--

--

---------------------

Saturday, April 26, 2008

The Food Bill

It's in the news everywhere. Food prices are rising. Some foods are being rationed. I'm not going to rant about the cost of food because it won't do me or anyone any good. I just have one thing to say. Why is it that kids' appetites increase proportionately to food prices? For example I thought I was shopper of the year on Thursday. My local grocer had GM cereals on sale; save $5.00 on 5 boxes. I had 75 cent and $1.00 coupons for every box, plus the grocer gave a gallon of milk free to any customer who bought the 5 boxes of cereal. Jackpot! I purchased some of the normal low sugar favorites, but I also threw in a box of Cookie Crisp (an absolute favorite) and Lucky Charms (gotta love those dehydrated marshmallows). In total I ended with 10 boxes of cereal, hoping they would last the entire month if I spaced them with eggs, toast, bagels, yogurt and fruit, pancakes, waffles, and french toast for breakfasts. The entire jumbo sized box of Cookie Crisp is gone. It was consumed for all of 2 breakfasts.

In the dairy case I discovered quart size yogurt. What a great idea. I picked up two of them since the price was right. Today I set out tiny bowls, spoons and strawberry yogurt for an afternoon snack. I ate a small bowl, did some laundry and came back to an empty yogurt container. What? That should of lasted for two afternoon snacks. Now here it is, quickly approaching dinner time and the kids are already starving (according to them). It scares me because they've basically watched episode upon episode of Clifford, played computer games and colored all day, due to severe winds and cold temperatures. Just how hungry will they be the next time they get a day full of sunshine and bike riding? Please don't answer that.

FYI***Very interesting reading over at Wikipedia about the history of breakfast cereals. Did you know that the original idea for Lucky Charms came from mixing Cheerios bits with Kraft Circus Peanuts? Now you do.