Everyone Pitches In

Making most of our meals from scratch is work. When I was employed and out of the house for 9 plus hours a day five days a week it was really, really hard to make a majority of our meals from scratch. I did the best I could but running in the local grocery store and grabbing a hot roasted chicken and microwavable mashed potatoes was so easy. Ordering pizza on a Friday night just seemed like a nice end to the tough work week. Now that I’m home we still have pizza once a week but we stepped up to gourmet pizza. Homemade, thick, cheese-stuffed crust with veggies and bacon or burger.  Our homemade pizza is better than any purchased pizza we have ever had. The cost difference is huge. The crust cost only cents to make, .54cents to be exact. Making the crust seemed daunting at first but we figured out how to use our stand mixer or our bread maker to combine the ingredients without the mess.

The sauce, cheese (we buy brick cheese and grate it ourselves) and toppings average $7.00. $8.00 for an extra large, extra cheese, meat and veggie topped, stuffed crust, 12 slice gourmet pizza. Yummm!

Now that I am a stay at home-school at home Mom I do not have any excuse to not feed my family healthy, homemade, and low-cost meals. The difference is that now everyone pitches in. The boys and I are home all day and we can have the dinner prep completed before lunch. All the chopping, peeling, and measuring is completed and ready for the oven. Meal prep is a great opportunity to spend quality time with your family. Math, problem solving, planning and motor skills are just some of the skills that can be developed during this time. The boys are willing participants and I overlook many calamities to keep the mood light and cheerful. We have found that including the boys in the meal preparation they are more agreeable to trying new foods and in eating meals that look nothing like their boxed competitors. My husband is “famous” for his homemade macaroni and cheese. Our oldest child (soon to be 22) still request this meal when she is home. The recipe is baked and uses white sharp cheddar cheese so it looks nothing like the blue box that most kids would eat 3 times a day if they could. When macaroni and cheese is on the menu the boys argue over who will grate the cheese which is usually all grated by noon.

My husband works 40-60 hours a week and still pitches in. On his day off he will cook the main meal or help the boys and I. When we first met I assumed I would always do all of the cooking. I am the wife is that not my job? I have discovered that cooking is no ones job and its every ones job. Confused? Everyone regardless of gender needs to know how to cook. Everyone has different tastes and ideas. When everyone is a part of the process then generally everyone ends up happy. Happy = Good and everyone benefits from that.