Pretty Efficiency

Do I know how to make cookies?  Of course.  But that's not all they teach you in four years of college-level Home Ec (despite what many people assume).  They also teach efficiency, time management, money management, and tricks of the Home Manager's trade.  I love being able to contribute to food events at our church whether showers, meals, receptions, Sunday school snacks, or whatever.  But life gets busy, and it certainly isn't practical ALL the time to try and fit in a home-baked item.  Does that mean I have to say no?  Does that mean I have to buy something from the store and plunk it on the table to say "There, I contributed"?  No to both!  So here's my little, simple trick of the trade: Buy something and just arrange it on your own dishes!  Time is valuable, sometimes more so than dollars.  And service to others is priceless as it is commanded in Scripture.  Don't put value on dollars more than time and people.  Sometimes, it's worth it to spend a bit more to be able to contribute but in a way that looks nice and blesses people.

Three specific examples of what I've done:

1) I LOVE potato salad.  But it can be time consuming.  And Safeway makes the best Southern potato salad ever!  So I have been known several times to buy Safeway's potato salad and make it pretty in one of my white bowls for baby and wedding showers.  No one knows any different because it fits right in with the pretty table decor!

2) I know that April is going to be a crazy month for my family, but I also gave Hubz "12 Pies for 12 Months" for Christmas.  That means he gets a pie even if it's a busy month for us.  When you do the cost breakdown for a lemon meringue pie, it's pennies more to just buy one and A LOT less time (and hassle...have you ever tried to make meringue perfectly? UGH!).  So I flat out bought him a bakery lemon meringue pie.  He's happy as a lark, and I saved us a couple (or more) hours of time.

3) I signed up for Sunday School snack last month -- and it happened that no one in my family went to church that day.  Thankfully, we live super close to a Safeway and even closer to another family in our church.  Thanks to a great sale, I got 100 cookies for $10.00 that morning.  Slap those cookies in a couple dishes for the "pretty" factor, deliver to said neighbor to be taken to church, and the rest of my morning was spent caring for our sick kiddos and just resting as a family.  Bonus: our Sunday school has way fewer than 100 people... so we had cookies for a week!  GOOD cookies!

Disclaimer:  If you find yourself in a financial situation in which you really shouldn't purchase something, then don't.  Family comes first, and no extraneous purchase should jeopardize your family's needs.  If you have more time and less money, then home-made goods tend to be cheaper.  But not always -- so be careful!