Pantry Fails and Foils

Monday night was scheduled for pizza night while I was away at Bible Study. I returned home to find the pizza still in the freezer. Hubby felt more like PB&J, a banana, and sun chips. Guess what was on the schedule for his lunch the next day? Yeah... PB &J, banana, and the last sun chips. Foiled.

Tuesday night was cream cheese wontons that we were both very much looking forward to. Got the cream cheese to room temp, started on the fried rice, and pulled out the wontons only to find that they had molded. Fail.

*big sigh*

So you've got the whole week planned out - meals, snacks, shopping, the whole bit. Then something (or someONE) unexpected happens to throw you way off course. What do you do?

You've got a couple of options:

Throw a Fit

Tempting! But generally unproductive. This was my first instinct when hubby "happened" Monday night. How dare he eat the "wrong" thing! If you have children this probably happens all the time. But guess what? The food is still eaten (or not) and the schedule is still off. Now there are also most likely hurt feelings and tension to overcome.

Give Up

"I just can't deal with this! We're eating out!" I imagine that there are times when this really is a better solution than others (say, murder), but if this is the option you choose, you've probably also now blown your budget - and created the problem of figuring out where to cut back later to make ends meet.

Deal With It

Lists, schedules, rules, padlocks... check! We'll see if they ever mess with my schedule again! ;) If you are motivated by a challenge and thrive on order, you may be tempted to crack down and make sure you do everything in your power to prevent similar set backs in the future. A strict pantry rotation schedule, labels on all foods, a snack sign-out sheet (haha!)? Again, this may be a viable solution in some cases - especially if there is a child to train or a constant problem that needs to be addressed. It may also just give you more work without much positive effect.

Let It Go

Let's face it. Our husbands are adults - we can't (and should try to) order them around. Our kids are, well... kids. We are placed in their lives to train and nurture them, but they are works in progress and we shouldn't be surprised or thrown off by the mistakes they make and the times they disobey - those should be expected (having a plan for dealing with disobedience is important for sure! Just make sure part of your plan is to expect to have to utilize the plan!). Wonton wraps mold when they go open and unused for too long. Sometimes we buy food that is unexpectedly bad even at the time of purchase. We just can't plan for everything. Having a freezer stocked with things to be reheated is a practical help, but even that isn't always possible.

So what did I choose to do? I got up early Tuesday morning and made Macaroni & Cheese (with leftover chicken and peas) to send with my husband to work, and last night we had fried rice and ate fruit for dessert. We mourned the wontons, but were thankful for what we still had. Because that's life, folks. :)