Being a stay-at-home mother (responsible, sport, SAHM, teaching)
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I wonder how many people cook from scratch all the time, even if they are home. I am happy with the meals I provide. I use frozen veggies because I hate chopping and I am not great at planning and shopping. I use organic beef. I microwave potatoes. Fast food is a very rare occurrence. I make large portions and we eat left overs. It doesn't take hours and hours.
It takes me a long time to cook dinner (about an hour usually) mostly because I try to bring my kids into the kitchen with me so they can learn how to cook, too. I also involve them with the clean-up, which also makes things take a little longer. Sure - I could do everything alone and have it done faster, but my kids wouldn't benefit from that.
I'm cooking dinner right now in a cast iron pan. From scratch! It will take a minute or less to clean the pan by hand. Who the heck still uses non stick cookware anyway?
I don't own any non-stick nope. My cast iron skillet is my favorite thing in the kitchen. The food is so yummy, and it's so easy to clean. Even my eggs don't stick.
And WHY would a school uniform be so difficult to keep track of and keep clean when you have a washer and dryer????
Depends, I suppose, on your definition of "keep track of" (if I'd meant simply "laundering", I would have used that term), the type of uniform, and your standards of cleanliness.
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Sorry, not buying it. We've, literally, seen 60+ hours a week of work removed from the home and that is before you account for much smaller families today. The combination of labor saving devices and smaller families has made life easier on today's full time working mom than it was on our stay at home grandmothers. That's a good thing.
Y'know, between the "not buying it" and rolling eyes you remind me of one of the more unpleasant teenaged children of my acquaintance. It would probably help not to use your students as social roll models.
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I will agree the bar has been raised because we can now have careers in addition to motherhood because we have so little left to do at home. What took my grandmother all day takes me a couple of hours. My grandmother had little time to spend with her kids. I have more in spite of holding down a full time job. I think that's cool.
Generally speaking, things often take less time for working parents because of one or more of thses three:
1. No one's home all day
2. Hired help
or 3. Lower standards.
At home parents generally are home with children or their own elderly parents, none of whom are by nature tidy.
If you don't have to look at it all day, a messy house, unmade beds, or undusted venetian blinds don't bother you nearly as much.
I don't own any non-stick nope. My cast iron skillet is my favorite thing in the kitchen. The food is so yummy, and it's so easy to clean. Even my eggs don't stick.
I love my cast iron as well. It's the original non-stick! Without all of the chemicals.
I love my cast iron as well. It's the original non-stick! Without all of the chemicals.
I use only cast iron and aluminum pans. No non-stick.
And I do some of my cooking from scratch, too. A roast with potatoes, carrots, celery, herbs is as easy to make as any processed food. Same goes with chicken, rice and broccoli. Or baked fish, sauteed spinach and chickpeas, salad.
I draw the line at rolling out/cutting pasta dough, I buy most of my bread and I usually use store bought broth when I make my homemade soups.
But a lot of the food that I cook today is the exact same food that mom and grandma cooked in their day. I even use their recipes sometimes!
I use only cast iron and aluminum pans. No non-stick.
And I do some of my cooking from scratch, too. A roast with potatoes, carrots, celery, herbs is as easy to make as any processed food. Same goes with chicken, rice and broccoli. Or baked fish, sauteed spinach and chickpeas, salad.
I draw the line at rolling out/cutting pasta dough, I buy most of my bread and I usually use store bought broth when I make my homemade soups.
But a lot of the food that I cook today is the exact same food that mom and grandma cooked in their day. I even use their recipes sometimes!
I'm with you. Cooking from scratch doesn't necessarily take long. Some dishes take time while others are quick. There's nothing better then a home cooked meal, especially when it's a recipe from Mom or Grandma. I enjoy cooking for my family and my dd likes to help out in the kitchen which adds extra time but is worth it for the experience.
I do agree we now cater to kids. THAT is what has replaced the work grandma did and that is unfortunate because all it has accomplished is spoiling our kids. Grandma stayed home because you needed a housewife at home to take care of the home. She did not stay home for the kids. In fact, she spent very little time with her kids and when she did, she was, likely, putting them to work. IMO, part of the problem today is that our kids have been catered to. They're spoiled, lazy and convinced the world revolves around them and that real work is something someone else does, not them.
Such a sad, negative and pessimistic view of kids.
How is it any more time consuming to keep carpet clean than it is to keep hard floors and throw rugs clean? I'll take sorting recycling and emptying garbage over cooking from scratch any day.
I've had both over the years - all wood floors throughout the whole house and now we have all carpet. I know carpet seems easy because all you do is vacuum and have it steam cleaned once or twice a year... but 1. we have boys who play sports and are very active outdoors and track in everything imaginable even with the leave your shoes at the door house rule, 2. we have cats who shed and puke and claw the carpet in spots where we have to trim or comb the carpet to keep it looking nice and 3. we live in Oregon where it's cold, wet, and muddy most of the year which only makes #1 that much more trouble. Believe me... at least in Oregon with kids and cats I'd LOVE to go back to having and caring for good ole' wood floors again!
Last edited by haggardhouseelf; 09-21-2011 at 02:37 PM..
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It will take a minute or less to clean the pan by hand. Who the heck still uses non stick cookware anyway? 
