I Know Where I Get It

This past weekend I was at my mom's condo and she asked me to help her clean out her pantry (inspired in part by me I am sure). And now, I know where I get my tendency to have too much food.

She and my dad are the only ones who live there yet they were fully stocked with a ton of stuff (not as much as I had, but a lot considering my dad is gone 24 days a month and has his own pantry for trucker food). I wish I had taken a picture of it to show you the before and after. There was food in there from 2004. Now, I know I am bound to have something that old in mine too, once I get to the dark corners of my pantry, but until then... I'm going to talk about someone else's old food. :)

I really am not complaining because I ended up coming home with a bag full of food to add to my stock as well. This is okay since it didn't cost me anything other than time and the usual tiff that comes when my mom and I try to organize things together. I am almost certain that she has made some changes since I left yesterday.

Me: You have 2 whole cartons of oatmeal.
Mom: I like oatmeal; it's easy to make.
Me: But what about the 2 boxes of instant oatmeal. Aren't those easier for you to make?
Mom: I like it plain sometimes too.
Me: Okay then, I'll put the boxes stacked here, and the 2 round cartons next to them, one behind the other.
Mom: No. Put the spare oatmeal behind the cereal boxes. That way we have more room.
Me: But that doesn't make sense.
Mom: That's the way I want it.
Me: Why do you need all that space? Aren't you downsizing?
Mom: It's my pantry.

And that settled it. Of course, why the spare oatmeal? Is she afraid one will blow up and she'll need a back-up?

I tease my mom but only because as I point at her there are 4 other fingers pointing right back at me. I took her desire to get a good deal a wee bit whole lot further. Becky made a good point in her comment the other day about sales. Fortunately, I haven't had much to throw away (yet) as most of what I stashed is so full of preservatives it will last longer than me! We have typically been fairly good about eating the fresh produce I buy, except that 2nd bag of lettuce I have to get when it is B1G1 free!

Of course, being away all weekend until Monday evening, I did not get my menu planned ahead of time. I ended up eating cereal for dinner last night. I did have the foresight to take something out for tonight though - Allstar Chicken, from MGFK. I think it may be one of my favorite MGFK dishes ever! (Sorry no pictures, my camera batteries are dead.)

Better late than never, here is my menu plan for the week:

Monday - Allstar Chicken

Tuesday - Pasta with Tomato sauce and veggies

Wednesday - Breakfast for dinner! (Sausage from Rich Plan with eggs or pancakes)

Thursday - Tortilla Soup w/ black beans and maybe a sandwich for Bruce

Friday - Sweet & Sour Chicken w/ Fried Rice (hopefully using up 2 seasoning packets that I've had for who knows how long)

I'll let you know how this week's menu goes. I picked out several stashed items to use to start and make a dent in my freezer and pantry. I kind of had fun trying to find something to use!