The one, lonely box in

The one, lonely box in the back of the pantry

Yesterday, being the 13th of the month, it was time to clean out the pantry. (whew. I mis-typed panty, and couldn't imagine doing a monthly cleanout of the panty!) I do a monthly clean out, right before payday, so I have room to put the new goods. I pulled out the half empty boxes of ice cream cones, the boxes of crackers that held only a few stale crumbs, the cereal that no one ate, the two, no three, no FIVE boxes of shake and bake. I put everything on the counter, so I could see what I had, to make dinner for the night. Whatever I created could have any of the following:

sundried tomatoes in oil
1 packet of buzz lightyear fruit snacks
garbanzo beans
creamed corn
a 5 lb. can of beef stew - given to us by my father in law for our end times pantry
beer bread mix
lemonade mix
artichokes
2 juice boxes with no straws
boiled canned onions - when and why did I buy those?

No pasta to be found. Otherwise, I'd make sundried tomatoes and artichoke pasta. We could have pancakes - nope, no butter and no syrup. Cereal? None left. Scrambled eggs? None of those left either. I began to feel like the worst housekeeper and mother ever. Who runs out of pasta, or eggs, or butter? Only the very bad kind of mommy, for certain.

Then, deep in the back, hiding behind the three pounds of powdered sugar, I spied it. The light brown box. It was roasted garlic couscous. Success! With this, I could make sundried tomato and artichoke couscous, and serve it with toast points and baby carrots and cucumbers.

The poor, lonely box of couscous had sat on the shelf patiently, watching the more exciting boxes and cans fly out of the pantry. The cookies, gone. The pasta - among the first deserters. We can put away some pasta here. The canned vegetables had even been escorted out. But now, it was time for the couscous to save the day!

It was good, too. Yippee for payday, though, since I can only work under such pressure once in a great while!