December 2, 2004

Food. It's what's for dinner.

A lot of work goes into the thought, planning, preparation, and consumption of food in our household.

Take, for instance, the monthly calendar. Compiled during the first few days of each month and carefully transcribed onto the calendar planner in the kitchen, the construction of the dinner menu for the month is a task that generally takes me about an hour to accomplish.

An hour, you may ask? To come up with 28 to 31 meals? Yes, an hour. Because one must make sure that the consumption of any dish, such as ziti or fried chicken or hamburgers, does not occur twice in the same month. And the main ingredient of said dish, such as chicken, beef, or pasta, does not repeat too closely to the last appearance or the next appearance of that particular main ingredient within the same month.

Throw in any holidays, functions, or evenings that we know we're going to be short on time (say, every Wednesday night when I have a teleconference until 6:30), and complexity is added. Consider Marie's shifting work schedule from week to week, that prevents her from having dinner at home, and more complexity is added. Thought must also be given to the days that I know I will have an abundance of time - as in weekends - to be able to make more time-consuming dishes. Like stew, or kabobs, or stuffed chicken breasts, or any new and involved recipe (that may just end up being a Taco Bell night in the end).

Several strategies do lessen the amount of thought that goes into our groceries, though. Every Friday night is dubbed "Fast Food Night", and breakfasts and lunches are not planned to daily specificity. Just make sure there's eggs, cereal, milk, bread, sandwich meat, cheese, ramen noodles, mac and cheese, and canned soup (or "canned mmm-ness", as Marie calls Chef Boyardee stuff) and breakfast and lunch takes care of itself. Plus, the mere existence of the calendar curtails any, "Laura, what's for dinner?" questioning, and makes grocery list creation a simple matter of fifteen minutes (coupon clipping, however, takes somewhat longer).

The end goal, of course, is to keep the grocery budget to within $150 a week. Which we hardly ever do. I'm going to make a confession, here. In the month of November, we spent over $800 in groceries. Maybe closer to $900. Which can be explained by Thanksgiving necessities and the presence of four additional mouths for 10 days. But still. I mean, good God. And it's not like we didn't go out to eat on occasion on top of it all, too. It's a wonder we're not all over 300 pounds.

So this month, in an effort to reel in the grocery budget to a less embarrassing financial burden, I'm dreaming up a month of mostly low-cost meals. Fortunately, the lobster purchase for Christmas doesn't "count" against our grocery budget. In the grand tradition of narcissism that the existence of an on-line journal enables, I present you with:

Our Dinner Menu For December 2004

Wednesday the 1st - Soup and sandwiches
Thursday the 2nd - Hot links and french fries
Friday the 3rd - FAST FOOD!
Saturday the 4th - Minestrone stew and french bread
Sunday the 5th - Crock'ed chicken and rice
Monday the 6th - Pork chops and roasted red potatoes
Tuesday the 7th - Meatball(*) sandwiches and salad
Wednesday the 8th - Hamburger Helper (a VERY occasional thing)
Thursday the 9th - Shrimp scampi(*) and wild rice
Friday the 10th - FAST FOOD!
Saturday the 11th - Chicken, black bean, and red potato skillet(*)
Sunday the 12th - Tuna noodle casserole
Monday the 13th - Steak and baked potatoes
Tuesday the 14th - Garlic lime salmon(*) and asparagus
Wednesday the 15th - Chicken fettucini alfredo
Thursday the 16th - Stuffed baked potatoes and soup
Friday the 17th - FAST FOOD! (the kids arrive!)
Saturday the 18th - Chili
Sunday the 19th - Burgers and fries
Monday the 20th - Sub sandwiches
Tuesday the 21st - Meatloaf
Wednesday the 22nd - Elegant Chicken
Thursday the 23rd - FAST FOOD!
Friday the 24th - Lobster, potato soup, and wild rice (Christmas Eve!)
Saturday the 25th - Roast and potatoes (Christmas!)
Sunday the 26th - Enchiladas
Monday the 27th - Baked ziti, garlic bread, and salad
Tuesday the 28th - Fried chicken and mashed potatoes (the kids leave :( )
Wednesday the 29th - Shepherd's pie(*)
Thursday the 30th - Shish kabobs and noodles
Friday the 31st - Finger foods - crackers and cheese, chips and dip, english muffin pizzas, taquitos, beer, tequila, vodka, Slippery Nipples (a shot of Bailey's and a shot of Butterscotch Schnapps mixed together)... (New Year's Eve!)

No wonder it's so friggin' hard to be on a diet at my house. Because on top of that stuff up thar, I'm planning on making Killer Fudge, Magic Cookie Bars, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Walnut Chews, Soft Chocolate Cookies(*), Chocolate Coconut Snowballs(*), and Hershey's Kiss cookies(*). And probably Vanilla Rum Balls(*), too.

"'Tis the season to be moo-ing, fa la la la la, la la la la."

(Recipes for items noted with a (*) will be posted to the website when I get the chance, but if you want something right away, just send me an e-mail!)

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©Laura Charon 2000 - infinity.