A blog about life experience and inexperience, written by Dallea Caldwell.
I shoved my boyfriend in the grocery store last week.
IN MY OWN DEFENSE, I was only half serious. See, this was my first time “meal planning”. I normally pick up ingredients for the meals I learned from my mom, grab whatever else looks good, and just invent new meals with whatever is left. That’s why I always kick him out of the kitchen — so that I can…think.
Now, in order to make dinner time more of a team sport, he suggested we try some new recipes together. But first, we had to find them. And researching recipes online is pretty irritating. Something looks good…until you realize it requires 50 million ingredients you can’t pronounce and none of which you have in stock. Then, after all that thinking and strategizing — adding the duplicate ingredients, removing the in-stock ones — the basics become an afterthought.
And, even though “we” forgot the bacon…I alone fell short of the expectation to remember the bacon. So, it was “You forgot the bacon.” Oh, most stubborn remaining vestige of sexism, you slay me.
And that brings me to the shoving of the boyfriend.
I got away with it because he’s bigger than me and because we were both laughing at the time. But we couldn’t find the Italian sausage, and because we couldn’t find the Italian sausage, the whole world was on the brink of disaster in that moment.
So, I shoved him to save him from the derailed train/falling building/firey comet that was headed his way any apocalyptic moment… obviously.
In the end, however, we saved $30 on our regular grocery bill! Which felt far more satisfying than I had expected.
And we really connected on a deeper level! Really learning to understand one another.
BF: “How do you ‘brown the sausage’?”
Me: “You pour olive oil in the pan and saute the meat on top.”
BF: “How do you ‘saute the meat on top’?”
Me: “You pour olive oil in the pan and put the meat on top.”
And, I taught him to wash the pots rather than put them in the dishwasher where they get damaged.
And I laughed as he cringed at the feel of the sponge. (Yes, he’s one of those).
Most importantly, the Olive Garden Copycat Zuppa Toscana was delicious, even with Italian seasoned ground turkey!
So, if you can’t stand the heat, bring your partner into the kitchen. Strategize to plan quick and affordable meals that reduce waste and impulse buying. With the money you save as a team, you can do something really great… like hire a maid or butler during the Playoffs so that your home team can enjoy a brief off season!
