When I was in my early twenties and setting up my first apartment, my mother tried to give me a crock pot. I turned it down thinking it was outré to have one in my kitchen. I was an up and coming career girl! What use was a crock pot to fabulous me?  What a silly, silly girl I was. Last summer we moved into a wonderful new home. Someone (I swear it wasn’t me) had the brilliant idea that we upgrade our gas cook top to a professional slide in range. You know those stainless steel behemoths that you can prepare dinner for one hundred on? We imagined all of the gourmet meals we’d cook on our new gas range. Our friends would be so jealous *smirk*! Six weeks and three failed gas line and hood inspections later, we still couldn’t use our fancy stove.  I was cooking with our plug in skillet or we were eating out. We were still weeks away from approval of our new 1200 cfm hood (a hood, BTW, so powerful that it threatened to suck my poor child into the grill if he happened to toddle by – but that’s another blog). I had to do something. The next day I ran out and bought a crock pot. I remembered my mom used hers all the time when we were growing up. I love to cook and experiment with recipes so I rummaged around and pulled this spicy soup together. It’s a riff on a recipe my company’s dining room chef prepares and it’s one of my husband’s favorites:

Chicken Tortilla Soup (a la Boss Mom)

1 large Rotisserie Chicken
2-3 tbsp of Extra virgin olive oil for sautéing and drizzle during simmering
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic (or more if you wish)
1 large bunch of cilantro washed and dried
1 packet of hot taco seasoning
2 tbsp of chili powder
1 tsp of cumin
3 15oz cans of fire-roasted tomatoes with liquid
3 cartons (about 9 cups) of chicken broth (low-sodium is okay)
2 cup of shredded carrots
2 cups of chopped celery
salt and pepper to taste
1 small jalapeno pepper (remove seeds to decrease the heat)
2 large cans of sweet corn
½ cup of fresh lime juice

Chop the onions and garlic and sauté in olive oil. Add in celery and sauté mixture until translucent. Transfer to crock pot. Add chicken broth and tomatoes along with taco seasoning, chili powder and cumin. Pull chicken off the bone, discarding skin, and add to soup mixture. Stir gently until all ingredients are well combined. Simmer on high for about 20 -30 minutes. Add corn and carrots and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir gently. Simmer on low for 1 hour stirring occasionally. To finish, stir in lime juice, chopped cilantro and drizzle with more olive oil. Serve topped with baked or fried tortilla strips. Makes about 10-12 servings. Serve with a cold beer or a hearty red wine and enjoy!

Now that winter’s here I use my crock pot all of the time for chili, stews, short ribs and vegetable soups. I throw everything in the crock pot the night before and the next morning I have a gorgeous one-pot meal ready for that night’s dinner. Sometimes mother does know best.

My husband has a lot of great qualities but housekeeping isn’t one of them. About a year ago, I was working long hours and was struggling to keep the house clean and organized to my exacting standards. My mother is the ultimate Boss Mom and I frequently seek her advice. One
day I called her on a Saturday in tears frustrated and exhausted.

“MomIamsotiredandthehouseisafreakingmessandhewontheeelpppme!” I wailed. “Sweetheart, why in the world are you still trying to do everything yourself? How many times have I told you to outsource?” My mother is so smart. Why was I killing myself? A few days later, I asked my stylist, Carl (who has a hookup for just about anything) if he knew a good housekeeper. He introduced me to Francisca who changed my life and probably saved my marriage. She came a few days letter with a crew of four other women. Two hours later the toilets were so clean I could have served dinner out of them. My baseboards shined and the kitchen gleamed. Even my husband, who initially kicked up a big fuss about not wanting “strange ladies” in the house, was impressed. Francisca now comes three times a month to clean the house. I love her so much I’m contemplating increasing her cleaning sessions to weekly and asking her to do laundry. I love coming home on those Fridays to find a spotless, fresh smelling home. Bonus for me, I don’t have to spend my Saturdays cleaning the shower and mopping floors. I admit it. I’m an outsourcing devotee now and have no plans to turn back After receiving an on-line coupon for discount diapers, I placed my first order for a jumbo box of Pampers through Diapers.com. This site carries anything you might need for a baby including items for your nursery, baby clothes, toys and the like. Prices are anywhere from 10% – 20% off of retail store prices for some items. Big bonus, shipping is free and your order will arrive in two days. They even send you a reminder when it’s time to reorder your diaper supply. Best of all? No late night runs to the store because we’ve used our last diaper. Even better, their sister site Soap.com, features cleaning supplies, toiletries and household goods like trash bags and paper towels at below retail prices. And the site will conveniently ship your Diapers.com and Soap.com orders together.

Last winter I discovered Dream Dinners. It’s a terrific resource for busy families. With Dream Dinners you can assemble healthy, gourmet meals on their premises (I confess that I pay the extra $10 bucks and have them pack the meals for me) that can be frozen and then defrosted for the days you don’t feel like cooking. The menu changes monthly and they have a wide variety of entrees and sides to mix and match to create your own gourmet meals. My local grocery store has an online shopping service where you pick your groceries online and they’ll bag them for a pick up time of your choosing. And I’ve just been turned on to Southern Foods, a service that delivers hormone and antibiotic free meats and organic vegetables direct to your home along with a wide variety of dry goods. They will even unpack your purchases and put them into your freezer. What’s not to love? I’m excited to try this service out.

I’m nothing if not pragmatic. The reality is that working moms need help; and sometimes you’ve got to pay for that help. These days I am all for trying anything that will save me time so I can be with my family. I’ve decided that my time is valuable and that for some things, like housework, it pays to pay someone else to do it. Tell me, what do you think of outsourcing? A marriage saver or a waste of hard-earned money?