Working or Staying at Home - How did they do it?

So I know this is to be our recipe exchange site, I want to pose a question to all the StrollerFit moms.....How did our moms do it?

Do what you ask? Cook meals from scratch, soups, sauces, etc.......

Today the conversation was from one SF mom to another, Don't tell my husband you make homemade sauce, and when number two comes you won't have time. So I began to wonder, my mom was home during the day and worked part-time nights and weekends and she sold homemade name ribbons, chocolates, birthday/wedding cakes and we always had a home cooked meal. Then when I started school she went to work 20 hours a week and when my brother went to school she went back full time, while helping to run my dad's restaurant and still doing cakes and chocolate lollipops. She was the girl scout leader, sat on the local GS board and the temple sisterhood while driving Keith and I to all sorts of activities, but still we always had a home cooked meal.

This is what I realized, she made sauces, soups and stews on the weekends in large pots that spent a lot of time on the stove but did not require a lot of work once in the pot (I do the same, sometimes in the crock pot) and then she froze lots of containers to defrost when needed. She also broiled a lot of chicken and fish that she would then turn the leftovers into something else the next night. None of the meals were extravagant, expensive or required a lot of ingredients or her time.

So, this makes me spoiled, I do not do canned soup (but I will cheat and use canned broth if the homemade broth has run out and I have not made more as the beginning of soups and other dishes) nor do I do jarred sauces (though I will occasionally buy jarred tomato sauce and doctor it, when that is cheaper than canned tomatoes). But I promise my family and those I share recipes with, even with too I will continue to cook, but thank good the spring is coming, marinades take 2 minutes to make and I will once again be grilling a lot, quick and easy, another trick learned from my mom.

I would love input form the SF moms on what they do and how they think there moms made it look so easy!!!!