We had a pretty good late breakfast (by the way, canadian bacon makes for some weird, but pretty tasty skillet hash), and we were both out of the house by late morning. Both of our afternoons were pretty busy, and exhausting, and we were pretty hungry by the time dinner rolled around.
One thing that we've learned on this no-grocery challenge, is that it requires a heck of a lot more legwork and forethought to plan out what we're going to do for meals. We can't just stop by the store to pick up "that one thing," or to take something "quick" out of the freezer to throw in the oven.
"Quick" meals really don't exist much for us anymore, but that's OK.
What we have learned, however, is that we have really begun to appreciate our food a little bit more, because we have to take more time to actually prepare something of substance. That being said, dinner tonight wasn't until 8pm...and no, that isn't a common thing.
We usually shoot for six.
For Jay's job, he is in charge of supply chain and dietary for a local hospital. Essentially, anything and everything that comes in through the door that is not a patient, has to go through him, first. This fall, he attended a conference, and at said conference, he recalled that he had a pretty good Hawaiian sandwich. Tonight, we tried to replicate that.
They were pretty simple: grill off your bread of choice, grill up some shaved deli ham and pineapple rings, layer onto the bread, and top with a melted sharp cheese--the original ones that he had used Swiss, but we didn't have that, so we subbed out some Havarti (it's not a party without Havarti!!!) we topped them with mayo, mustard, and lettuce.
Tomatoes would have been good, too, but those are scarce around these parts.
While making dinner, I had some "down time" while a few of the things were cooking, and I began to sort through some mail. I recently ordered something from a company in Michigan's Upper Peninsula--my favorite place on earth-- and realized that some complete stranger at the company left me a message on the back of the parcel:
So... I tried to take their advice: I tried to be awesome and do another fun thing: I made homemade onion rings to go with our sandwiches for dinner:
That was our reality today. Lots of hard work, and a beautiful day. We press on. Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. Jay has really been jonesing for a Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich. He has always liked them...as in DECADES of liking them. I found a clone for the recipe, and we're going to give it a whirl as we enjoy a relaxing Sunday afternoon and evening. Low key, is the theme for tomorrow.
Thanks for following along with us. Month two begins TOMORROW! We also didn't spend a DIME on groceries or food during the entire month of January, so our twenty dollar allowance kitty rolls over onto February's twenty dollar allowance. Still not planning on spending any of it, but it's there, if we run into some sort of vegetable or dairy emergency.
Must tell Jay that the desire for Wendy's spicy chicken sandwiches is not an emergency.
--SH