cooking and grocery shopping

Yesterday I went shopping without a list. I usually try to make a plan of meals for the week, and then make a list of the foods I will need. This time, I became uncomfortable in the house by myself, so I left before making a list. I went to Aldi, and bought stuff I knew we needed and what I know Alex likes to eat. I bought frozen chicken fingers-two different kinds, and cheap frozen hamburgers. Although I have not had to cook every meal for every day, I felt like a needed a break from "almost all from scratch" meals.

Last night was dirty rice mix from a box. It was tasty, but definitely super salty.

I made a list of all the food in the house. Well, I didn't actually inventory everything, I just did it from memory. I then took the list of foods (from the recent grocery trip, and what we already had) and made a list of meals possible from the food in the house.

I have found in the past month that we don't always stick to the plan. I have food on a certain day, and then I will change my mind and make something else. Or sometimes we go over to someone else's house for dinner, and so I don't make what I had originally intended. So this time I am just going to use my list of meals. I will have to think ahead because some of the meat is in the freezer, but defrosting something fairly quickly isn't the end of the world.

Aldi helps me from overspending. That's the danger of going shopping without a list. I just wanted a break. I know that this time it was OK, but I shouldn't make a habit of it.

A friend's mother said the other day that she didn't make a plan, she just bought what she knew her family would eat, and then she knew they would eat. That's how I shopped this time.