Dinner

I used to commute over an hour and arrive home frazzled and rushed. I thought that eliminating the commute would ease that frazzled/rushed feeling....and it does. But, I still arrive home each and every evening to the same dreaded question asked by a starving teenager (or two) - Mom, what's for dinner?

As part of my 'simplify our lives' efforts, I have been doing some serious analysis on our monthly expenses. If you don't have some kind of household financial software - like MS Money (which is what we use), get one. It will revolutionize your finances - I promise. I have really started to 'drill down' to the details of how we're spending our money. And my most recent revelation is the amount we are spending to eat out. We will go out almost every weekend for one meal - and that's fine. And I have dinner over the hill with my college friends now and then- and there's no way I'm giving that up. Occasional lunches with work friends - I still take my weekly $40 'allowance' and end up rarely spending more than $10. I'm so close to home that if I need food and don't have any available, I just drive home - so I don't eat out much for 'work' lately. But I have realized that since I took this job - the job that's closer to home and should seemingly give me more time to cook each evening - we are actually eating out more than we did before when I was commuting.

I attribute this to a couple things: I'm weak. The kids ask, in their best 'sweet' 'please, oh please mom' and I give in. They have both had me wrapped around their little fingers since the day they were born, so that shouldn't come as any surprise. Taco Bell is quick and nearby. Subway, too. Baja Fresh, etc. not too much further. It's quick, easy and the issue of 'what's for dinner' is resolved and done - picked up, served and cleaned up - in record time. And, I just don't 'like' having to get dinner on the table - night after night, day after day. Cooking is the last thing I want to do when I get home. I need some 'unwind' time - time that I don't have with two hungry young men beckoning for dinner. And don't think 'oh, they just need a snack'. They snack. They eat full meals for snacks. 4+ corn dogs as a 'snack' is not uncommon. They eat sandwiches, corn dogs, snacks - chips, fruit, etc. - and they are still completely famished when I get home.

But, this past weekend, I planned menus again (something I used to do every week) and we are sticking to 'The Plan'. Tonight, we had leftovers. The cries of protest were probably heard across the world - but they ate it. And I felt good - we ate a perfectly acceptable meal that was made up of other perfectly good meals that we hadn't quite finished. And tomorrow, we will have sweet and sour chicken with rice. The next night, talapia, steamed veggies and salad.

I told the kids that while going out was easy and quick and enjoyable, it was expensive - and when I told them the average amount per month we've been spending - an amount so shockingly huge I cannot bring myself to type it into this blog entry - they understood. Completely. We will still grab Taco Bell occasionally on nights when there are school events that require synchronizing of watches to ensure we all get where we need to be. But we're going to eat at home more. Weekday meals will be quick - easy things I know they like and know I can get on the table in 20 minutes or less. And weekends, I'll cook Sunday dinner which will usually have enough leftovers to get us through Mondays.

I will enter the house each evening and head to the kitchen - dinner will be my first priority. Getting them fed and crossing that off the 'evening home to-do list' is a good start to the evening. They will happily head upstairs to do homework, etc. and then AND only then, I can relax for a bit.

For just a few minutes, before I start cleaning up the kitchen.