My 2 Gems. My son is a ham so getting a decent picture of all 3 of us was a challenge!

For most of us, barrel racing is our hobby and our passion rather than a full time job.  Sometimes it can be difficult to balance our desire to barrel race with our other responsibilities like work and parenting.   Personally, I work from home with a flexible business while raising two children under 3.   I have to admit these kids have definitely put my barrel racing problems into perspective.   My poor horses aren’t my “babies” anymore and barrel racing is something I “get” to do now, it’s not my everything.   Most times I’m just happy to be there now rather than being there to win.   Interestingly enough, the winning comes with a more simplified attitude.

Preparing Freezer Stew (This isn’t the recipe listed)

Whether you have kids or not, finding the balance between work and play can be a challenge.   One tip I have is to plan and prepare your meals in advance.  It frees up time and will ensure you are fueling your body with goodness. Before the birth of my second child, my Mom and I did some shopping and chopping, putting 12 freezer meals in the freezer.  Anyone that has kids knows getting you and the kids fed is a big part of each day.  Having our meals prepared  in advance turned out to be a huge blessing.   It is easy enough to do the prep by yourself, but my Mom and I enjoy our visits while we do the work.  You might get together with a fellow barrel racer, double the recipes and have twice the fun while you are at it.

There are hundreds of freezer meals available online now and I have froze over 50  meals  using  15-20 different recipes.

We have our favorites now.   I started with these 8 slow cooker meals from the Six Sisters blog.     Most sites suggest you thaw your freezer bag in the fridge for 24 hrs prior to putting it in the crockpot.  I haven’t been that organized yet and usually just grab it in the morning and put in in the pot frozen for the day and it works out.   Nobody has been sick and its always cooked.  Sometimes I have to defrost it a bit so I can break the frozen chunk down so it fits in my crockpot.

I like to prepare all my freezer bags in advance. I write the name and cooking instructions on the bag.

One of our favorite recipes is the Cilantro Lime Chicken from Six Sisters.   After it is cooked we like to shred the chicken,put it back in the pot and stir it in with the rest of the ingredients.   We serve it over rice, top it with salsa and eat (most of it) by scooping it up with tortilla chips.    If you wanted, I bet adding some sour cream, cheese or guacamole would be delicious as well.   We are gluten free in our house so this meal fits the program nicely.   Most of the freezer meals can be adapted to be gluten free and you can replace the pasta with quinoa or rice.