation spot for pastors in our mission. It is a lovely place which we will enjoy for the entire week. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!
Will you be attending the conference? I am really looking forward to it!
I would love to, however our church is having our revival services this weekend so I won't be able to. Hopefully next year! Have a blessed time together as a family.
ReplyDelete