Homemaker’s Reset

 

Trained at Home

I was trained from an early age to keep a home frugally and efficiently. Being raised by a grandmother who lived through the Great Depression and World War II had a lot to do with that. Growing up, I was always a little bit old-fashioned, even for my grandmother. I loved the Civil War and Pioneer Eras. The Little Women and Little House on the Prairie books were where I lived, and I always played as if I were recreating that world. We didn’t watch much TV, so books were my escape and my best friends. They also helped to reinforce the lessons about home I was learning.

The Comforts of a Grandmother’s Kitchen

Some of my earliest lessons in homemaking didn’t come from books — they came from the kitchen. Food was the one thing that seemed to be at the center of the home. Even today, we crave comfort foods when we are sick or stressed. I was much older before the term “comfort food” came into use, but I would say the meals that brought me comfort were my grandmother’s enormous pancakes, her soup beans, cornbread, and hash browns. I can replicate those, but they never taste exactly like she made them. Today, we are facing the same issues those women faced in the past. How can I create a meal that fills my family, is healthy, and doesn’t cost a fortune?

Skills That Once Shaped Young Women

Over the years, we have lost many of the methods once common for training young girls and women. We knew how to keep a home clean with minimal supplies. Today we have cleaners, cloths, and methods to clean just about everything that wouldn’t have been in our grandmother’s arsenal. Not that some of the things they used were healthy or as effective at disinfecting as modern products, but they still managed to clean a home and raise a family with minimal chemicals and more elbow grease.

We always had a garden. It might not have been as hearty as the old Victory gardens, but it supplied loads of fresh fruit and vegetables and enough surplus for canning. I was an extremely picky kid. I hated most meat and didn’t like tinned vegetables or fruit, but I would happily eat fresh and personally canned items. Believe me, I know where my meals came from. One side of my family was dairy farmers, and the other was grocery store owners. Just about everyone I knew hunted as well. I was taught to prepare inexpensive meals. We also did not eat out unless it was a special occasion. We had sandwiches, water, and fruits and vegetables to eat while traveling. I can only remember one time we stopped at a McDonald’s while traveling.

I do not know how people can afford to eat out so often these days. Prices at the store are going up, and I doubt they will go down. There are still deals out there. We got a huge watermelon for 2.99 just the other day. If you use a price book, you can see where prices have gone up and where you can get a deal if you know what you paid last year or more. A price book doesn’t have to be anything extravagant. Find a little notebook to keep in your purse or bag, and write down the items you purchase regularly and the date so you can see in real time whether you’re getting a good deal.

I still have a garden, and I love the fresh vegetables it produces. There’s nothing like preparing a meal with ingredients you’ve picked from your own garden. My daughter doesn’t have much space, but she has created a small potted garden to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and her own herbs. Make Do mindset right there.

A Simpler Vision for This Blog

I am in a reset for this blog. I gave myself another year of self-hosting my blog. I always wanted to write and create a blog that may inspire or encourage young and older women with older wisdom that can still be useful today. You don’t need a million-dollar home or a fancy kitchen with tons of gadgets to prepare a meal or create a loving atmosphere as a sanctuary from the crazy world we live in. Nothing these days is certain. We can learn from those who also went through uncertain times.

I’m not looking for advertising, and I’m not looking to make loads of money from affiliate links. If I suggest something, it will be because I believe what a book says, and I share it because it can be useful. I have created many blog posts designed to be SEO-friendly to attract readers. I have also been lucky to write a couple of articles for my blog. In the future, I may or may not develop SEO-friendly posts, but I wanted something that was more me. I’m not tech-savvy, and I’m really not a big fan of social media. These platforms, I think, have caused so much harm in our society and have removed us from truly personal connections.

Just want to write

I really just want to write about what I am thinking and encourage another generation. You don’t need another TikTok gadget or way of doing things. Maybe visit some local museums to see how we lived in the past. That has been my goal for the last year, and I enjoy seeing how much slower life is. Yes, it was harder, but there is still wisdom there that we can apply to our own lives.