Stretching Martha Stewart

Friday is one of my favorite day in the whole week.  As it's payday for the husband, it's grocery day for me.  There is nothing sweeter than going isle by isle creating meals in my head in the hopes of pleasing him.  Today was especially nice, we were out of the house by 9am ~ attempting to beat the triple digit heat expected..  As I was walking up and down the isles at my local Walmart, I couldn't help wondering when groceries got so expensive!  When did a normal sized can of Cream of Mushroom Soup become $1.34?  I realize living in Idaho, our groceries are lower then most states due to our lower cost of living, but that is expensive soup!

This was a special trip with a few extra groceries on my list.  Monday is the husbands birthday and I'm planning an especially nice meal for him.  He's going to come home from work to intoxicating smells of homemade pot roast with all the wonderful little baby vegetables swimming and bumping into this juicy hunk of meat.  French bread loaded with all that unhealthy and delicious garlic butter, ready to throw into the oven while the meat rests.  Adding into this, some good Killian's Irish Red beer and a Double fudge chocolate cake {or pie, I haven't decided}.  What else can you ask for?

I realized today that I've started doing a trick that wives and mothers have been doing for centuries.  It's not complicated, but it becomes second nature to women who take care of the ones in their family, their loved ones.  It's also become instinctual when women have found themselves with more mouths to feed, and less money.  In times of economic depression, this trick really helps.  I've been stretching food.  Not stretching to the point of starving or depriving the husband of food he needs.  But stretching enough to make it last and have more meals for the buck.  All I need now is a kid on my hip and we'd be gravy.  I was putting away the groceries and in the back of my head I was thinking about what would go with what and how to make what we have really stretch.  Not thinking much about it, I separated a 5lb container of ground meat into 6 lumps.  I don't know why, but it made me happy when I realized what I did.  I guess after being with the husband for 5 years now, it still makes me smile when I find myself taking care of him and his home.

The one thing I need to learn right now, is how to make a good casserole with few ingredients.  I want to be the stereotypical mom who makes casseroles a couple times a week and they are delicous.  I think the joy of cooking is that you never stop learning and improving on the hobby.  I would like to be a good cook someday.  Not for fame, but for my family.  Selfishly, I want to be the kind of mom, that 20yrs after I'm gone, my children are still talking about a food that I made.  I want to be remembered for bringing the family together over a good meal.

Thanks for listening...