Dish Washing Is the Real Culprit

Before I got married, I was very worried about cooking. With my busy schedule, I wasn’t sure if I’d have the time, energy, or interest to whip something up for dinner. Thankfully, though, cooking came pretty naturally to me — except that one time I burned dinner the first week we were married — and I actually came to enjoy concocting fun new foods. In quarantine, especially, it became a hobby. But I never could have foreseen that cleaning would ultimately be the endless chore that keeps on giving. 

We’re only two people, and yet, our small sink can’t sustain a day’s worth of dishes. And that includes the plate I reuse for breakfast, lunch, and snacks throughout the day — Don’t @ me, because yes, I’m strategic (and stingy!) when it comes to washing dishes. One dish, just one, somehow turns into five before you know it. I realized, that basic plates and utensils are not the real culprits. Most of the time you’re not actually cleaning dishes. Cleaning dishes would be a luxury. The real dishwashing boils down to the appliances you use to cook said dishes and the kitchenware that stores your food while it cooks. And there are *so* many appliances and pyrexes and pans that go into making one meal. I wish there was a strategy I could follow that would limit the amount of time we’re cleaning up in the kitchen, but everything I’ve learned so far seems counterintuitive. 

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