Dinner Plans

  My mom never seemed to struggle with what to make for dinner or not having the right ingredients. Even my dad can make meals out of nothing.  

  Ever. 

  I try to follow my mom's footsteps by making a list of dinners we'll eat for the week (or two, since most meals make an extra meal or two), write out all of the ingredients I'll need to make these meals, go to the store, purchase said ingredients and put them away when I get home.  Yet, when it actually comes time to make a recipe, I never seem to have everything I need!  How is this possible?
  Right now we're broke, so I am trying to use the foods we already have.  This means, we have food that Britton doesn't really care for - like rice and pasta and vegetables.  I guess I'll be making a list of ingredients that we do have and trying to come up with good ideas for that.  Luckily we're leaving for 10 days next week, so it'll be a little while between when we get paid and when I have to buy groceries.  So, this means I just have to find 11 days worth of meals in what we've got.  Fun times. 
If you have any meals/recipes that your family loves, please feel free to share them with me, especially ones that please picky eaters.
  I know I have a steak, chicken breasts, hamburger (ground and in patties), taco meat, salmon and halibut. But I don't seem to have anything to go with these.  If it were up to Britton, he'd just eat meat.  Perhaps we'll have burgers again, we could do that for a few days, until we get sick of them again (like we did when we first moved in together).  But my momma taught me right, and a complete meal needs to have a starch and a veggie to go with it.  Or at least the veggies.  (No, Britton, potatoes do NOT count as a veggie... They are a starch.)  And what if my dinner plans don't have enough for lunch?  Then what? I don't have any more bread for sandwiches. 
  Most the $58.75 in my checking account will need to go to gasoline if my truck ever starts again.  Otherwise, I would buy more potatoes and fruits and bread and eggs and bacon.

  I hope my single steak and the two chicken breasts I pulled out are defrosted. I also hope that the tortillas in the cupboard are still good.  I think I want fajitas tonight.  I know I have diced green peppers and onions in the freezer, which will have to make due (we prefer our fajitas with sliced peppers and onions).  And maybe we'll just have to have leftover mashed potatoes with it!
  I just don't understand how I can buy EVERYTHING on my shopping list (which I make based on the recipes I have planned) and still not have the right ingredients for dinner.  le sigh.  Some day I'll be just like you, Mom!
  And another rant for another day - why I miss paying for a meal plan.