Ok. There seems to be a rash of “realness” coming out in many mommy bloggers. You see, there are a few (and one especially well known) home making blogs where the authors present themselves to be the perfect wife, mom, teacher, homemaker, etc. In a turning of the tide movement, mommies every where seem to be coming out of the woodworks to show how UNperfect their life really is at certain moments.
And you know what? It’s a breath of fresh air to see another homemaking blogger let down her pretenses and show what her house is truly like amidst the daily coming and goings of family life. You see….sometimes, a dedicated stay-at-home mom (or any mom, for that matter!!) can get so caught up in wanting to be a “super-woman” that they feel crushed if they’re are unable to maintain a perfectly clean home and perfectly behaved children. Reading blogs where other mommies seem to have it ALL together doesn’t help matters any either. It can make us feel (in worst case scenarios) like jumping in our 3 day old pile of laundry and hiding with our store bought tide.
So with that in mind, I was thinking of something else that I’ve wondered about. (Brace yourself…I’m gonna “be real”, real quick).
In today’s health concious society, “homemade meals” are all the rage, right? Cooking at home is purpoted to be the best invention since sliced (homemade) bread.
Now, I’m not sure about you guys, but growing up, “Homemade meals” in my parent’s house meant just that – meals that were made at home. Whether that meant opening cans, dumping out a quick box of Kraft Mac & Cheese for lunch, or rolling out some pillsbury pie crusts, didn’t matter. Homemade was anything cooked at home. I never even thought to question this! Mom would often say “this is cooked from scratch” – and we’d laugh and say “who scratched it??”, to which she’d simply reply “The Jolly Green Giant” or “Campbells”. And it worked great for us. The food tasted terrific, it was made with love, and it guided me right on up into a pretty healthy adulthood life. Therefore, it never occured to me that there was a whole other attitute towards homemade meals….an attitute that scoffed at homemade meals that weren’t completely made from HOME scratch. I am finding this particular attitude more and more in various books I read or blogs I encounter. I sometimes even get the impression from many blogs that one should never even buy store bought canned goods! That was quite a shocker to me when I first started researching on how to fill a home pantry.
Does anyone out there truly NOT buy canned goods?? Canned goods, to me, are quintessential. Pork & Beans, french cut string beans, cream corn, canned peaches, cream of mushroom…. most cans cost less than 60 cent per can, so they’re not really that expensive. And I’m not sure if I’m reading right, but when I look at the ingredients of a can of string beans, all I ever see is “String Beans, Water” (maybe “Salt” on some?). Nothing funky, right? I LOVE canned foods, and I’m not sure if I could survive daily cooking without them. And the occassional can of pineapple is auyummi.
But when I read some homemaking advice books / blogs, I get the impression that I “should” feel inadequate because I’m not growing my own lima beans, preserving my own vine grown tomatoes, shaving the corn off of the cob myself, or chopping my organic farmer’s market mustard greens. Since when did the cook at home movement become the “cook-only-from-organic-scratch-or-your-family-isn’t-being-well-fed” movement???
So anyway…what I’m getting at (I can be quite long winded) is this….
Does anyone else besides myself still find “cooking from pure scratch” a novelty that just doesn’t fit into every day life?? What does “Homemade Meals” mean to YOU??
Sometimes I wonder if there are hoards of people out there cooking from scratch and laughing at my Jolly Green Giant loving self, or if these homemaking blogs present only an ideal that really isn’t followed by that many people. I mean, c’mon people…opening a ready-made can or two for dinner side dish is, to me, a time-saving, awesome modern luxury that is well worth the “less than a buck per can” cost. I also love me a 33 cent box of Great Value Mac & Cheese with Campbells Tomato Soup on the side once in a while. (Isn’t that sooo UN-PC??)
Other things I hear society “telling us” about eating, but I don’t go for, are….
~ “Everything tastes better if homemade”. I don’t agree. Little Debbie can make a better swiss roll than I can any day, Starbucks just has some major mojo goin’ on in the coffee arena, homemade tortillas tastes exactly the same irregardless of who makes them, Pillsbury chocolate chip cokies are beyond awesome, and Heinz can ketchup my fries any day. I know many things contain some supposedly bad-for-you preservatives, but I’d bet my dollar bill that a company who cooks up millions of the exact same foods daily – and sells them – has found a winning recipe that you probably haven’t. Just because something is “company made” doesn’t make it less tasteworthy than it’s homemade counterpart.
~ “Go Organic, or Die!” Maybe it’s because I dislike fads, but everyone’s fascination with organic this, and organic that just bugs me. Or perhaps maybe it’s because my wallet dislikes seeing one product for $3, and the same size product in organic for $6. So I’m supposed to choose between eating “organic” and thus starving because I can’t afford much…or eating non-organic and dying a slow, miserable death from pesticide poisoning?? I dunno. I’m just not all that convinced that the non-organic milk I’ve been drinking for 25 years now is suddenly killing me.
…..which brings me to….
~ ”Choices, choices, for one and all!” Why, oh why do we have so many choices for anything and everything?? Why can’t flour be flour and sugar be sugar and rice be rice? Just give me a barrel to tote it out in.
Anyway. I’m not suggesting in any way that one should eat nothing but storebought items. I myself do cook from scratch occassionally, and shop our local farmers market frequently (because it’s cheaper). It’s just that I view eating and meal preparation like the Greeks suggest….”Do all things in moderation”.
So anywho.
That’s my bit of “realness” for today. Although I do love cooking “homemade meals”, I rarely scratch them myself because I am a can-buying, non-organic, choice-denying, boxed mac&cheese lover.
(Would you like fries with that?) 
hrmph.
