THE FORTY YEAR BURNOUT

Old Mother Frugal’s cupboards are full but sometimes the imagination is empty.  Gazing into the panty or the freezer can be daunting.  What is there to eat?

When the youngest of Old Mother Frugal’s Little Helpers was a child, a sign was created and erected onto the refrigerator door. It read “some assembly required” because too often, the refrain “there’s nothing in here to eat” was repeated over and over again. 

Friends would come over and read the sign as if Lego’s had found their way into the refrigerator.  “Some Assembly Required”???? 

The fact is that Old Mother Frugal suffers from “cooking block”.  Yes, as if “writers block” isn’t bad enough, what to cook for dinner has become, at times, a challenge.

Forty years of cooking and burnout eventually set in.  Factor in the budget or the ‘spending plan’ as it’s called in Old Mother Frugal’s kitchen, and well, cooking can be a lot less fun.  

Who amongst us isn’t constrained by tight finances?  Not seeing many raised hands out there in cyberspace.  Add some dietary restrictions and ‘less fun’ morphs into ‘no fun’.

To keep fresh and engaged in cooking, some weeks have designated cooking themes. Meals are planned around a movie, book or song title, a phrase or a play on words.  Just about anything to keep interest from drying up and dying out.

The idea of a “theme” came from The Little Helpers. For years, birthday parties were constructed around a party theme.  With a theme came direction. With a theme, there is laser-like focus. With a theme came a plan. Like a road map from the week’s topic to the kitchen table.

Some of Old Mother Frugal’s favorite themes have been…

§     -  A Wrinkle in Time – using canned foods with “wrinkles” or dents

§    - Top Shelf – a twist on the TV show “Top Chef”

§    - What Lies Beneath – movie reference to freezer foods hidden beneath other foods

§    - Outside the Box –recipes that have been collected for years in a box but never used

§    - State Fair – eating foods sold at the state fair

§    - You ‘Can’ Do This – using canned food at meal time

§    - Building A Mystery – song title reference using whatever comes out of the freezer

§    - The Cookbook Challenge – all meals for the week come from one cookbook

And there you have it, a focused plan with direction on what to cook for the week. It’s a bit Goofy and Daffy, but hey….that may be next week’s theme! Looney Tunes!

And so, as this entry comes to a close, you know what Porky Pig would say …"Tha Tha That’s All Folks!"

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s Tip: Using websites such as www.allrecipes.com and www.myfridgefood.com can plug you into a recipe by listing the ingredients you have on hand into a meal that your family will enjoy!

                                                 A WRINKLE IN TIME