Valise de cuisine!

My mother is a brilliant packer!  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  We had suitcases when I was a child...big heavy ones.  We rarely used them.  We packed in paper grocery sacks.  My mother referred to it as "matching luggage".  The sacks compressed nicely in the back of the station wagon.  It was easy to sort like objects--linens, towels, each child's clothes, etc.  Remember that in the 60's we didn't travel by plane, train or boat...we went on a road trip!

I can pack light, if I need to.  When I travel by plane, I love to fit everything in my carry-on.  Less money and I don't have to wait at baggage claim.

But this week is the homeschool convention!  I'm entering the world of $36 dinners and $15 hamburgers.  Are they serious?  If I spend that kind of money, I won't be able to buy books!  Oh sure, they have a food court for homeschoolers, but I'd still spend a fortune if I bought all my meals there.

I didn't watch my mom pack for all those trips for nothing!  Whenever we stay in a hotel, we always take our "suitcase de chow".  It's mostly snack foods, including bottled water and soda.  And of course, the jar of peanut butter and crackers.  I have some quick and easy meals...but I've learned an important lesson!  Don't spend a fortune on "real food", because you'll have excessive guilt over wasted food when your girlfriends want to go out to eat.  I buy things that I can take back home and put in the hurricane stash if we don't use it.

But  I will still be able to create a meal, for those times when we don't want to break the bank OR when we want to get away from the crowd.
Today is the day we bring out the clothes suitcase.  We can't bring it out too early, because it upsets the dog.  As the laundry dries we can pack!  Yup, I'm so ready for some girl time!
Feeling blessed, how about you?