Make it Last

In the early 1940's when supplies and food were being rationed and waste was considered as an act against the war effort...mothers on the homefront were bombarded with propaganda and slogans like "Use It Up-Wear It Out-Make It Do!"  and Food is a Weapon. Don't Waste it.  Buy Wisely. Cook Carefully. Eat it All.  What goes around truly does come back around, as many of these slogans can help us through our lean times of lately.  Tonight, my menu plan for the week hit a near tragedy.  After a full day at work, I came home hungry and ready to begin the dinner-time mambo.  The menu was for chicken burritos, but as I assembled the ingredients something went awry.  We are tortilla-aholics in our home, so I never dreamed I would find only four tortillas in the pack (and no extras in the freezer!? No crunchy shells or chips for nachos either...)Ahhh.   five people and four tortillas does NOT equal DINNER.   Then,  it came to me, the tortillas were burrito size, but normally we don't go crazy filling them up and we eat 1 or 1 1/2 each.  I would have to succumb to a quick trip to the store (wasting my time, and money!) But then I remembered my blog, and thought...What would World War 2 mothers do?  Make it work!  And I did! I made a large pot of white rice (Mahatma, just over $1 a bag..cooked 50c worth), refried beans (another buck) and frozen corn (under a dollar).  Then we stuffed our four tortilla shells with all of it, chicken, cheese, beans, rice corn, lettuce, tomato....big burritos!  My little ones shared one, and each of us (mom, dad, and teenage daughter) had one to ourselves with a small salad on the side. And we are FULL!  All in all, probably a $6 meal for five (pretty healthy too, topped with fresh cilantro from the garden!).  But without my mantra, it could have easily been a backslide, trip to the store to buy more shells (which inevitably turns into $20-30 worth of impulse purchases--more if I send hubby ;)  Repeat after me:  Use It Up-Wear It Out-Make It Do!