Sunday, March 29, 2009

Bishop's Challenge: Day One

Today, during our third-combined Relief Society/Priesthood meeting (because it was a fifth Sunday) the topic of discussion was Preparedness and Food Storage. We heard the result of a ward survey that showed that the average food storage in the ward (among those 60 who completed the survey) was about a one month supply. Then, after very interesting presentations, our Bishop issued a challenge to all ward members. He asked (challenged) us to, "not go to the grocery store at all this week." One objective of the challenge is to give us the experience of using our current food supply and our food storage (reserves.) The other, and probably more important, objective is to cause us to reflect on those areas we might need to shore-up in case there were some reason we were not be able to go to the store for a week.

Theresia and I decided that our family would accept the challenge. This first day wasn't too difficult. It was Fast Sunday, so we would only be eating one meal. As part of our Sabbath observance, we don't shop on Sunday, so our meals are pretty much planned out on Saturday. Our daughter, Gabrielle, has the turn for the main meal on Sunday*. She used what we had in the house. For dinner she cooked BBQ Chicken (frozen chicken breast from freezer), baked with BBQ sauce from the refrigerator; Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (peel, cube, and boil potatoes, drain, add 4 oz. cheddar cheese, one cup milk, butter, salt, pepper, paprika, and spices, then mash); Carrots (slice and microwave with a little butter); and, to drink, water. For dessert the kids finished off the Tillamook Cookie Dough Ice Cream. A few hours later I made a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies from scratch (using the recipe from the Ambrosia Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip bag from Costco. One very smart move that Gabrielle made was with the milk for the potatoes. We have just over a gallon of milk in the fridge. That will need to last the week because we tend to eat cold cereal for breakfast. So Gabrielle mixed up one cup of powdered milk to use in the potatoes. That will pay off later in the week! We are planning to 'cut' the regular milk with powdered milk for the duration of the week.

Notes:
*To help take the load off mom and to provide domestic training for our children, a few years back we divided up the cooking chores for the main meal of the day. Each child has one day in which they choose the menu and cook (or assist if they are younger) the meal and set the table. Dad has one day and the family has a day where everyone is supposed to pitch in. That leaves mom with just two days to worry about!

1 comment:

Rob and Marseille said...

Let me just say as the oldest Loftus child, that this is a necessity. I never had to cook at home and when I went to college I didn't know how to cook anything. I was afraid to make scrambled eggs or cook hamburger. Now that I have lots of practice, I feel I'm a great cook and enjoy doing it. Give your kids practice cooking (when you're home) so they can learn with someone, instead of by themselves.