G is for Good!

"We will be learning the letter, "G,g", next week," the note from 5-year-old Beth's teacher stated, "so we are making a grocery store. Please save clean, empty containers and food boxes for our store." So that's why that empty cereal box that I had just thrown into the trash was sitting on the counter this morning! Okay, I could do this.

Just as I was about to discard a plastic ice cream carton, I thought better of it and washed it to send to school. Then there was the empty stuffing mix box from last night's supper. (I hope the food doesn't have to begin with "G"! Ground beef, Ginger?) I noticed a bag that looked like trash on the fridge, but on closer inspection I saw it contained empty boxes that formerly held mac'n'cheese, tea, drink mix, and breakfast bars.

Another bag held a plastic milk jug, hot chocolate box, and juice box carton. (I had tried to save a paper pulp egg carton, but it was stained with bacon grease from when my husband made breakfast.) The note said cans with no sharp edges were acceptable, but I forgot and threw away the cans from the green beans we had at dinner. (Saving them is one way to re-cycle!)

Actually, most of the food consumed around here is made from fresh meat, vegetables and fruit that doesn't come in re-cycleable packaging (unless you count plastic bags). We eat from a healthy menu plan subscribed to from the internet that includes recipes and lists of ingredients--some fancy and exotic--and where to find them in the supermarket.

Except for the shopping, which my daughter-in-law does, often tearing the grocery list in half to share with a drafted assistant, it simplifies and equalizes dinner preparations, since the six adults take turns cooking. And we never have the same meal twice! Besides which, we are exposed to a lot of new foods!

I cook twice a week, of which one of the days is Sunday. I usually take a break from the meal plan (which can be low-fat or low-carbohydrate) on Sunday and make an old-fashioned beef or pork roast with all the trimmings. Following prescribed recipes and techniques does not come easy for me, and I usually end up exhausted by the time my meal is ready (Spontaneous cooking is more my style!), so I'm glad I do it only once a week!

Having raised a family of six children, I am well familiar with the letter "g" as in "groceries" and have seen my share of depleted cereal boxes! But if the school is emphasizing the letter "g", I have one for them from our new regimen: Gourmet!