The current economy is scary for most everyone… 

While I don’t think we will have to start doing without the essential items of our lives, I do think that we will be cutting back in non-essential areas….such as eating out. We travel a considerable amount of time, so eating out while on the road may take on a new look….it will most likely never be completely stricken from our budget.

Eating out just because…I am tired….it is late….I don’t want to mess up the kitchen…..OR…because it’s the dog’s birthday….is being cut from the spending budget. We will be eating at home on  a regular basis.

Today, while I was organizing some pantry shelves, I noticed I had a few items that were nearing the expiration date. In the past (and please do not flame me…this has been a learning process for us) I might have thrown those expired items away. Not anymore….we are making do with what we have….and USING IT ALL UP! Just the other night I cooked a roast that had been in the freezer for almost two years. It was fine. Another night I found a can of spinach that was 1 month past the expiration date and after checking for any creases, dents, or evidence of spoilage we cooked it up. DH love spinach with boiled eggs…something I never heard of before meeting him…lol.

A few times this past month, our local grocer has had milk on sale for $2.50 a gallon…a bargain. One night DH came home with only one gallon of this $2.50 milk and it resulted in me fussin’ at him for not purchasing a second gallon. Fortunately, I have Hais (DD2)trained to purchase two if she finds it on sale. Three days ago, DH came home with two gallons of the sale priced milk, along with two loaves of sale priced bread. He has been eating sandwiches a lot lately, so I did not see a problem. (Now before I proceed, I would like to preference the remainder of this story with DH normally brings home the freshest….tastiest breads ever when he shops.) When the man eats two to three peanut butter sandwiches for lunch every day, two loaves do not last very long, so I was happy that he thought ahead.

For some reason our bread stash was not dwindling and I soon discovered the reason. The brand (which will remain nameless) was not something we had purchased before and it was NOT (by any means of the imagination) fresh. The crust was somewhat hard and it was tasteless. What to do? There is an entire loaf sitting on the shelf! What can I do with this? The wheels started turning…and my stomach was growling…so my first idea was a grilled cheese sandwich with LOTS of butter…..yum. That didn’t make a dent. Now what? We could have french toast for dinner tonight…even though I prefer a thicker french toast. BREAD PUDDING! The entire family loves bread pudding. Luckily, I did have some raisins on hand…so right now…my house is fresh with the warm aromas of nutmeg, cinammon and vanilla and in another 40 minutes or so…..HEAVEN!