If you are a stay-at-home mom you will understand what I mean when I say that during the summer there is always more work to do than usual.  The kids are home so there are more crumbs to clean up off the floor, more laundry to do, arts and craft supplies are all over the house, toys in every room, dishes piling up in the sink, and bathing suits and towels everywhere!  Hey, Mom needs a break too.  Why does everyone else get a holiday, and mom doesn’t?  

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My husband and two high school daughters leave very early in the morning for work and school so I tend to make their lunches the night before and that way they can just pull them out of the fridge in the morning, and off they go.  But during the summer all six of us wake up at different times so there are always cereal bowls and toast crumbs all over the kitchen table and in the sink.  My husband and I get up first, so we will usually be done our breakfast by the time our four kids come down to eat.  By the time everyone is done eating and I have done all the breakfast dishes, it is almost time to get lunch started. 

 Of course no one wants a plain, easy to prepare sandwich because that is what they have been eating for most of the year at work and school.  So, naturally that means mom has to cook.  Which means, pots, pans and a stove to clean up afterwards.  Not to mention the fact that now I have to come up with two main meal ideas for one day!  I have a lot of ideas for meals because I enjoy cooking (most of the time) but sometimes it can be very hard when you have picky eaters.  It actually feels like I have to come up with a lot more than two main meals in a day during the summer because there is always someone who doesn’t like one or two of the ingredients so I will have to make something totally different for that person.  Also, I don’t eat meat and my family does, so sometimes I even forget to make something for myself because I am so concerned about making food for everyone else.  You can see some of the recipes I’ve come up with on my blog, Veg on the Web.