Cleaning out the fridge
I’m a brown-bagger. I pack a lunch and take it to work. This may impact my career choice a bit as going out to eat is a ritual. I used to eat out every day and then realized (after I got married because my wife told me) that a $7 meal, five times a week, for 50 weeks out of the year is a hefty chunk of change ($1,750 for you slower people). Money better spent on, say, guns.
My wife is rather anal about the contents of our refrigerator. She constantly works to maximize the available space in the fridge. She will actually, and I’m not making this up, take the contents of a larger bowl and put them into a smaller bowl. I won’t do that. I figure that just creates one more dish to wash. She packs my lunch, and I’m thankful for that. She doesn’t do it because she wants to make sure I eat well. She does it because, if she doesn’t, I’ll just go out for lunch.
Her determination to get rid of everything in the fridge combined with packing my lunch has resulted in the suffering of yours truly. I get the oddest food combinations for lunch. For example, a few days back I had in my lunch box: Ramen noodles, Stove Top Stuffing and a small block of mild cheddar cheese. I’ve also had chili, rice-a-roni, and a yogurt.
The other thing about this situation is that we have four lunch boxes, one of which is a rather sissy-looking teal color. Carrying that lunch box makes me look like someone you’d want to beat up. If someone were to take this lunch box to school, they’d probably get their asses kicked. This lunch box is, of course, her first choice when it comes to packing lunch for me.
February 14th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
I bring my lunch about half the time. We didn’t have any leftovers this morning, so I ate Ramen and a can of fruit cocktail. Saves money, for sure. I like to eat out a couple of days a week for fun, and so I know what’s actually going on around the office. During the times when I hardly ever went out to eat, I felt really out of touch.
February 14th, 2005 at 2:32 pm
She will actually, and I’m not making this up, take the contents of a larger bowl and put them into a smaller bowl. I won’t do that. I figure that just creates one more dish to wash.
I agree. Unless you are really desperate for fridge space, dish washing efficiency is much more important than maximizing container space.
February 14th, 2005 at 2:35 pm
Teal? Pansy.
j/k
February 14th, 2005 at 3:51 pm
Pack your lunch in an ammo can instead of a traditional lunch box. I am sure no one would think that was sissy-looking.
February 14th, 2005 at 5:03 pm
Pack it in a violin case and make ’em sweat.
February 15th, 2005 at 12:51 am
I do most of the cooking and shopping in my family, so I control the configuration of the frig and what my wife eats for lunch. It’s weird, but once you establish a “domain,” it’s hard to give up control even to your spouse. I squeal bloody murder if my wife buys the wrong brand of cheese, or stores something in the wrong sized container. Fridge space is precious.
Dishwashing efficiency is important too, but cabinet space is at such a premium here at my house, that I can’t afford to have a large dish underutilized. I might need it to cook the next night’s meal.
I also inherited the annoying habit of washing and re-using large ziploc bags from my mammaw.
February 15th, 2005 at 12:49 pm
“I also inherited the annoying habit of washing and re-using large ziploc bags from my mammaw.”
Wow, I thought my mom was the only one who did that. She saves foil, too.
February 15th, 2005 at 12:55 pm
My great grandpa washed and reused toothpicks. Talk about cheap.
February 15th, 2005 at 3:59 pm
You forgot to factor in how much the brown bag lunch is costing you. I’m betting it’s something like $3/day, which makes your savings closer to $1,000. Still nothing to sneeze at, but…
February 15th, 2005 at 4:06 pm
Oh, and dishwashing trumps fridge space. If I need a container that’s currently in the fridge and underutilized, then I will transfer its contents to a smaller container, wash the big container, and reuse it for whatever. If not, no worries.
February 15th, 2005 at 4:09 pm
“You forgot to factor in how much the brown bag lunch is costing you”
What was that about picking nits? Nah, dinner the night before is a sunk cost. I always cooked and would either eat them for dinner or throw them out.
February 16th, 2005 at 3:15 am
When in Rome… 😉
October 5th, 2005 at 12:08 pm
[…] In an update to this post on the odd combinations of lunches The Mrs. makes for me when cleaning out the fridge, today’s lunch includes: […]