Brown Baggin' it

To be obsessed with something means that every aspect of your life revolves around the object of your obsession. Well it should come as no surprise that I'm obsessed with moving to Hawaii. People have told me that before, but I've been able to just brush it off as merely being very detailed in my planning. Well last night I realized that it's official. I'm obsessed. Let me walk you through my revelation.

Last night we went grocery shopping. Like actual grocery shopping. The last year or so it seemed like Hope and I were content running to the store every couple of days to buy ingredients for whatever sounded good on the way home. That is unless we were distracted by Chipotle or some other food joint. I'll go ahead and take credit for this one. "Hey no big deal right? There's money in the bank let's just grab something quick on the way home. I don't feel like cooking do you?" My favorite was, "You worked hard tonight. I'm cooking. It's just unfortunate. I had a taste for [insert favorite Pan-Asian dish here] and we have 1 of the 15 ingredients I need...."  That spur of the moment spending has characterized our shopping habits for at least the last year. As much as I love to be spontaneous, that kind of thinking will leave me and my family living in a van down by the river ocean. Not a horrible future if you ask me, but Hope and Gavin have this thing about "having a roof over our heads" and "feeling safe". We realized the need to get into the habit of planning meals ahead of time. By minimizing quick trips to the grocery store we will be able to keep the already high cost of food from being even higher. Perfect example, this past July while we were on Maui, I got a hankerin' for some grilled teriyaki chicken. Despite spending [censored by Blogger for being obscenely high] at Costco on food for our stay, there were still a few things that we needed. Naturally, I did what everyone tells you not to do. I went down the street to Foodland. I didn't realize that Hawaii had any native vultures until I saw them circling over head.  You know those stories of $8 gallons of milk and $6 boxes of cereal? They originated here.  Even with the kama'aina discount (I'm think it means you've got the look down if locals assume you are one of them, or maybe they saw my pupils dilate when I saw the total.) everything is still expensive.

In the back of my mind, I was always thinking "We can plan for dinner and maybe even breakfast. But I work hard, so if I feel like going out to lunch, I'm going out for lunch". -- Cut to me holding a package of deli meat with sad eyes realizing what I've become.... responsible. Planning ahead? Thinking for the future? Moving to Hawaii has officially invaded every aspect of my life. Responsible Ken would rather save the money he could be spending eating arm-sized burritos, buckets of seafood and the occasional buffet and put it toward the move. As it turns out this will be a significant amount of money saved. Assuming an average $10 a day over the next 20 or so weeks and I could save $1000. Not bad. Enough to make me commit to the brown bag? It'll have to be. However, I can't live off of sandwiches or soup. I need some variety. I also need it to be healthy. What's the point of living in paradise if you are swollen from all the sodium in instant ramen or banquet meals?
I'll have to get creative to keep things interesting. Any suggestions for cheap and healthy lunches? I'd love to hear them.

I find the fountain drowns out the voices in my head begging for fiscal freedom