What I really, really want is a Takeaway...

...or a meal out in a restaurant... or for someone to cook for me for a change... ho hum.

And on we go.  I was determined that we don't do a big shop this year until there's nothing left that we can make a meal of.  Of course, I will have to buy fresh bread and milk, things for the school packed lunches, fruit for their breaktimes, I will buy fresh veg to accompany any meat I have, I will buy meat to go with pasta or rice or couscous or vegetables... but the cupboard is going to have to be bare before this Mother Hubbard toddles off to the supermarkets again.  If tea is beans on toast, then beans on toast it is.

I shouldn't complain, it's not actually that dire, put into context.  It's food.  At least we have it.  At least we have a choice.  My youngest was watching a charity advert concerning the third world with a look of abject horror the other day, asking me what the stuff the baby was eating was.  The narrator answered for me - flour and water.  I could see the cogs turning in his mind as he thought - that's the glue we do crafts with when the real stuff runs out and Mum's being a cheapskate.  I think I could see his six year old conscience being pricked, as he realised this is what I keep ranting on about when he's looking at his tea plate as if I'd emptied the compost bin onto it.

And then my husband goes and hits me with...

Him - Apparently there's some extreme weather system going to be hitting us in the next 10 - 30 days.

Me - Define 'us' and can you be a little bit more specific time-wise?

'Us' apparently is not just confined to the weather system directly above our house (believe me, it more or less exists), but the UK in general, and the minute he mentioned Russian weather systems and rain turning to snow I'd already tuned him out and was thinking about Burger King.  Especially as I had spied he was holding a booklet of Burger King coupons that had come in the newspaper today.   Burger King has this hold over me, this strange allure that turns me into a Homer Simpson-eque type person.  Drooling, incoherent, with the uncanny ability to eat more in one sitting than I would do in three days.  I decide I will have to - for my own sake - shred the coupons.  Remove the temptation.

So tea was so uninspirational I didn't even bother to take a photo (was that a hurrah?).  Sausages in the oven to colour them (nothing worse than anaemic sausages in a casserole!).  Cooked up some carrots and the last parsnips (yay!  See you next December guys!) and added them to the pan with the sausages, a sliced onion, a sliced red and yellow pepper, a tin of baked beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes.  Bunged in a little water, a vegetable stock cube and a couple of bay leaves.

It was pleasant, nothing to write home about, I think someone ate a bay leaf...  and already I am struggling with my goal.  Especially now I know the threat of bad weather lurks.  I wouldn't say I am a panic buyer but I do like to be prepared, just in case, a family of six can get through some food, I tell you!  Best see how I get on over the next few days then.

Sorry for the rambling post!  (Aren't they all, though?)

Comments

  1. I hope the weather won't get very bad. In my country we have to be prepared for the hurricane season from June 1 to November 30. We always hope to have a good season but we were not spared this year as Hurricane Sandy made landfall in Jamaica. I am a new Follower of your Blog. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
    Judy - Judy H-J's Thoughts

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    1. Hi Judy, thanks for following me back!

      The weather won't be very bad at all, it's normally scaremongering. What is bad is the UK's ill preparation for anything, ensuring everything grinds to a halt at the first snowflake. Rail, roads, schools, and you look at snowy countries where everything keeps going and think 'huh'?

      Have a great weekend too

      M x

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  2. I hate that I always find myself saying "there's nothing eat" when we have more food in the pantry than probably half the world at least. Really I should say "there is nothing here that I WANT to eat." But shame on me, again. We are so spoiled. I need to work harder on using and being thankful for all the that I have.

    Thanks for linking up with us this week at the MTMmixer! Great to have you!

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    1. Yes, exactly, you just put it into the words I couldn't yesterday. House full of potential meals, but nothing you WANT to eat, and so you go out and buy more and more. This year it has to stop from not only a moral, but a financial point of view.

      No, thank you for hosting it! I'll have to remember to do it every week, it's been a busy time for everyone though.

      M x

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  3. I know exactly what you mean! Despite having food in the house, I get cravings for take-out. I think part of it is wanting the food itself, but moreover, it's just desperately wanting a break from cooking and clean-up. With our two young kids, we don't really go out to eat, but birng me take-out and make my week! ;) Go you for trying to clean out the cupboard!
    Thanks for linking up with the #MTMmixer.
    Meredith
    www.themomoftheyear.net

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    1. Thanks Meredith, I'm really glad to know it's not just me! I probably would succumb to takeaway or a meal out a bit more often but when there's six of you, and my two eldest children eat like adults, I really have to struggle to justify spending half of my weekly shopping bill on one meal. Even though I'm so proud of my 'Fakeaway' posts - it's still me who has to cook it. Meh.

      I'm just loving meeting such great people from all over the world :-)

      M x

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  4. Thanks for the follow! Looking forward to reading your blog and following along as well... it is nice to go out to have someone else cook for a change, isn't it?

    "Just Me"

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    1. Thanks Cindy, I was having a look around your blog before, your posts are really inviting and warm and I think it's absolutely lovely how you're promoting your local businesses (really wish I could get to the Cluttered Cupboard!), you don't see that kind of community spirit too often in the UK, sadly.

      It is nice yes, not just for the food, but not to have to do the washing up!

      M x

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