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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not be able to feed 3 extra adults unexpectedly for lunch?

565 replies

ImFree2doasiwant · 01/04/2021 14:17

I'm single, with 2 small children. I do a weekly meal plan and shop once a week.

If 3 extra adults dropped in for lunch, I'd either be able to feed them but have to go shopping again, or not have enough food in to feed them at all.

Its not like I can't afford to, I just buy the food that we, as a family, will eat. I have a small freezer. I could probably manage dinner better.

Am I that unusual?

OP posts:
DIshedUp · 02/04/2021 18:19

Especially right now surely its sensible to keep a basic stock of food in? You could have to isolate for 2 weeks from tomorrow!

I like to keep bread in the freezer anyway because I hate that feeling of running out of one thing and needing to go to the shops when you really don't want to.

RampantIvy · 02/04/2021 18:20

I find it very weird that someone would have NO extra food in the house OF ANY KIND beyond what they expected to consume that week.

So do I. We don't always have enough bread, but I would have rice, pasta, lentils, eggs, cheese, various tinned stuff etc, etc.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 02/04/2021 18:20

@Rosieredapples that's not overshopping. It's actually quite common amount what you describe so don't feel like you are doing something wrong.

Currently at home in non fresh "cupboard"
4x tuna, 3x sardines, 3x pineapple tins, 2x tinned dolmades, 2 different types of noodles, 2 different types of pasta, 3 different dried pulses, 3 different beans tins, 2x tinned tomatoes, tinned chickpea, 2x jar sauces, curry kit, bulgur, molokhia, 2x tinned kimchi, homemade preserve sauce jar, 1x coconut milk, 2 different pasta shapes and 2 different sizes of couscous
😂
Nothing special, it's one double drawer actually.
But makes hell of a lot if needed with just added few bits.

I also always have some bread in a freezer and always have some homemade ready meals there (at some point 30+ when I freshly stock up and batch cook every few months for busy period).

However, like OP I simply wouldn't have enough bread for sandwiches so they would have to do with homemade saagwala or chicken with potatoes and sauerkrat at the present😂😂😂

Clammyclam · 02/04/2021 18:20

I meal plan
But having spent 17 years related to my MIL I also have a stocked store cupboard
and freezer- from which I could make a meal for 3 adults easily. The meal could be many things but in my head I keep Quorn mince in there as it feeds most people and can be turned into spag Bol or chilli. (2 of my relatives don't eat meat- hence the Quorn and being mindful)
I have frozen garlic bread or part baked rolls too.
Both of which go with a meal or the part baked make a different one. Plus plenty of eggs and tuna for a sandwich.

I grew up in poverty wrt food so I appreciate I am very fortunate.

My sister doesn't live in poverty now either but she has almost bare cupboards as she hates spending money on food. It's funny how we differ.

I don't think anyway is wrong.
Just do what you feel comfortable with.

GuildfordGal · 02/04/2021 18:22

The other point about having a well-stocked kitchen/cupboards is that I can choose what I feel like eating and have the stuff around to cook a version of it.

I rarely know on Sunday what I fancy for dinner on Thursday. I'm slightly baffled at PP thinking that keeping a store of food is wasteful. I don't get why that's the case at all.

Localocal · 02/04/2021 18:22

This happened to me all the time for a while - my stepkids were highly unpredictable as teens/young adults. I could usually stretch to it, but then I usually like to overcook and have leftovers to take to work for lunches, so I was usually cooking for more than who I was expecting.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 02/04/2021 18:27

I forgot 5kg of rice😂

PinkTonic · 02/04/2021 18:32

I could probably provide rolls with ham, tuna, salmon or cheese with salad, and a handful of crisps on the side. I could always do home made soup, frittata, quiche, spaghetti carbonara, or a main course salad with grains/pulses etc. Also could always make a cake, scones, cheese straws.

RampantIvy · 02/04/2021 18:32

The other point about having a well-stocked kitchen/cupboards is that I can choose what I feel like eating and have the stuff around to cook a version of it.

I do this. I wonder if this is something that only people who are more confident in the kitchen do?

I must admit that I find meal planning really, really boring. During term time there is only DH and me, and we both like nearly everything, so every day I look in the fridge and cupboard and decide what to cook with the ingredients we have.

Shopping list wise, I have an app on my phone so that I don't forget to shop for regular items like milk, bread, butter and veg.

nannybeach · 02/04/2021 18:32

would always manage to conjure something up, always bread in the freezer.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 02/04/2021 18:36

I cook like my mother did.

"Enjoy the dinner, you will never have it again I forgot what's in it"
😂

HibouMilou · 02/04/2021 18:44

Back-of-the-fridge soup is a favourite in this house! . Always filling!

ArcheryAnnie · 02/04/2021 18:44

I have a tiny, tiny galley kitchen with very little storage space - but I get anxious if every last inch of that space is not crammed with tins and rice and whatnot. I could feed three extra adults, no problem, but only if they don't mind some slightly odd meals, or noodles.

wildchild554 · 02/04/2021 18:44

I always have some tins and quick rice or pasta, meals on hand for if I get really ill so that I can make something really quick so I'd always have something available for a suprise visitor even if it's not spectacular.

gingercat02 · 02/04/2021 18:50

Mumsnet is the weirdest place. I would hate to live in a world where your friends or family would feel they couldn't just call in whenever! I could almost always knock up a sandwich or cheese on toast or a bowl of soup. If something more substantial was needed pasta or risotto or an omelette would be feasible most days

Thistimelastyear · 02/04/2021 18:53

We couldn't do sandwiches as we don't have much bread in due to allergies. Normally we would have eggs, bacon, cheese, baked beans, tinned soup, some veg and maybe a pizza in the freezer. We could offer omelettes, soup, pizza or vegetable pasta.

LowlandLucky · 02/04/2021 19:15

Why don't you have extra food in OP What would happen if you were ill and couldn't get to the shop ? What would your children eat ?

SchrodingersImmigrant · 02/04/2021 19:19

@LowlandLucky

Why don't you have extra food in OP What would happen if you were ill and couldn't get to the shop ? What would your children eat ?
Op has food, just not enough sandwich food. Like many of us.
TatianaBis · 02/04/2021 19:29

I have 2 freezers, a pantry and a cellar. Never knowingly understocked.

MintyMabel · 02/04/2021 19:31

l live very rural

And you only have a small freezer? When we lived rurally it was impossible without a decent freezer.

Nsky · 02/04/2021 19:40

I tend to have bacon, eggs and cheese in.
If I knew you were coming I’d allow that you might stay for lunch.
Unexpected, cheese or tuna sandwich

Weonlyhavealoanofit · 02/04/2021 19:43

Buy half a dozen eggs, some mushrooms, and some cheese....a delicious omelette.

BarbaraofSeville · 02/04/2021 19:49

How come you could do toasties but not sandwiches

In my case it's usually because the bread is a bit stale and/or in the freezer so fine for toast but not very nice for sandwiches.

Ahardyfool · 02/04/2021 19:50

I thought such occasions were exactly why tuna pasta was designed...?

Maryann1975 · 02/04/2021 20:03

We are a family of 5 and I’m a childminder, so always have food in, even on the day the shopping is delivered. I could feed 3 extras as long as no one was fussy. We might not all be able to have the same thing either, so some sandwiches, some cheese on toast, some egg on toast. Or for a main meal, it might end up being a bit of a hodgepodge ‘buffet’, pizza, fish fingers, burgers, sausages with some chips, alphabites, smiley faces and waffles as there might not be enough of one thing for everyone to have the same.

If people aren’t happy with that, they need to give notice that they are coming (or better yet, wait to be invited For a meal rather than just descending on me). If I know I’m catering for 3 extras, you are likely to get a lovely meal, fancy bread with a choice of fillings, or something out of the recipe book.