My First Slow Cooker Experience - Chicken and Mushrooms

A year or so ago, Damien told his mom that we'd like a slow cooker for Christmas. I am not sure what possessed him to say this. I have never used a crock pot in my life, and while Damien does do some of the cooking around here, I just couldn't imagine him thinking of a recipe to throw in the thing before he went off to report on something.

Well, a couple of years later, it has never seen the outside of a closet -- and it takes up a lot of room in that closet cuz it ain't a tiny piece of equipment. That is until today. I have absolutely no idea how to use a slow cooker, but it seems pretty easy -- I mean, just throw a few ingredients in there and set to cook. Right?

I guess the idea of ending up with a nice meal in 4 to 6 hours with minimal effort sounds good to me right now. I have been having some trouble budgeting my time since I have an actual paying job to do this week. The tough part of being a freelancer and a mom is that when I have real work to do for someone other than my family, my job of taking care of Baz and keeping the Oliva Cave house in order doesn't just get put on hold. Baz still needs to be dressed, fed and entertained, laundry still needs to get done if I want something to wear, and, of course, dinner needs to be made. And since it is just freelance, it's not like I get into a rhythm. Things are too erratic for that.

Now, Damien is really great -- much better than average -- so this is not to say that my husband is good for nothing or that men just don't get it. He gets it, but he has a demanding, full time job every day.

It's just that even with his help, being a mom is a full time job, more so than I ever imagined. In fact, I'd actually like to apologize right now to my mom and my mom friends who have known this for a long time. I was insensitive. So, when I add to my schedule -- even when it's not as demanding as a breaking news video for The New York Times -- that means I have a second full-time job. People will say, why don't you just get a babysitter and I do. I do get someone to help me out for a few hours here and there, but that can only cover so much time and, quite frankly, finding people and getting them organized takes a bunch of time, too, not to mention that since I work from home the distractions are endless even when someone is watching him. And it's limited. Before baby, I'd just work all day and night until the job was done. Now I have to be ready to work during the time I have help, and if you work in something creative you know that sometimes your creative juices aren't quite as disciplined as your schedule.

I really am not complaining so much as I am trying to figure this out. I mean, hell, I'm super lucky -- my husband is great, I can afford to get some help and at least I actually have some work, work that I can do at home no less. It's just is it possible to have a successful part-time freelance career and take care of babies? If any of you have any tips for how you organize your work/baby life, I'd love to hear them.

In the meantime, I'm still cooking with that slow cooker. I put some cut up chicken breast in there with about 10 sliced up mushrooms, 1 small diced onion, 2 chopped up carrots,2 chopped up cloves of garlic, some fresh thyme, a bay leaf, 1/2 cup of wine, 1/2 cup cream and 1 cup of chicken broth. I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe this crock pot will become a big help as I go forward. Oh, and thanks for the gift, Mrs. Cave.