I have never liked going to the grocery store. I just don't like food that much. People are weird or even creepy at the grocery store- especially the store we go to regularly these past 7 years.
I don't like making dinner. Or rather I don't like making dinner while the kids fight, while we all slip into the afternoon crazies resulting from low blood sugar and knowing there is a good chance some of it will be thrown on the floor. If you have kids, you know the scene.
I caught a sinus cold last Friday- the 25th of July- while preparing to go camping. We had done the grocery shopping for the trip and I busted my tail prepping food that we could heat and eat in the great outdoors. I paid the price and was a miserable wretch most of the weekend.
Of course returning to our casa on Sunday with Mama sick meant things did not progress as they would have on a regular weekend. We would have at least made a grocery list and made a plan for the week. I realized on Monday at some point that we would likely be running out of some staples by the middle or end of the week- but I did not feel like going tot he grocery. So in my thick-headed state (stubbornness on top of sinus pressure) I wondered what it would look like to avoid the grocery store. How long could we last?
I don't recall if my daughter asked for something that we ran out of before or after I announced to the family over dinner one night that I was not going to the grocery. And stating, I think it would be fun to see how empty we could make the pantry. I mean, it isn't like we don't have any food. (Nice, double negative, I know).
It was kind of a joke in my own head. A fun challenge. We have tons of cucumbers and zucchini and a whole slew of odd ingredients- dry beans, tahini, semolina flour and the like. I am a creative person, I could totally do this!
Well, once my daughter realized that I was not going to the grocery to get more hummus or eggs or milk (People are dairy-free! Some people are vegan! I don't use milk on my oatmeal. Okay, I do use home made yogurt, but I don't have to!), there was a bit of a joke's-on-you backlash. My husband thought I was trying to make a point- like I was waiting until he cracked and went to the store instead of me. My daughter started whining and chanting, "go to the store! If Mama would just go to the store. I want pancakes!!" She was almost inconsolable about the pancakes, but her daddy was able to calm her down. Meanwhile I was eating my oats at the table when I realized: you can make an egg substitute with flax meal. Yes, I did say it outloud. I was calm, cool, collected. Of course this was after my daughter had stomached some oats or Wheetabix and the pancake train had left the station. My timing could have been better, I admit that. My husband, being the good soul he is, uttered "that would have been good to try- maybe next time."
I wish I could say that we are still holding out. That we do not have 2 gallons of milk, two cartons of eggs, and store-bought hummus in the fridge, a watermelon on the counter (along with the many pounds of squash and cukes), and dried fruits and nuts aplenty in the pantry. Steve went to the grocery yesterday after his weekend work duty. We did forget onions and crackers so at least we will have to be creative in those areas. What on earth will we eat the hummus with? If it was just me, I would still be trying to use up the dribs and drabs and coming up with some new pantry-cleaning diet (It works on your household pantry and your personal reserves, padded-extra-pounds "pantry"!). Not that I was ever in this for the weight loss potential. Just going for a new way to make the dinner madness a bit more interesting-for me. And I still see no reason why avoiding the grocery can't be a viable goal for us in this first world nation, with our CSA share and backyard garden vegetable heavens piling up on the counter and filling the crisper.
