To be honest though sometimes I think it is not so much about priorities and letting-other-things-slip to ensure tidiness, and more about the way you actually do them.
For example, when DH (messy) makes up a bottle of formula, he'll measure out the boiled water, add powder from the dispenser and shake to mix. He does this at the work surface, generally spilling flecks of formula powder and drops of water all over the place and getting stuff on the floor as well.
When I (tidy) make up a bottle of formula, I'll measure out the boiled water, add powder from the dispenser and shake to mix. But I'll do this over the sink, so any flecks of powder and drops of water fall into said sink and are easily washed away.
Now, each method takes the same amount of time, and the end result is the same (bottle made up safely, baby cuddled and fed). But my method involves no mess and DH's involves lots!
So by the same token I am not sure I agree that a spotless kitchen = no real cooking. Rather like Summerblaze and her toy-tidy room, if you walked into my kitchen tonight you might think I never cook a thing. In fact the DC had beef casserole (made from scratch, i.e. I chopped carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, diced the beef, used home-made stock because the baby can't have stock cubes yet etc) - but I tend to be quite tidy and wash-up-as-I-go along about it, so by the end of the meal the kitchen wasn't too hard to clear up.
Needless to say, had DH made said beef casserole, kitchen would look like a bomb site, peelings and wrappings and dirty utensils everywhere 