It's What's for Dinner

Husband coached out of town for my first week back to work after summer, which meant early-morning camp drop-off for the girls and exhaustion for all of us. (Oh, how often I bow down to single parents and partners of deployed spouses!  This week, I paid homage again). 

I didn't feel like cooking.  My clientele were tired, listless, and cranky.  Even beans and rice felt too ambitious. 

So we kept it simple (and sodium rich!). 



Almost MRE.

Scrounging the cupboards for the easiest and cheapest meal options reminded me of my post-college days in Washington, D.C., when I shared an apartment with two roommates and we had the opportunity to analyze and/or adopt one another's eating habits.  One of my roommates had a "default" meal--the dinner she would eat right before payday or when creativity, motivation, or other groceries (including ours) had run out.  She dubbed it Corn As A Meal. 

Corn as a Meal relied on one staple:  frozen corn.  At its most basic, Corn As A Meal comprised corn and salt and pepper, heated in the microwave in a big bowl and eaten in front of the TV.  Sometimes Corn As A Meal included hotdogs, cheese, other vegetables, or more exotic herbs. 

My roommate's "Frozen Starch" As A Meal backup plan inspired a phase when I would enjoy Peas As A Meal (tasty with parmesan cheese, by the way).  And my other roommate would fix herself Rice As A Meal. 

Despite the billing spaghetti-os, mac 'n' cheese and ramen enjoyed this week, ideally, Big Sis would love a caprese salad for dinner, and Little Sis would prefer Trail Mix As A Meal (and it would be nice if I'd go ahead and remove everything but the chocolate chips, please). 

What's your default dinner, folks?