I know a woman whose grocery list is an Access database organized by aisle and expected price.  Mine?  Not so much.

I did, however, have a grocery list waiting for me today, residing on the front passenger seat of my car just like it did yesterday when I ran out of time to actually go to the store.  It just slipped my mind, even though Gym Girl had lovingly listed all the necessities for me.  Like “Sprite:  some 4 home and some 4 school.”

After all the moaning and groaning I endured last night about there being nothing to eat around the house, I shouldn’t have found myself still at my desk at 5:45 p.m. today. I should have been happily trawling the aisles, Access list or not.  But instead, by the time I remembered I was supposed to shop after work, I realized I didn’t have time to get to the store before time to pick Gym Girl from practice. 

Maybe it was the district-wide healthy kids committee meeting that I chaired this afternoon that caused the hesitancy to fill those requests for Cheetos and soft drinks.  It’s a bit tough following a long discussion of all the ways we’re trying to help kids eat healthier at school.

The other thing that’s more than a bit tough is grocery shopping with one of the kids.  Inevitably it leads to more items than usual in the cart.  But, after I picked up Gym Girl, it made much more sense to just go on to the store.  Otherwise, dinner options were destined to be slim.

So we went.  And overall, we made good choices.  It’s such a fine line to walk with kids between making the junk food even more desirable by putting it off limits and totally giving in to every whim.  So we did get the Cheetos and the soft drinks (mini ones!) but I said no to the honey buns, the PopTarts, and several other assorted items.  We also stocked up on fruit, pretzels, and low-fat yogurt for snacks and sack lunches. 

By the time we arrived at home, seven o’clock had come and gone.  Fortunately, Adventure Guy was ready and waiting for the spaghetti supplies I’d picked up at the store.  He cooked while the kids unloaded the groceries.

And then, because we wouldn’t want to be boring around here, Gym Girl spent the meal trying to eat her spaghetti with the chopsticks she received today from her teacher.  A group of staff members at her school just returned from a trip to China, bringing along the chopsticks and a challenge for the class to try eating dinner with them.  I’ll say this, it did add a bit of humor to the meal.

But what makes me really happy is that I won’t have to make another grocery run until next week.  On the menu for the rest of the week?

Wednesday:  Beer can chicken, broccoli, rice, crescent rolls

Thursday:  Tacos with pinto beans

Friday:  Thai chicken, couscous, asparagus

Saturday:  Chicken enchiladas, Mexican rice, nachos

Sunday:  Stew and cornbread

As much as I sometimes dislike my grocery store trips, it always makes me feel much more in control of things when I have the pantry and fridge stocked and the menus planned out.  The Thai chicken is a new one for us.  I’ll post the recipe if it turns out to be good. And who knows, maybe next time I shop, I’ll even be able to avoid the Cheetos!