Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Do You Prefer Paper or The Real Thing????

Okay, so my title may have thrown you a bit. lol!

As I was preparing my dinner this evening, I was bummed out that we only had two paper plates left to place on the table. This would mean two family members having paper and the other two having actual real plates to eat off of tonight. Not that we were having company or anything, but I wasn't about to mismatch my dinner table with two different kinds of plates. Soooooooooo, we all had real plates. Imagine that?

Unless we're having company or it's a holiday....it's paper plates allllllllllll the way at our house. Get this......we use paper plates at every meal with CLOTH napkins. Go figure! Weird, huh? Dirk's grandmother (who is now deceased) made us several dozen cloth napkins over the years. We have used cloth napkins for the last 15 years at almost every meal. As I type this, I realize how weird this really is!

And since this really does sound weird, I hesitated taking a picture of what a normal place setting looks like at our house each evening. Oh, well! Since I'm still confident in myself....hehehe...I'm gonna share it anyhow!



It's not like it would take a whole lot of extra time to wash real plates, right? We're already washing the rest of our place setting anyhow. Okay....I'll sign off now before I confuse you more about the (ab)normalacy of our family. LOL!

So, please share, do you use paper plates at your house regularly? You can be honest - it's just us girls here.

46 comments:

Denise said...

I think that is cool, we use paper plates about half the time sweetie.

April said...

OK...in our house, paper plates are considered to be "fine china". LOL! Actually, I'm not kidding! We eat on them all the time...I'm not out to impress anybody! What works for you, works for me, too! Paper all the way, baby! Love ya, girl!

Kristin said...

LOL Daphine! You crack me up!!
We totally use paper plates at our house! I buy the Dora ones for our girls, and the same exact ones you have for us big kids!

There's something just so much easier about just throwing the plate in the trash and only having to wash the silverware! Sometimes if I'm really lazy, I pull out the plastic utensils! LOL

Thanks again for your prayers for Anistyn. We actually visited her today and she is doing great!!

CMB said...

I will use paper for lunches but for dinner it is always the real stuff. I don't like cutting a piece of food on a paper plate...just one of my pet peeves!

Heather said...

this is a funny post! we use regular plates all the time, but whenever we have a party like for a birthday or holiday we use heavy duty paper plates AND i love when there are plates left over because then i use them all the time until they run out, lol. i would love to use paper plates all the time but Nathan would kill me for wasting the money. It probably would be cheaper to do that than run the dish washer every other day or using all that hot water to hand wash things, but i'd still be doing that because of glasses and silverware, so i'm not sure which one would be cheaper! LOL. So how are you doing? It's so nice to see you on here!

Alicia The Snowflake said...

We use real plates when we are sitting at the table. And we use paper plates when we are sitting in front of the TV, which is unfortunately most nights. My two fellas love to eat dinner in front of the TV. I do make them eat at the table about once a week, though. Did you see that "make"? Yes, I'm the mean mama that insists that we eat at the table every once in a while like a real family :o)

More Than Words said...

I was lol'ing at the picture!! Oh my gosh...I don't think it's weird at all!! Until we started having home fellowship at our house over a year ago, we always used regular plates. Well, I realized real quick how easy and how much faster it was to use paper!! I love it! Plus, the kids are homeschooled, so you can picture how many plates I'd be washing daily!! When I run out of paper, it sucks!!! LOL

Shell in your Pocket said...

Okay...this cracked me up. Hey when I saw Jon and Kate use paper plates all the time...I thought...I need to do this...we use paper a lot...why not?
sandy toe

Beth E. said...

Hey, whatever floats your boat, right? We usually use regular plates for supper, but if we have burgers, hotdogs, tacos, etc. then we use paper plates. We don't have very many cloth napkins (only the holiday-oriented), so we use paper napkins!

Hope you are having a great week, Daphine!

Love ya...

Laura said...

I am the opposite, we only use real. The only time we use paper plates is when we have a bbq or party with lots of people over.

Lee said...

We use paper plates for lunch and that's about it. Rarely for dinner. Dinner we use normal plates and everything. It's nicer that way.

Anonymous said...

Daphine,

You are too funny! We use real plates for dinner. But for snacks and stuff we use paper plates. I don't think there is anything wrong with using paper plates.

Kitty Scraps said...

Wow! This has been enlightening because I had no idea so many people used paper plates for everyday meals... Seriously, I didn't have a clue! We use regular plates all the time but I do have a set of plastic dishes for when we're cooking out. If we have guests over then it's just more washing up and I don't have a dishwasher either! The only time we ever have paper plates is the pretty ones you buy for birthdays and we only use those for the birthday cake *smiles* Oh and we use cloth napkins too. Thanks for opening my eyes!

Unknown said...

We use the real plates but if it was up to me we would use paper Johnny has some kind of issue with them being thin are something weird I know! Love the napkins!

Everyday Mom Designs said...

The only times we ever use paper plates is for birthday cake.. or sometimes taking home food from my parents house or something... I can't bring myself to continuously throw away something, when I could just wash it and help out the well-being of our world. To each his own though. I'm not saying I'm the most eco-friendly person ever - I'm certainly not. Who knows how many thousands of diapers I've put in the landfill, but I'm not going to add anything to it that I know I don't need to.

Robin @ The Rendered Nest said...

You're so funny! I've never really thought about it before, but we use real plates except for Saturday lunch or when we have pizza. However, I don't see anything wrong with using paper when it's just the family! We always use disposable napkins, though...I don't want any more laundry to do!!!!! It's so sweet that you use the ones made by Grandma!

Anonymous said...

Count me in! We use paper plates here too! The only time we use real plates..... is when we run out of the paper! ;)

Neabear said...

This has been interesting to say the least. We rarely use paper plates. When we go to a potluck somewhere and they say to bring your own dishes, we always take paper for that. We eat mainly frozen things anyway and put the hot tray on a plate. No we don't empty the tray. The tray sits on the plate. Sounds like everyone has their own way of doing things.

Tim said...

Well its not just you girls here, but that does seem a little weird however it was funny as all get out!

We use paper plates at lunch everyday, however at night for dinner we usually always use the real deal. Just a note to that, we ALWAYS use paper towels as napkins. No cloth around here except during the holidays.

Love and Prayers,

Tim

Anonymous said...

for some reason, it's the opposite here in the philippines: some hosts use paper plates for parties and real plates for normal days. funny.

x said...

oops, not some but most. LOL.

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Daphine, this is going to sound kind of crazy, but when my dogs were alive, they ate wet food. So I fed them on paper plates, and we would grab paper plates for us, too. Now that they are gone to Heaven, we eat off real china. LOL! I have a ton of cloth napkins, but I find myself using paper napkins or towels more frequently. Mr. Magpie prefers them in fear that he will mess up our cloth ones and feel guilty. LOL! Only for you, would I answer these questions. ;-)

XO,

Sheila

He & Me + 3 said...

We use real plates, but plastic real for the kids. I have to say with eating at home every meal these past three weeks....I do a load in the dishwasher every day atleast once. I really need to switch to cloth napkins too. We used to use paper plates, but cutting corners got rid of that and buying bottled water. :(

Stacey said...

I like paper plates but don't use them very much. Here's why...I feel guilty throwing it all in the trash. Also, I don't like to pay for them.

Now that said...we use them in the summer alot more. I don't know why.

You are not abnormal! Just making it all work.

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

Okay, I'm being honest here... the thought never even occurred to me that some families use paper plates regularly (as in daily). It's every day china and cloth napkins for us.

Nicolle said...

I would use paper everyday if I could. My husband doesn't think they are "strong" enough. He likes regular dishes. I laughed at the fact that you use the paper plates, but cloth napkins. But you know, whatever works is cool with me!! Your place setting looks very cute! :)

Debra Kaye said...

Daphine,

We love paper plates! And I think your setting was very pretty!

Daphine, you are so precious..love ya, sweet sis!

Anonymous said...

That's funny. I use real plates because I rarely eat at home and I don't want to pay for plates just to throw away.

Anonymous said...

Paper plates all the say, baby!!!! Anything that saves me time when I get home is the way to go. I'm in such a rush to get dinner on the table when I get home and then get it all cleaned up, I need time savers. I also think I'd rather spend more time with my family playing and/or visiting than being in the kitchen washing dishes. At least that's my take on it.

Michele said...

I loved this post! We use paper plates more often than not. I hate doing dishes even if it's just 4 more. The cloth napkins definetly add some class!

Bay Jones said...

This is so funny! But to answer your question, I use paper plates when I have them, but only for breakfast and china for dinner. Sense it is only two of us washing a couple of plates is not a problem. However we do use a lot of paper towels.

Lindsay-ann said...

Hi Daphine
I suppose I would prefer paper plates. Anything that saves on the washing up is great for me. Having said that, we would only use them for parties and not everyday. The main reason would be that we like to warm our plates so our food stays warmer longer!
Best Wishes
Lindsay

Brandi said...

That is funny! Honestly, it has never occurred to me to use paper plates for dinner - but that is a GREAT idea! Why didn't I think of it sooner?? I love it! No messy clean up!

tincanlily said...

We use real plates 90% of the time. Cooking is not really my thing so I like to think that if I diguise my food with a pretty place setting my food will some how look and tatse better! If I am going away on vacation or if we are having a party, then it is paper!
denise

Jennifer said...

"Real" plates for sure.... and as I sit here reading your comments, I am amazed at the paper platers! I truly thought those were only allowed outside...who knew??? :)

4 Lettre Words said...

Oh, we love the paper in this house! I only bring out the "real thing" when it's something extra messy.

Good for you!

michele said...

We rarely use paper plates... but you know what, I think you are onto something! We have a large home and often have overnight guests. All of my extended family lives five hours away or more and when they come here, we love to have them stay at our house. When we have 2, 4 or 6 people staying with us I can't believe how much time I spend in the kitchen doing dishes! Well next time, I think it is paper plates.

Angela said...

We use paper plates about once a year...maybe at a BBQ. We have a dishwasher so washing them is not an issue for me. Wouldn't paper plates create a lot of trash if used all the time? Maybe I would use them more if I had kids.

Darlene said...

We use real plates unless we have a crowd over or for a B/D party or something like that. I rinse, load in the dishwasher and wait for a full load to run. We also do use paper plates when we go camping though (even though camping is in a 5th wheel camper).

Unknown said...

We use paper plates every single day. I don't know why since our plates are so cool and you are totally right about how we have to wash the rest of the dishes anyway. The thing I am most excited about is that you and I both have the same kind of paperplates : ). I feel ecstatatic. If you have them, then I know they are COOL!

Stonefox said...

Girl, we use paper almost every meal! I actually don't have any fine china, just plastic as the step above the paper! :)

Unknown said...

***SShhhhh-I am an environmentalist**** and I use paper plates whenever I can get a way with it!!!!!

Love that you use cloth napkins though...that should balance the whole thing out!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and it's very nice to meet you!!!

Robyn said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

I use regular plates unless he have a huge crowd here for potluck!

Love the cloth napkins!

Edie said...

WAHAHAHA!! Sorry again but that is just too funny. I love your style girl!

I have actually debated myself over this on several occasions. I like the real thing most often.

Tobi prefers her meals and leftovers on the real thing too. She doesn't like the feel of plastic or paper on her tongue. LOL. What about Gucci?

Divamom said...

Hefty would probably go out of business if it wasn't for me!!! Every now and then we use the good stuff for holidays and when we run out of paper, but mostly paper all the way!!!

Christy said...

I'm far too cheap, I could not justify just throwing money away like that, even cheap ones add up. I run my dishwasher everyday the way it is, so just adding our plates is no biggie and if nothing just fills our dishwasher up the rest of the way.

I have cloth napkins too and love them! My mom made them for us, I need to see if she'll make us some more actually.