Payday looms somewhere in the unforeseeable future. Okay, so it is only three days until the paycheck zips in and out of your checking account. You are in the today time frame and you have to feed your family. You peer hopefully into cupboards, refrigerator and freezer, praying that some forgotten sirloin roast shows up. No matter that your budget has never permitted a sirloin of any type in your grocery cart. You can still dream. You realize that if at least the fat, sugar and starch group are not met, you could be facing a mutiny.
Inspiration strikes. You will make the next three days a challenge for yourself and an adventure in eating for your offspring and husband. We will live off the contents already available in the refrigerator and cupboards.
Breakfast, day one: Pancakes are enthusiastically welcomed. The family sits down and then the critique begins. Why are the pancakes so thin? They are a new, healthier recipe, less eggs and more milk! For some reason the first bites are rather tentative. I thought we were out of syrup, my son remarks. Another healthier recipe! I just mixed some warm water with brown sugar! My cheerful Seconds, anyone? falls on empty space. Everyone certainly finished breakfast quickly today.
Lunch, day one: Why are we having fish sticks on a Tuesday? To thank God that we have been blessed with fish sticks!
Dinner, day one: Homemade ravioli, great! What are they filled with? Oh, it is a new, healthier recipe called “Meat Ravioli Surprise! How come this sauce tastes sort of like catsup? It does??? And how come the meat looks a lot like ground carrots? At this point, my older son, who counts carrots among his top ten hate foods, bolts from the table. My husband is stunned into grateful silence as I announce that there are more than enough leftovers to provide him with a lunch at work the next day!
The next two days were also filled with sustaining, nourishing culinary enterprises. I got the impression, however, that my efforts were not thoroughly appreciated. I overheard two of my children comparing notes on a recent meal. I caught the middle of a conversation as one said,“Oh, no! Just because this lasted three days doesn’t mean this was it!” The other child confirmed this. “You’re right. I don’t think the three days of darkness would be this bad!”
The next time I decide to live on the available food in the house, I’ll do it after I’ve been grocery shopping.
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