We had a little experiment in our home last week. We were at the end of our groceries, and decided to see how far we could coast on what is in our pantry (how does that stuff end up in our cupboards anyway? I buy all of our groceries - why would I buy things we wouldn't eat?). It was partially an exercise in self-control, partially an exercise in being wise stewards. Let me be clear - we are not broke, but we wanted to make the most of what we had, both financially and materially. So we decided to push ourselves and see what would happen.
It totally worked.
We spent very little money (there was a trip or two for emergency bananas and milk, because our home cannot continue to function sans bananas and milk), and ate surprisingly well - we had a protein source, vegetable, and bread at every meal. We were all satisfied, though none of us was thrilled with what was on our plate. Even the kids played along, for the most part eating what was served (Silas did start to throw the canned green beans overboard after a while).
But this morning? Dude. We are out. of. food.
So I made a quick run (I REFUSE to make a big trip with both kids in tow, and you should too) for yogurt, sandwich meat, cereal, dinner supplies ... the things that will get us through until tomorrow evening, when I will have time to make a real trip to restock. And little Asher FEASTED at lunch on strawberries, yogurt, turkey, yellow peppers, and milk. He even turned down snack crackers for more strawberries ... that kid is a fresh food junkie, I swear. It was cute to watch how much he enjoyed his simple lunch - a lunch he normally wouldn't have even noticed, it's so routine, except that he'd been eating canned foods and frozen waffles for the past several days.
It sounds so silly, but the whole thing was really good for us as a family. We have more than we think we do. We enjoy a quality of life that much of the world can not imagine. And we can make do with whatever is available, in a pinch. Plus! We coasted in under budget, which gave Brian and I both a sense of accomplishment. And we were surprised at how much fun it was. It was like solving a puzzle - what can one do with pork steak anyway? Can two potatoes feed us all? Believe it or not, they could.
But man was I glad to see those strawberries.
Happy Monday.
2 comments:
We've done this from time to time. It's harder to do with the wee one. I totally get the emergency runs for milk and bananas...staples in all homes with kids. We should do this soon because we have TONS of stuff in our pantry that should be used up.
We also do this periodically because it becomes amazing when we look in the pantry and have all these random components that keep hanging around trip after trip to the grocery. I like it when we do this because it feels like a food challenge a la Top Chef and I have to be creative. Fun times!
Plus it is fun to grocery shop with so much less guilt because you can buy most anything because after all you don't have anything!
Post a Comment