The Bottomless Pit

I have been to the grocery store every day this week. I have purchased 4 gallons of milk, 2 gallons of apple juice, 3 pounds of coffee, 5 bunches of bananas, 5 dozen eggs, 5 loaves of bread and more snacks, sandwich fixin's, beverages and hygiene items than you can load into the back of an SUV. I give up. 

Every day, the chorus of hunger grows louder. Inquiries of what's for dinner, declarations of near starvation and the chewing, chewing, chewing of snacks deafen me. The acquisition, creation and consumption of food is a near obsession and necessity in our home. 

I've spent many, many hours researching, planning and trying to find ways to lower our grocery bill. Some days my pantry looks like we are ready for the apocalypse; other days there's cereal but no milk to go with it. Keeping up with the insatiable hunger of a house full of boys is a challenge, to say the least. 

I know that on a global, and even national level, my boys are lucky to always have food in the fridge and access to lunch at school. I'm grateful that they will never really know what it's like to be "STARVING" as they say each day when they come home. For our family, food is always only a card swipe away and for that, I will always be appreciative. 

The culture of food with growing boys is one that is laughable, but real. They really do eat you out of house and home. I've had nightmares about arguing with grocery store clerks, and a slow panic starts to creep in when our food supply gets too low. Feeding a house full of boys is truly like throwing food down a bottomless pit that's never satisfied.

Hopefully our efforts to feed them good food will pay off. I know we've already cultivated a worldly (albeit expensive) palate in our children; they eat anything and everything under the sun. They are good eaters for the most part, just a little too good (haha). Maybe soon I'll be able to revive our gardening efforts and grow a little veggie patch to at least take tomatoes and cucumbers off the grocery bill. For now, I'll keep clipping coupons, keep hunting for BOGO's and stretch our leftovers as far as they'll possibly go.