the five-minute life

Yo, SANDY GOLD –

you’ve inspired me. As I was taking 5 minutes to take a shower & brush my teeth (important to do this simultaneously… just be awake enough to be aware of where the toothbrush is at all times) I was remembering some commercials from my childhood: “Just 5 minutes!” Does that remind you of Ann B. Davis (aka Alice from the Brady Bunch) and her Minute Rice commercial?

In lieu of finding that particular commercial (for once YouTube, you have failed me) I did find this string of Minute Rice commercials:

Of course these days we don’t use Minute Rice as much, or at least I don’t. These days we use much fancier foods, like couscous. Which clearly because it’s foreign and has a cool sounding name must be healthier! Now, here I come to bust your bubble:

Per serving, Minute Rice is lower in calories and lower in carbohydrates then couscous. I know I know, hard to believe since Minute Rice is so 1949 — you know, that time before we knew about good nutrition like McDonalds (franchised in 1948) and Twinkies (also the 1940s) and Funnel Cakes (commercially available in the 1970s) and Deep Fried Oreos — and couscous is so… well, ANCIENT. It may be a “recent” food for North Americans but that little blob of pasta (yes, it’s pasta — not a grain) has been around a while (the 13th century).

So, what’s my point? That moms have been busy busy busy since the beginning of time and we’re constantly striving to find a way to cut time or find time. It’s Old School. But if I give everyone (Sandy, Minute Rice, et al.) those 5 minutes of time then it’s going to add up and by the end of the day I’ll be out of time.