So here's a scenario: it's mid-afternoon and you're headed home from a full day of meetings. You're more tired than usual but know you have a tribe of boys to feed in a couple of hours, but aren't sure if you have the energy to make the meal you'd planned for that evening. You're too tired to eat out (and that's not really in the budget anyway). The larder is fairly bare due to a planned trip to a bulk food store the next day. What do you do in your context?
As you might guess, this is my story today. It's interesting to ponder because I know what I'd do in Australia would be different to what I'll do here.
The options I considered:
Heating up tinned soup
Buying crumbed fish/meat/croquette/meat on a skewer (yakitori) at a grocery store I passed on my walk home from the train
Bacon and eggs (one of the few protein options I have in the house)
In the end I've decided to push through and make the fairly easy from-scratch macaroni cheese that I'd planned. (After a bit of horizontal therapy.)
I know I have readers from various cultures and countries here, though most rarely comment. I'm wondering, what would you do in the above situation? (Noting that my boys eat a lot, a kilo of chicken along with about 12 tortillas and a lot of salad disappeared in one sitting the other day, and that was when David wasn't even here.)
I have a few 'cheat' meals that are my go to options.
ReplyDeletePork chops with 2 min noodles and frozen peas and corn.
Rice paper rolls with left over meat. I put all the fillings on the table and everyone over 3 makes their own.
Frozen fish / nuggets / pies
Any leftovers lurking in the freezer...
We are American missionaries in Italy. Our go to quick meal is pizza from the pizzeria if we can afford it, otherwise we make fried egg sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteWe were a bit like that yesterday. What I ended up cooking was fried rice with egg, whatever veggies I could find in the fridge and freezer, and a little bit of frozen sliced cooked chicken that I cook in bulk and keep in the freezer for sandwiches. What tipped the balance in favour of this meal was that there was a large quantity of leftover rice in the fridge (cooked rice is also something that I like to have in the fridge because I've got four boys who are always hungry).
ReplyDeleteFelt like that today, but thankfully I don't have hungry boys to feed. Egg on toast is a good standby but I don't imagine it going down too well with hungry boys. Today I did couscous, microwaved some frozen veggies, microwaved some cherry tomatos, and topped it off with some natural yoghurt. I did have protein at lunchtime though.
ReplyDeleteBreakfast for dinner! Pancakes or scrambled omelet (scrambled eggs with vegetables: onion, green pepper, mushrooms, etc, and cheese)
ReplyDeleteI'm new to your blog--but oh, so thrilled to find it! We are adopting from Japan so finding blogs of people living there is always amazing to us!
ReplyDeleteWe too love breakfast for dinner in a pinch (or brenner as we call it). But one of the oddest things we do when mama just can manage to make a legit meal is what I call "Deluxe oatmeal". It's just whole oats, crushed nuts (any kind, but we use almonds), flax seeds, dried cranberries, and frozen blueberries. We might have some bacon on the side too. It's hearty and fills you quickly while not being hard on the budget or taking a lot of time in the kitchen.
If you have any tips for us as we make our way toward Japan in the next year we are all ears!