Yes Corie, I do see your point. The complete preparation of meals can be such a drudge in our lives and does take soooo much time and can be a bit daunting. But, not to be beaten by the task, I have a couple of suggestions that might make the ordeal somewhat more bearable. Think of it this way: 1. The actual preparation can be a time of exploration for both you and your husband. A time when your minds may meld to achieve an ecstatic revelation of culinary taste and accomplishment. 2. After enjoying your mutual nutritional creations, the two of you can gather together back in the kitchen and learn anew your: a. organizational skills b. sanitation skills c. skin and fingernail cleansing and nutritional skills d. management communicational skills e. teamwork skills Since the maids normally do the kitchen duties our organizational skills may be lacking for they know where everything is and is supposed to go. Good management in any business venture insists that the manager / owner know as much or more than the help ergo: a day for management to get their hands into the mix, hence build the organizational skills so that in essense, items a,d, and e might be accommodated. Food sanitation is something I do NOT rely on others to have my personal well being at heart. Doing means knowing and knowing means that am well versed in newer and better products and methods in which to make my dining experience a total success. This time a,b,d, and e fit in. While actually DOING the dishes and cleaning up (sans dishwasher) you will find that by useing the right products both your husbands and your hands will be softer, and your fingernails much cleaner without any effort at all. You can actually play a little rub-a-dub-dub with your husband which might help insure a nice "dessert" afterwards. So now, at this point, a,b,c,d,and e are all at play and when you decide that "dessert" is appropriate they all come into play once again. How's that for "time" management !?
@Bobby Cole, in spite of the long litany on the benefits of cooking your own food, I don't this it is workable for us, hahahaaah. But seriously, what I said about saving time and effort from cooking is true. When there are only the 2 of us, it is economical when we order food. When the food arrives, we happily eat knowing that there is not much mess to clean up and no dishes to wash. Although sometimes we cook during weekends, ordering food or eating out is the standard. Even when we have a housemaid, the only duty delegated to her is mostly the cleaning of the house and the surroundings. We seldom let her cook and at the most maybe is for frying tasks only. We still handle the cooking.
Just a bit of price info Corie. Because of this thread I paid attention to the price. I opened a package of 4 center cut pork chops. The price was $6.30 I cooked all 4 in the oven. I also opened a quart of Irish potatoes my wife canned earlier. Also we had some leftover peas and okra from the freezer that we had cooked yesterday. So my wife and I each had a pork chop along with the vegetables and there is plenty left for tomorrows meal. It's hard to put a price on home grown vegetables but you can compare to what you would pay in the store. The meat being the most expensive part of the meal cost us $3.15 for both of us or $1.58 each. Add the cost of vegetables and compare that to any similar meal in a restaurant. Admittedly many of our meals cost more but I'd guess this is fairly typical of what our meals cost.