Let’s be honest, we’re all busy and we don’t want to spend our entire vacation cooking for our family. I had a friend tell me she took her family to the beach and she was so busy cooking and cleaning behind them that she spent 2 hours at the beach the entire time she was gone. What was she doing? Cooking, making beds, trying to keep everything clean in the house they rented from getting to the point of no return when it came to the last day so she could clean it all up and pack it away for the trip home. What was the point of going on vacation just to work the whole time?

Trips like they were describing had become commonplace for my friends who took their family for that yearly week long trip to the mountains or the beach. Mom or grandma spent all the time on their trip working, just like they would at home. When I told them that I only cooked in the morning, they were surprised. As an early bird, I’d rather spend that one hour in the morning preparing for the day than spend the whole day working. I wanted to enjoy the beach too! I want to hike the mountain paths with my family! So what did I do? Packed the blessed “witch’s cauldron” and some crockpot liners! For an extra 10-20 minutes every morning, I could have my freedom for the rest of the day! 

So what does my family love to go eat every Saturday night? Mexican! And what can I make at home for a lot less money, and is easy to make on vacation? Mexican! 

What you’ll need:

4 large chicken breasts

3 large peppers (I use red, orange and yellow. More color means more flavor!)

1 onion

2 packets of your favorite taco seasoning 

1 can fire roasted tomatoes 

Chop up those peppers and onions. Dump the can of tomatoes into the bottom of the pot. Layer the chicken breasts right over the top. Later the peppers and onions right over the chicken and sprinkle those packets of taco seasoning over those. Put that pot on low for 8 to 10 hours and head out the door to the beach! Depending on your family’s preference, you can serve over rice. I use the juices from the crockpot to mix into white rice to get that Mexican flavoring into everything. They can also toss them onto some tortillas. I keep a blend of Mexican cheese on hand for the family to top to their taste. 

When you get done, just toss that liner away, clean the pot and get it set up for the next morning so you can make dinner then!