Things that are nice but not worth the hassle

[CrabbityRabbit]

I made sweet potato gnocci for dinner yesterday from scratch. They were lovely. But they also covered both me and my kitchen with a thick layer of orange gloop that took ages to scrub off. And the gnocci were all funny shapes since they were too sticky to roll out properly. I shan't bother again.

In the same category I put properly decorating the house for Christmas/Halloween. I love decor but can only just be arsed to decorate the tree/carve a pumpkin. So they are the only things that get done despite the fact I would love a house covered head to foot in fairy lights/skeletons.

A decent skincare routine. Can barely remember/be arsed to slap on a moisturiser most nights let alone toner, eye cream or anything of that ilk. Am convinced I would have dewy, glowing skin ala a South Korean skincare advert if only I could be bothered to use 39 different products every day.

Anything else?

Oh God... Holidays. I break into a cold sweat every time I have to plan it. It is such a nightmare and I can't sleep anywhere else but home. DH can't relax anywhere else either. I don't know why we bother. Honestly, we are in our mid 30's and not late 90's

Yes to clean car. I love it when its clean but who can be arsed to drag the hoover outside onto the pavement?

Yep agree about cleaning and washing the car.

Also painting my nails. You have to do nothing for so long while they dry then they're chipped in a few hours anyway. Then your nails are wrecked when you take the varnish off.

Christmas activities/events for the children (apart from Santa's grotto) - DS has ASD and it's not worth the melt downs

Blow drying hair

Using nail varnish on nails

Swimming

BTW to the pp saying lasagne is too time consuming - have you tried batch cooking and freezing? I cook a humongous load every month and freeze... Not as good as cooking from scratch each time but much quicker and saves putting the oven on

Ironing - haven’t done it for years and I refuse to. DH does it all now.

Make up, unfortunately I have so many people asking if I’m “all right”if I go bare faced that I have to wear it every single day. I’m up at 4 for work most days and it is the last thing I want to do, apart from...

....washing, blow-drying and straightening my hair. It’s so thick that it takes for bloody ever. I’ve had a kerastraight treatment recently which cuts down drying time a bit and it will usually hold a style overnight now but if I’m restless/hot/both in the night it looks a horrendous mess in the morning.

Weight training - I like how it makes me look, but good grief it’s sooooo boring.

Dry clean only clothes.

Handwash only clothes.

Linen.

Lobster/Prawns - yum but not worth the effort when you have to peel them.

Wallpaper - Never looks smooth and nightmare to remove and smooth over to paint.

Straightening hair, even tho I much prefer it straight and it lasts for days.

Vacuuming the car. God knows it needs it with dogs/horses.

Housework. It’s covered in dog hair again within 2 days. Pointless.

Lasagna is a piece of piss! Bechamel sauce, put cold milk, marg, flour in pan, heat, whisk til it thickens, never had a lumpy one this way. Use lean mince, no need to drain, add tinned tomatoes, chopped onions, tomato paste, herbs, garlic, red wine. Shove mince mix into dish, add layer of lasagna sheets, pour sauce over, oven, done! 15 minutes.

Holidays abroad with small children.

sewing or sticking in name labels in children's clothing.
biro all the way.,,

"Packing causes me anxiety to the point of physical sweating! "

Me too. I notice you mention toddlers in your post too. The HORRIFIC UNMITIGATED NIGHTMARE of putting everything in one place that you are going to to need, then moving it to another place, then realising that something vital is missing and you are going to be howled at unremittingly .... ARGH

Fucking FUCKING ex used to let me scurry about like a mentalist before a day out (a day! a MERE FUCKING DAY) with toddler dd1 and baby dd2 (toddler needing packed food; baby prone to yellow custardy bf poonamis) and stand around sort of huffing and looking disdainful. At the last minute I would reach down to pick up the FINAL fucking object and let out a little sigh because I was dizzy with fatigue and hunger already and we hadn't even left; I used to feel a wave of despair as I realised I was almost too light headed to stand up again and I had a whole day ahead of me of walking around with the TOTAL FUCKIN DEMANDING ASSHAT miniature human beings... he would say wearily "look, do you want to just stay at home?" and I would burst into tears because I had DONE ALL THIS and now I wasn't EVEN GOING TO BE ALLOWED OUT and would inevitably start tackling some of the INSANE HOUSEWORK DISASTERS that had been building up since I got pregnant....

So, if I stuck to my guns and pasted on a smile and said "no! Of course not! I'm fine! Let's all go!" we'd get 30 yards from the house and then he's look at me and go "did we bring any wipes?" and gesture at a baby's face. DID WE? DID WE? WOULD. IT. BE. THE. TOTAL. END. OF. THE. WORLD. AS.WE. KNOW. IT. IF. YOU. PUT. YOUR. OWN.ARSE. IN. THE.AIR. AND. RUMMAGED. IN.A. BAG. WITH. YOUR. OWN.FUCKING.ARMS?!?!?!?!?

Cleaning the car
Cleaning the House
Putting the laundry away
Toddlers

15 minutes to make, I mean, not cook!

Bake sales. I feel a little pathetic asking if I can't just hand over a fiver and be done with it, rather than me spending £4 on the ingredients, producing cakes, and the cheerful volunteers selling the resulting cake for £5.

My MIL told me she was livid when she discovered the PTA was selling the cakes she had given them for LESS than what she'd paid for the ingredients! So I should be grateful that's never happened to me.

In fact, fundraising of any sort. Unless you have rich friends to support your efforts, the people doing the fundraising end up working at the rate of about 50p an hour.

Cooking and eating sardines!

Croquetas. Absolutely gorgeous to eat but oh my days! The mess! Thick sauce up your fingernails, breadcrumbs, boiling oil. I just eat them in Spain now.

Cooking dishes in multiple pans.

One pot / tray cooking is the way to go.

Lasagna, like fish pie and cottage pie simply creates another dish (this time with baked on remains) to clean. I can't be bothered.

Definitely Christmas.

Weeks and weeks of work, stress and ridiculous expense for one day of pretending to appreciate the piles of useless old tat people have bought for you, stuffing yourself to the point of nausea then slobbing out in front of the TV watching shite in the company of people you dislike.

Too make all your lasagnas easier

• no need for a white sauce! Add Creme fraiche and Parmesan. Read this in a JO recipe over 10 years ago and it’s revolutionised lasagna for me. And gets so many compliments.

And risotto- just add all the stock and stir it when you want. I promise it turns out the same and you’ve got your life back.

lasagna

I can't be bothered with the gift giving at Christmas but no-one else will give it up. I do like the feasting bit!

Going away on holiday.

Greetings cards.

Cut flowers. I'm lucky enough to have a garden so they feel unnecessary.

I do that gordon, slightly different version from one of his books with roasted squash with coriander seeds and chilli as well as Ragu and creme fraiche mixture.

I make a huge vat of ragu with 6lb mince and freeze it so it is no big deal.

Eating out. It's a lot of money for something that will end up in the toilet in 24 hours. (I'm a "food is fuel" person; I sometimes think that just eating is a hassle.) Eating out is also very full of waiting, especially if someone wants dessert - you have to wait for someone to bring dessert menus; people to choose; waiter to take the order; desserts seem to take longer than the mains; then there's waiting for the bill; then waiting for them to take your card; then waiting for them to bring it back. (Although chip and pin have sped things up a little bit.)

You can iron the duvet covers on the bed.