I recently had an interesting conversation about meal planning with a sibling. She thought the entire idea of planning out a month's worth of menus was ridiculous. The actual word she used was inflexible. I pointed out that there was variety on there and that if need be I always have a fully stocked pantry/freezer so that I can change a recipe plan. This particular sibling has always prided herself on her reputation for making a dollar stretch so her failure to see how this contributes to the bottom line when buying groceries amazes me. She is also a big fan of name brand grocery shopping. While she will avail herself of Marc's/Xpect for her name brands she'd rather go hungry than shop Aldi or the wholesale club or even a farmer's market.
I was therefore very tempted to phone her and tell her about last night's dinner. GF and I had plans to dine out with some friends which fell through at the last minute. Being hot, tired, and just the teeniest bit cranky GF suggested we eat in. Being hot, tired, and reluctant to leave his AC I agreed to cook. GF has not shopped in a while and he had pretty much cruised through the supplies he had. Not realizing we would be eating at home I didn't grab anything from my house to make any of the planned menus I'd put together (and yes when I plan I take into account if we will be eating in at his house..he pays for meals out together and generally I provide what's needed for meals together that I cook).
So I took a look in his freezer and grabbed some boneless skinless chicken breasts.
He had a bottle of Italian dressing in the fridge and some Italian seasoning in the cupboard so I poured the dressing over the defrosted chicken and sprinkled on the seasoning and let that marinate.
The cupboard was thin on side dish options and the refrigerator was a wasteland. However he did have several boxes of mac and cheese and half a dozen cans of beets.
Milk and smart balance in the fridge and we had the makings of sides. Simple Mac and cheese, and buttered beets (no cornstarch or I would have done them Harvard style). I grilled the chicken and threw together the sides. It wasn't a gourmet meal by any stretch of the imagination but we didn't go hungry and it tasted pretty good.
It wasn't anything on my menu plans and I had to create it out of items that were already on hand. Inflexible? I don't think so.
And as a bonus I have two grilled chicken breasts I can turn into chicken salad for tomorrow's lunches!
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