Last night my dog ate my dinner. Not just my dinner, the entire family’s dinner! 11 tuna burgers. She stuffed them in under 60 seconds when my son stepped away from the kitchen to fetch his homework. She usually likes to fetch too, but last night she favored tuna burgers.
This all happened at 6:00 p.m. just minutes before my older kids arrived home famished from a long day’s work. Once I got over the mild freak attack about all the time shaping, pan frying, and baking that was lost (and the liquid gold tuna in olive oil we splurged on, wasted), I allowed myself to worry about my dog’s health (did I use onions in the burgers and would she die? Will we all wake up to diarrhea splattered on our living room sofa?)
I then, of course, turned to dinner (or lack of it) and asked myself:
“What the heck is for dinner?”
One look around my flexible kitchen and I knew we had this under control.
We settled for a quick tuna salad, thanks to the dressings I always stash for emergencies like this. I also had an abundance of veggies because I’m religious about stocking in the fridge. We heated up some leftover halloumi cheese to sprinkle on top. And thank goodness for the carrot soup that I had made and that my dog showed no interest in.
I’m still mildly fuming, but she is, after all, a dog who likes tuna burgers so we will be more careful about never leaving her alone with food on the counter. Meanwhile, my lot were troopers and a flexible dinner was pretty easy to put together.
Remember: Disasters can’t always be averted, but freedom lies in the ability to settle for plan B!
