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Dinner Group - Whose night is it anyway?



So I got this feeling about an hour before dinner group(s) began to check online to see where I'd be eating at tonight. (The reader should be aware that I am a member of two dinner groups that overlap on Mondays and Wednesdays.) I pulled up Google Calendars and discovered 2 names: Jon King (apartment 125) and my OWN!

The time was 5:20. My dinner group of 8 was due to arrive at 6:30. That gave me 5 minutes to panic, 15 minutes of total travel time, 15 minutes at the grocery store, 4 minutes for unpredictable friend-encounters along the way (which I completely used up), 30 minutes to cooking and 1 minute to catch my breath. I stood up from my chair, put a different shirt on (backwards), grabbed my keys and took off for Maceys. Fortunately, I backed into my parking stall, shaving 5 seconds off of my driving time.

Everything went according to plan. I was totally in the zone at the super market. I cruised around the perimeter of the store like a man possessed. Celery looked good, bananas looked cheap [read: perfect], ¿DONDÉ the marinated chicken? Got it! And, I'm outta here.

Back at the apartment, I had the foresight to start some rice and pre-heat the oven. So I quickly "Pam"ed a pan, packed in the chicken and closed the oven, hoping that it would be enough time. While the chicken was baking, I put the bananas in a bowl, slapped some PB on the celery and steamed some leftover vegetables in a pot. In the end, I had only spent $12 had still had 10 minutes to kill. It turned out to be one of the best dinner group meals I've ever cooked. (The chicken was SOOOO juicy; I should under-cook it more often. JK.)

Menu

Bryan's Quicky Meal of Healthy Goodness

  • Pre-marinated Chicken - $8
  • Assorted Vegetables Leftover from Costco Bag - $1
  • Brown rice - Gift from my roommate, Reed
  • Bananas - $2
  • Celery with Peanutbutter - $2
  • Brita Water - Priceless


Comments

  1. Wow, well done! You didn't even resort to pizza or frozen lasagna.

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  2. I'm very impressed! I love dinner group, but i'm not very good at making it as inexpensive as you.

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  3. Good work, I'm definitely impressed.

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  4. I'm also impressed by the pricetag. I'm especially impressed that you started the rice before you left. You definitely had your head on straight even if your shirt was backwards.

    Brita: priceless :) ha ha

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  5. Whoaaaa! I don't know if I'm more proud of you or more impressed by your skills and lack of panic! That could be such a nightmare! Did you reveal your hectic schedule to the participants? Just think what you could do if you really tried!!!

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  6. I've never bought marinated chicken. Mebbe I should give it a go. Nice work on pulling off a fab dinner.

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