Meal Planning Cheat Days

Meal planning isn't only about having groceries for home-cooked meals.  It's about knowing when you're going to be eating out, when you're going to have leftovers, and when it's time to pull a can of something out of the pantry because you won't feel like cooking.

This week in particular, no one really feels like cooking.  We've just had what is in many families the biggest feast of the year, and the biggest home-cooking day of the year.  If you're not eating leftovers, you're probably picking up takeout.

So I planned ahead with some easy to make, storebought canned meals that only need a little heating.  Technically, I raided my power-outage stash, in case of earthquake or something else reducing me to sterno heat or the grill for several days.  Yes, they're loaded with salt and I'll probably end up with a migraine.  I'll drink more water and hope for the best.  Anyway, it's good to taste test emergency food to make sure it's something you'll actually eat in an emergency.

What I have set out for the photo could be dinner (for me) for two weeks.  This doesn't include peanut-butter based lunches or my stash of Chef Boyardee.  Most of it does require some cooking, like the pasta and the dehydrated mashed potatoes that you can't see under the can of beef stew.  My stove is gas, which I can light manually in a power outage, but the oven is electric.  My chest freezer would not thaw above 40ºF for four days, and I've used it as a fridge before in long power outages.

I'm not using all of this.  I'm going to make the Knorr shells with canned fish and the Indian pouch with some rice.  Trying new stuff to see if it's something I want to keep on hand.  The rest goes back in the pantry until the next time I don't want to cook.

Get creative and look through your pantry for ideas, rather than ordering a pizza.  It's cheaper and probably healthier than takeout, even if it comes from a can.  Once you present a meal in a thoughtful manner, no one cares that you opened a box fifteen minutes before.