The FlyLady: Plan your meals around soup day

When Robert and I married 13 years ago, my grandmother told him I was

bossy! Oh well, you have to be known for something. I guess this is what

happens when you are the oldest.My granny started telling me to be \"saving.\" She had lived through the Great Depression, World War II and

had been widowed at age 29 with two children. My mother was 8 years

old and her brother was 6 when their father died. Granny had three

mouths to feed.

Granny told me this one thing that I think can help you with menu

planning. She said, \"Anytime you throw food into the trash from the

refrigerator you have thrown money in the garbage can!\" Think about

dropping dollar bills down the disposal. We would never do that, yet

each week we clean out our refrigerators and toss leftovers into the

trash.

Now don't take this to the extremes the way I did! I subconsciously

decided that in order to not throw food in the trash we could just eat

out! You may not have leftovers in your refrigerator but they could be

collecting on your backside. Eating out gives us a license to overeat

because we paid good money for that food! Imagine that! We already have

this way of thinking in our brains; we just need to adjust that to what

we have in our refrigerators, pantries and freezers.

In our \"All or Nothing\" way of thinking, don't go to the other extreme

by not cleaning out the refrigerator. My husband broke me of that one

day when I looked up and said, \"What are you eating?\" He said, \"beans!\" I

started screaming in horror. \"You can't eat those; they have been in