Holy Week

It's Monday of Holy Week. I was afraid when I started this exercise that I'd be putting together some rather strange meals this week, using up the dregs of my stored food. But instead I'm still having culinary adventures.

Lunch today was excellent. I found some ratatouille in the back of the freezer. At first I thought it was some "stone soup" left over from one of last year's Lenten suppers, but I was pleasantly surprised when it was not. But then I realized I needed something to go with it other than crackers, so I cooked up some rotini. Once the rotini was done, I mixed it in with the ratatouille. It was looking good, but a little anemic. A jar of spaghetti sauce from the pantry fixed that. The result was a very hearty and healthy dish - just a sprinkle of parmesan cheese because it's running low - and there was enough to have it again tomorrow.

Later today I plan to make a mince pie. I found a package of piecrust in the freezer, and remembered a jar of mincemeat that's been in the pantry for a while. I'll dice up an apple to exted the mince, and by suppertime I'll have a sweet treat. That will go nicely with the eye of round steak and russet baking potato I have planned for the meal.

There are only a few things that I'm running low on that actually make a difference. Cheese is one; by the end of the week I'll be down to cheddar jack and blue. I'm stretching the peanut butter to make it last, along with the last of the saltines. There's still at least 2 servings of goldfish crackers, but that's all there is. Since I've been out of other sweets, I've been eating yoghurt and canned fruit; both of those will be gone or nearly so by the end of the week. But nearly everything else is still in good supply. I can even have 2 cups of coffee a day this week and not run out.

This morning I realized that there's another dimension to this discipline that I hadn't thought about, and I'm not sure what made me think of it now. I realized I'm rehearsing in a way for the kind of frugality I will need to practicee routinely when I retire. I'm not worried about having enough money for groceries, but being wasteful will be less of an option. Practicing now before it becomes a necessity isn't a bad thing. In fact, I'm finding that it's rather pleasant.