I have always said that I grew up in the best years ever. I grew up in the fifties and sixties and things, people, possibilities were just awesome. There were Saturday afternoon movie matinees, drive-in movies, so many good burger and hang out places, and Home Economics taught in our schools. The Home-Ec classes are the best thing ever.
I learned to follow a pattern and cut out material and to sew that article into a wearable garment. The first thing I ever made, on a treadle sewing machine during our classes was a blue dress with a big sailor collar. I learned to iron. Most housewives these days don't even own an iron. If my daughter is in need of one, she calls me to borrow mine and she borrows the "Ironer". During the early years of our marriage my husband was in the army and I had to iron and starch his green fatigues so that they could stand alone with no wrinkles. I learned how to do this while in school, good thing. And cooking? The first thing we made in class was shrimp cocktail and it was the very first time I have ever eaten the crustaceans in my life and it was just so good! I learned to season and cook several things during those classes. What happened to Home Economic classes? For some reason my mind ponders the thought that perhaps the "women's movement" might have put an end to these applicable learnings. We women wanted to be classified as bread winners right along side our husbands as we were forced into the workforce to afford our styles of living and these menial tasks seemed beneath us. I would like to go on record as of right now, I was never and never will be okay not being the homemaker and not the main financial earner in our family. I love the domestic part of my marriage.
I grew up however, watching the perfect television mothers - Donna Reed, June Cleaver, Harriet Nelson and others, and I had the mindset that I needed to cook, clean, and raise my children in the same way. I was once a fastidious housekeeper. I vacuumed, mopped, dusted, kept my dishes out of the sink, cleaned bathrooms daily, and never missed a corner. I sewed my children's clothes and gave them so many baths a day their little skins was chapped. I had their baths before my husband came home from work and had supper, always a southern dish, on the table every night at six o'clock. I drove myself crazy to be perfect, no flaws. Then several years later I found new shows on television to enjoy - Rachel Ray, Semi Home made, and Sandra Lee who mixed boxed and fresh. These women saved my sanity and gave me so much relief from the regimented schedule I had been staying with that I was set free. I figured out it was okay if I had a little dirt on my floors, a few dirty dishes lining the sink, my children looked like neglected urchins sometimes, and I used foods that were pre-made and just add that fresh touch and who knew? And sometimes, just sometimes dinner was on the table at seven instead of six. It felt so good to be flexible and with the new mindset of bending in some of my ideas of a perfect homemaker.
With our world the way it is now, house and car payments, the costs of clothes, utilities, and food, it takes both parents to be the "breadwinner" just to live these days. I've been there and it's not easy to work eight hour days and come home to work eight more with small littles in the equation. It's so easy to grab a burger or pizza and keep running to keep our houses running. I truly miss the old days, even the days I wanted to be perfect.
Here is an idea to make a meal easier. We love chicken and dressing on cold days but it takes so long to make so I sometimes do this instead.
1 box of cornbread Stovetop stuffing, 1/2 cup of chopped celery, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 5-6 chicken tenders, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, 3/4 cup of milk, 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, salt and pepper, poultry seasoning
Saute celery and onion in 1 T. of oil until tender and add to stove top stuffing. Lay chicken tenders on the bottom of a 9x13 dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Mix cream of chicken soup and milk in a bowl and pour over chicken in bowl. Add the stuffing mix, celery and onion on top and pour over the chicken broth. (If you need 2 boxes of stuffing just increase to 2 cans of cream of chicken, 1 cup of milk and 2 cups broth). Bake 375* for 30 minutes covered and uncover and bake 10 minutes more.
Serve with cranberry sauce.
