Homemakers in the 50's STAYED HOME! to get stuff done!

   

     I did what every red blooded American Homemaker did in the 1950s this week. I stayed Home! We would have been a middle class one car Family so I shopped last Friday and just got back from errands and shopping for this week. I saved a bunch of money on my almost daily runs to the market where I needed one thing and bought much, much more. The Cashier always asks, "Did you find everything alright?" And the answer she hears scores of times every single day is, "OMG, I just came in for milk...or butter...or bread..." or something else and the cart is 1/2 full. I know this because I actually asked one day if she hears this a lot after I said the same thing. Her response, "A LOT!!!!!!!".
    Being a middle class Family in the 50's I know I am probably on a budget.  I wrote my Menu last night trying to stick with what I already had purchased last week on my over spending Grocery Run and what was in the cabinets and freezer...So, this week I spent a grand total of $13.78. No really...I did! I spent more on Chicken Feed this week than on groceries for the family. I usually cook and eat what I am in the mood for, thus the constant runs to the store. But I was treating myself as if I were a restaurant instead of a home that has a ton of food in it. I pretty much stuck to my menu last week. What I didn't produce I will cook this week! I find that my discipline is lacking in the 1950s or maybe it has always been lacking but is now so much more obvious with the restraints, and I must say, annoying! How can I be annoying to myself?...hasn't been too hard at all. I guess I expected this to be a breeze as I do so many things the old school way...or so I thought.
 
                                                                                                                     





So, as I have said before, that I find it hard to stick with this completely. Biggest stumbles is Social Media and the Microwave. Every single time I have stayed on Facebook longer than to post this blog or stuck something in the microwave (usually my cold cup of coffee) I feel like Elizabeth Lane from "Christmas in Connecticut".

If you do not know this old movie...just a quick blurb. Barbara Stanwyck plays the part of a magazine columnist that writes about her beautiful Home in the Countryside of Connecticut, her husband and baby, and the wonderful meals she cooks. In Reality, she lives in an apartment in NYC, is single and obviously no child and does not know how to cook. Okay, so that is a bit of a stretch peeking at more than my share of Facebook and using a microwave on occasion but still...that is what I think of when I pull my steaming cup of coffee from the little miracle box after 30 seconds.  For the most part I have kept to the 50's though. I still have only watched TV or movies from that era. I have been listening to only 40's and 50's music. I have been thinking ahead for meals and baking a bit more. My house is getting close to 1950s housewife clean and organized, still have some areas that need some real time to do that but remember I am also homesteading and taking care of chickens and getting ready to start the transplants for the veggie garden. I even had the time to take an inventory of my seeds and plant dates along with what needed to be started indoors and when!

The 1950s gives me a lot more time to do what I have needed to do.
   I have made my second batch of Jello in 35 years and the Naysayers response? "Yyaaaaasssss!" I didn't try to use the mold this time. But it made me laugh how well received the news was.
  Valentine's Day I made Eggplant Parmesan (Family Favorite) and Pinwheel Biscuit Shortcake, (shaped like hearts)

with Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries, Fresh whipped Cream. Unfortunately my husband didn't get home till around 8:30 at night delivering everyone's Valentines gifts to loved ones.  (FedEx) Okay, that is it for this week...Taking Saturday and Sundays off as it takes a really lot of time to put these together. Who would have thought? Not me!  Share this blog if you are liking the posts. Thanks!