Jun 19, 2009

Phantastic Phriday - The Day Before Grocery Shopping

We interrupt this regularly scheduled Phantastic Phriday to bring you this very educational blog posting....

The day before grocery shopping looks something like this....

Breakfast

Eldest Child: "Mom, there is no more cereal!"

Mom: "Make some toast."

E C: "But there's no butter!"

Mom: "Use jelly."

E C: "We are out of that too!"

Mom stalks into the kitchen and searches the fridge. No butter, no jelly. Peanut Butter!!!! Spreads some PB on kids' now cold toast and calls it good. EC throws a FIT because she hates PB. Mom offers the option of plain toast...EC accepts. Day is not starting out well.

Lunch

Mom peruses the fridge once more. No butter...no milk...that rules out Mac and Cheese. No jelly and PB was used for breakfast, PB & J not going to happen. Plus, they just used the last slices of bread for the toast. Time to get CREATIVE!!!

Children sit down and stare at their plates as they look at the pile of 'awkward' sitting before them.

Plate looks something like this.

One pile of lettuce of to the side with a little bit of french and a little bit of ranch on each one...there wasn't enough of one or the other for all three... each has about 3 sprinkles of cheese and some left over salad toppings. Veggies...check! Next to it is one chicken nugget per plate. Someone forgot to eat the last three, leaving them in the freezer. Thanks Daddy for providing today's protein! The middle of the plates hold a small pile of what was left in the chips bag. Yes they ARE crushed...but we just look at it as "Mini Chips". Starch...check! And next to that is a small pile, possibly about 4 squares worth, of kiwi. One kiwi split between 3 kids doesn't offer a lot for each one. Fruit...check! And thank GOODNESS there were a couple pieces of American Cheese left in the fridge door. Mom splits them up into strips and places the same amount onto each plate. Hello Dairy!!!

The children continue to stare at the plates, then they stare at mom.

Youngest Child: "Mommy I wanted Mac and Cheese!"

Mom fumes and stares at the child with the look of death....suddenly the feast begins! The most balanced meal they've had for lunch all month!!!

Dinner

Freezer holds one pound of beef...mom has happily defrosted it. Spaghetti Sauce? Absent. Tomato Sauce? MIA! Tomato Soup!!! BONUS! Spaghetti Noodles? Nada. Egg Noodles? Half a Bag, let's grab those out of the cupboard. Mac and cheese.....noodles!!! Take out the cheese packet, throw it in with the other powder packets (Taco Seasoning, Gravy, etc.) and start boiling the noodles. Thank goodness for an overstock of Garlic Salt and Parsley! (Without it this meal might be bland!)

We've got Goulash!!

We are going to need a vegetable with that aren't we? Well we used up the remainder of the lettuce for lunch. A quarter bag of frozen peas is in the freezer. A left over half can of carrots in tupperware in the fridge. Mixed Veggies anyone?

Oh wait? What's that? A half bag of hot dog buns? And yes, there is some PAM in the cupboard, throw a little garlic salt on it, bake them in the oven. Who doesn't like garlic bread?

And there you have it! Three meals thrown (very creatively) together on the last day before grocery shopping. Any questions?

HAPPY PHANTASTIC PHANTASMAGORIC PHRIDAY PHRIENDS!!!

(For a less chaotic, writer friendly post ... visit my WEBSITE!)

13 comments:

Alexia said...

What? Those are all GREAT meals! (That's what we do here everyday LOL)

Ann said...

Love it! Definitely sounds like my house....we call it find what you can eat night...lol

Unknown said...

Left over night is always classic as well!!!

Jody Hedlund said...

Sounds incredibly yummy! :) My kids always go for pancakes when we run low on everything else, b-fast, lunch, and dinner!

MYCLOSETGARDEN said...

This is so very true, and I don't even have kids

Katie Ganshert said...

That's why it's always good to have a stash of hotdogs in your fridge. They're supposedly really good for you too. Right?

Carrie Ella said...

Ha! A true cook always learns to improvise.

Sounds like you've got it under control!

Danyelle L. said...

You just made my day! Gotta love the day before grocery shopping!

N A Sharpe said...

Too funny! Similar day at my house. My son (teen) actually got upset with me today when he wanted mac and cheese and HE had poured choc syrup in the half gallon of milk (ewwww, Mom!) sigh.

Nancy, from Just a Thought…

Jessica M. said...

Wow, I feel really grown up. We meal plan for the week before grocery shopping, so we only get what we need for those meals, but have what we need to get through the week....it's probably because I don't have kids!!! Whew!

Krista Phillips said...

LOL!!! This is when I put my hands on my hips and an announce a very unhealthy trip to McDonalds.

Hilabeans said...

You are WAY more inventive than me...by far. I would have most definitely starved. Probably a good thing I don't have kids at this point. ;)

HHS

Cathie said...

This was me today before shopping. I mean didn't I just do shopping last week? Who is eating my food?