Dish Duty



A Hobart. 



No one likes washing dishes.  And anyone who says they do is a liar or should come visit my house.  When we were in college, Scott worked at a sorority and one of his duties was washing dishes for the 40-plus women in who lived in the sorority house.  On chapter night, that number would swell to about 150 women and I bet the dish amount was staggering.  It was a lot of dishes, but fortunately, the sorority had a Hobart dishwasher.  A Hobart is a huge, commercial  dishwasher that washes, sanitizes, and dries a load of dishes in only a few minutes.  It could clean everything, from piles of silverware to racks of baked on, caked on pots and pans.  How Scott and I wish for a Hobart now!

Even though our grocery budget has shrunk drastically, one area of our consumption has increased: our dish soap and dishwasher use.  We just started the dishwasher for the second time today!  And, that doesn't take into account the things that we don't put through the dishwasher and hand wash.  In total, that's a lot of bowls, plates, cups, silverware, sippy cups, pots, pans, spatulas, knives, and measuring cups each and every day.  I guess I never realized how many dishes are generated when making a meal.  When I imagined myself cooking all of our meals, I definitely glazed over the clean up or else the use of paper plates would definitely have been one of our rules.  The sink always is full of dishes!  I have wondered if the dishes aere reproducing behind my back because as soon as we get the sink empty, it's full again.  It seems impossible that so many dishes get used over the course of one meal, yet meal after meal, the dishes get dirty.

Have you ever counted the number of prep bowls and utensils that are dirtied during the average Food Network program?  Huge.  But, Rachel Ray or Bobby Flay are not getting dishpan hands after the show wraps.  That's what Production Assistants are for!! (and Hobart dishwashers).  Sometimes, I wish for a dishwashing PA. 

Thankfully, Scott hates a sink full of dirty dishes even more than I do, so he is the captain of our dish washing team.  His engineering brain can "Jenga" dishes into our dishwasher when it already seems full.  I am the family pot washer and dish putter-awayer.  When I was a kid, my mom would open the clean dishwasher, look at us 3 girls (this was before baby brother was old enough to help) say, "Top, Bottom, or Silverware." and we would race to put the dishes away.  I preferred putting away the bottom dishes, I loved stacking plates and bowls.  I still love putting away the plates and bowls the most.  But even though I like putting away clean dishes, dirty dishes are my enemy.

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast
- SKC&G English Muffins (with cream cheese or jelly) and Milk
Total $1.54

Lunch
- SKC&G Chicken Nuggets (with ranch, mayo, or ketchup)
- SK&G Banana
- C Apple and Yogurt
- S&K Carrots
- C&G Milk
$3.14

Snack
- G Milk
Total $0.06

Dinner
- SKC&G Meatloaf with pan-fried Potato Squares and Mixed Vegetables
* Charged self $0.50 Spice Fee (Worchestershire Sauce and Garlic Powder)
Total $5.40

Dessert
-SKC&G Chocolate brownie-bite cookies
Total FREE- Thanks double coupon day!!!!  (We actually made $0.31 by buying the cookies)

Total Spend $10.14