The great thing about a whopping pot o' soup, is that there are a couple of meals in there. Leave it in a crock pot and it doesn't matter when you're hungry, there's a mess of tasty right there. Crock pots are the Lazy Cook's best friend.

Just the two of us here at Chez Pod, so not quite as busy as yourself, but as I learned from my ma, who fed nine every day: a big pot goes a long way.

The Edit:

Instant Mashed 'Taters? Tom, Tom, Tom... tell me you are kidding. I know, they are easy, but they are also evil, at least a little bit. Not that much, really, to boil spuds and mash them, is it?

Okay, sorry, you've found your groove in feeding the clan, I can respect that.

But instant 'taters....

shudder

The Irish end of my gene pool weeps...