Oh no! This turned out to be one of those bloggy rants! I guess we all have ‘those days.’

Alright, I’m branching out and I think I might go broke doing it. Those Bertoli frozen meals in minutes were on sale last week at one of the local grocery stores. I thought I’d try them in the name of research. I knew I’d need at least two to feed this crowd and probably a nice loaf of bread, maybe a salad or something. On sale I paid $5.99 per bag. OK, I know this blog isn’t about cutting your grocery bill, but holy smokes! We’re talking about $5 per person for one meal. That’s high-end for my crowd. When you get the decent ground beef on sale (about $1.69/pound) and the discounted Hamburger Helper ($1/box) I can make dinner for about $1.06/person and have leftovers for lunch. So this Bertoli better be worth my research money because the one place left in this world to try to save money is the grocery store. And this little rant has brought me to one of those unanswerable questions: When is time worth more than money?

I mean, when it comes to lawn care, we opt for the time and pay the guy to come put down the weed-be-gone and the fertilizer. When it comes to cleaning we opt for the money and I do my best (which isn’t saying much) to keep the house clean. (I’m just not one of those everything-in-its-place people!) But when it comes to meals when is time worth more than money? Early in the morning when we all need to get out the door? At lunch because we were in a rush in the morning and couldn’t pack anything? Look how many kids buy those icky school lunches every day (including Mr. 7, from whom I don’t want to take away the best part of his school day … lunch and recess!). Or is time worth more than money most in the evening when all you want to do is sit down and enjoy your kids and not argue about what’s to eat or who’s going to clean it up?

Going back to cleaning, I vote time is worth more than money in the evening. I must be in the majority on this because look how many new short-cut products pop up in grocery stores each month. So I’ll get back to you on the taste factor for the Bertoli Shrimp, Asparagus and Penne. And please keep your favorite short cuts coming. Hilary has me looking at my pantry in a new light and Susan has me wandering a previously unexplored area of the produce department. And, based on what I hear from many moms, it seems I need to make a trek to Trader Joe's.

“I'm not into the money thing. You can only sleep in one bed at a time.

You can only eat one meal at a time, or be in one car at a time.

So I don't have to have millions of dollars to be happy.

All I need are clothes on my back, a decent meal, and a little loving when I feel like it.

That's the bottom line.”

--Ray Charles

“I have a great respect for money. I know how hard it is to earn and keep,

especially with our diabolical taxes in Britain.

I never get over the fact that sometimes I see more money being paid for a meal

than my father earned in a week.”

--Sean Connery