Back to the Basics

Well it’s been a long while since I’ve blogged about something.  Amazing how life gets in the way of the simplest of tasks.  In the time that has passed since I last wrote an article, I’ve lost my father, a cousin and two wonderful friends, I have been volunteering at my son’s school as an art teacher for his class, drama for all three 1st grade classes and worked in the library….all of which have been very fulfilling, and also have taught a couple of classes at my daughter’s preschool.  So you can definitely say my days have been busy.

During some “free” time I’ve thought about how life has changed so much since I was a kid. I grew up in an old fashioned Sicilian household, where we made food from scratch, grew our own fruits and veggies, sewed clothes and other things to save the almighty dollar.

Now, as I finish “darning” my husband’s socks, I wonder…..when was the last time any of my friends picked up a needle and thread? Which of course then leads to thoughts of when was the last time anyone sewed anything? Does anyone know how to sew anymore?  I know a lot of friends my age know how because we were fortunate to have sewing class in middle school and home economics in high school, but not a lot of people carried on darning socks or even making curtains as time has gone on.  Manufacturers and retailers have made it easier for us to forget how to do these things from home for ourselves; especially since so many families rely on two incomes….who has time to do these things from home anymore? It’s easy for me to say “Well all you have to do is MAKE the time”, but I know in my reality, by the time the weekend comes, I’m tired and the house needs tending to, and the kids want to do stuff with us. So where does one fit in these things that take more time to do than “run to the store” and replace things we have little holes in, or frozen dinners to heat up for dinner? I’m still trying to figure that out myself.

Recently I started following a blog about a Mom that does a lot of “freezer” cooking, once a month. I think it’s great that she says that since she’s cooking dinner for one night, why not double or triple the ingredients so you can freeze the other parts of it for another night? Brilliant! I also have put my slow cooker to use for those scenarios too….I’ve made some awesome carnitas for dinner, in which I froze half of what I cooked for another occasion. Works out very well for my “lazy” evenings when I don’t feel like cooking. I even do the same for breakfasts lately…..I make a pot of steel cut oats, eat my fresh portion and refrigerate the rest for breakfasts during the week.   So many of these Moms have wonderful ideas on how to be frugal, not only with money, but with time. I love it.  I am hoping to change my ways so that I have a little more cash in my pocket and a little more time with my family.

Please don’t think I’m going to go back to the “pioneer” days, but getting back to doing things from home and from scratch, sounds like a good way to not help the environment a little bit, but also by helping to consume fewer preservatives that come in our prepared food.  Heck, I even promised my kids I would try to start a garden this year….last year, all we grew was carrots and strawberries, but you can ask the kids, and some of the neighbor kids, how yummy those carrots were.  Something about growing them and picking them yourself makes it all yummier. Well, I will do my best to keep my promise to my kids and am going outside to see if I have any more carrot seeds…..until next time:)   Happy Weekend!