Dinner - What's it going to be tonight?

A new mother and friend sent me this question. I thought I would post the answer.

Since you've been so great about offering sanity....a practical question:

How often did you hit the store when your girls were little? And far in advance did you plan menus?

I'd like to plan a week out. But I wonder if that's not smart when it comes to meat and produce.

And yes, I could take the kids with me to the store, have already done that. But it's so easy to run up a bill that way, and I'm watching my pennies after six months of my folks living with me.

Write back whenev....

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If you can solve the "How to shop with two small kids and keep your sanity" issue you will make a fortune. There are pages & pages of "quick and easy shopping tips," from every woman who found herself in the same situation. There are blogs, magazines, radio shows, TV shows devoted to the topic and insane asylums filled with perfectionist moms who failed."

If you go through the KCRW "Good Food" archives (use my name as keyword) you will find the segment I did on "rip n' pour". The best of packaged/frozen food for next to nothing.

I tried to plan, but something always got in the way. So I decided to have some staples on hand at all times to be able to "throw something" together.

I kept soups and thick french/rustic/paisano bread. If I could not get to anything else kids got soup and bread. Rich thick soups with a handful of rice thrown in. In addition, I picked up roast chickens. I would buy two and eat the second one cold or cut it up in the soup or throw some in a salad. Kids loved it.

Veggies are great fresh in the summer, but winter means frozen fresh. Most time I put all them in soups so no one can identify the "yucky" stuff.

To control costs try and find the smaller stores that don't buy prepackaged fresh fruit and veggies. The food is priced for less, ripe, thus ready to eat.

Price difference:

Whole Foods avocados were hard as rocks: $5.99 a pound
Olive Fresh Garden Market: ripe, ready to eat, $2.99 a pound.

You can't be all things to all people and cooking is always optional. Remember Julia Child did not have children!

Laurelle

FOUND FAMILY!!!

My family has found me. They found me through concerted effort, followed the ramblings of a senile grandmother and located my 1st cousin in Paris who then let them know about the "american" cousins in Los Angeles.

Michelle and Nathalie (mother and daughter respectively) are only children and direct descendants of my grandmother's younger brother. Got that? My grandmother was born in 1878 and gave birth to my father in 1907. Herman, the younger brother, was born in 1887 , daughter Giselle was born in 1925, gave birth to Michelle in 1953. I can give you the ages of all other descendants and a trend emerges: no one gives birth early in life. Remember that in the 1900's women gave birth multiple times by age 20. My grandmother was 29! Giselle was 28! My father was 45, 47 and 50. I was 38.5 and 41.75 respectively with my two girls.

We are adventurous at heart and deed, intensely curious about all aspects of life and great travelers.

I have never met them, they have never met me. So meeting family who are perfect strangers will be a new adventure for me and them. They are staying with friends of mine who have graciously agreed to host them. I am throwing a dinner with friends who knew my father and my family while growing up in LA. The French Chef I hired for the occasion is an old family friend who knew us quite well.

So stay posted as I will be blogging on the experience and discovery of common traits, mannerisms, etc. We already look alike to the rest will be up for exploration.

Laurelle