Say it with me:
I don’t HAVE to make everything from scratch.
I don’t have to make EVERYTHING from scratch.
I don’t have to make everything from SCRATCH.
I really love to cook and bake, especially for my family. I love serving them homemade meals and snacks and treats and seeing how much they enjoy them.
But I do NOT make everything from scratch and I have no desire to.
We have more healthy food options available at the grocery store than ever before – organic, grass-fed, whole wheat…you get the idea. But I sense this underlying guilt from moms everywhere who feel like they should be making everything homemade.
Even though I love cooking and baking, I just cannot make everything from scratch. There is just not enough time in the day. And while healthy eating is a battle I choose to fight for our family, the homemade thing is not.
There are a few things I do love made at home – bread, pizza dough, granola, taco seasoning – but there are plenty of items that are store-bought and I am just fine with that. And so is my sanity. Oh, and don’t even get me started on having my own garden – it would all be dead before I even planted it…
Many families need to choose more homemade things because of food allergies. I applaud those moms who put so much work and love into making sure their children have healthy foods that won’t make them sick. Some families enjoy making homemade food together as a bonding experience. I really love that idea, but that is just not our family right now!
Whatever a family’s reason might be for making most things homemade, that is their choice and not any kind of judgement on you. Free yourself from cooking and baking expectations you’ve arrived at because of comparison and guilt.
You CAN find healthy options for your family at the grocery store. And choosing more whole foods – fruit, vegetables, meat, nuts – for your family’s diet is actually a great way to feed your family better AND avoid the “homemade” guilt!
If you love making everything from scratch, yay for you! And I would love an invite to eat your yummy food sometime! But if you don’t love it or you don’t have time for it or the thought of making everything homemade sends you into a panic – DON’T DO IT. Just don’t. And be ok with that.
I’m going to go enjoy my store-bought whole wheat English muffin with store-bought natural peanut butter and honey…
Are you a domestic diva when it comes to homemade food, a store-bought girl, or somewhere in the middle?
I'm Erin, a wife, boy mom x 3, writer, and runner in Nebraska! I'm excited to share all my favorites relating to faith, family, fashion, and fitness in this space! Enjoy! 
I have a story about the time I tried to make homemade cookies for teachers at my kids’ school. It involves getting the recipe wrong, brown sugar melting and then burning in my oven, covering smoke detectors so they wouldn’t go off because it was past midnight, and then feeling guilty for buying store bought.
And then it all happened again the next day because I FORGOT TO CLEAN THE OVEN!
I realized that pride was what got me in that mess. I wanted people to say “Oh, she’s so awesome – she can bake these great treats and isn’t she wonderful to do that.” What I got was, “She’s so great – she brought these treats for us and isn’t she wonderful to do that.” The phrase “it’s the thought that counts” is so true here. Store-bought or not, the thought and care that goes into the food you provide is the important part of feeding others.
That said, I need to make more homemade items. My youngest has food allergies and I haven’t done well with keeping a good stock of foods he can eat. I’m trying out his diet and I’m SO HUNGRY because there’s just not much in the house that’s safe to eat. Some of our long-time favorite store bought foods are no longer safe because of changes in manufacturing practices. Some I can replicate, but others we’ve had to quit eating. It’s tough.
I am with you on this and I’ve been on the other side. I’ve realized that what matters to me is knowing what’s going into my body and my kids’ bodies. Whether that’s in a package or not matters less to me than it used to. Now I’m learning to accept that I don’t know what goes into school lunches, but my kids don’t want bagged lunches and the convenience is pretty great. Now that I have elementary schoolers who don’t like to cook at much as they once did, spending real time together is more important than cooking from scratch. I miss it, though. I genuinely enjoy cooking.
Love it! My MIL is a homemade diva on everything, even brownies! One time on vacay we wanted brownies, and she had to go to the store and buy every single ingredient for them, I wanted to scream “buy the box mix!!” I usually do homemade baking, like cookies and stuff. I hardly buy bakery items, other than specialty breads. I would love to make more homemade, but truthfully when it causes me more stress to plan it, I usually try and scrap it! Store bought all the way 🙂
I agree. 🙂 I love homemade, but sometimes, I just don’t have the time. I always have tons of ideas of things I would like to make, but I have to be realistic.