Any birth worker you know will tell you that getting the nourishment you need for your body and soul isn’t always convenient to the birth professional in addition to being a mom.

Today the weather is pretty chilly in Northern Nevada. We’ve had a bad storm blow through, and while our little town of Elko itself didn’t get socked in badly, the outer areas sure did…

We all have the cold and at least some snow in common though. On cold gross days like this, I like to reach into my deep freezer and grab a cut of meat that I don’t think will be good for serving as is… maybe it’s got too much connective fibre, or the fat isn’t an appealing level of marbling, and of course for a soup bone.

You think of cooking differently when you are in a more rural area, and try to find ways to make use of more than you would if you lived in a large metropolitan area. Or at least I do.

My favorite way to get easy to prepare nourishment that’s seriously low mess and easy cleanup is of course to use my crock pot. Seriously this Nesco Slow cooker (I’m not getting reimbursed to promote it, I just love it) is used more than my Kitchenaid Mixer, and sometimes even more than my stove itself.

Today’s lunch? Beef Barley soup. I had a steak left from a 4 pack that the kids and I had the other three of and decided that it was just too tough a steak (I didn’t really do a lot to prepare ahead of time in its defense) and I started that in the crock pot late yesterday afternoon. I threw in more water this morning when it had boiled down, and then when the water got hot again, I poured in about 1/4 a cup of barley – all before I even had my first cup of coffee.

About 30 minutes before serving I poured in some frozen veggies (It’s 12:30pm as I write this.) If I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll open a package of biscuits I have in my freezer and bake them up to go with it.

My son will be back from playing outside in the snow shortly and we’ll have a homemade nutritious lunch that not only will be filling, but have the carbohydrates, protein and iron, not to mention the vitamins that my little boy will need to help him continue growing and remain healthy. Oh and help keep him off ADHD medicine as he can be as bouncy as a rubber ball in the mouth of a puppy when he eats anything with preservatives or artificial food coloring.

Taking care of our families and selves doesn’t need to be difficult, and as Birth workers it’s essential we do as best we can for ourselves too.

Images used with permission and property of National Weather Services Elko Nevada and Angela Morris, CTTH.