Making A Dinner Out Of The Dollar Menu

Making A Dinner Out Of The Dollar Menu

 

I was exhausted after the storm the other day. I had done a lot of shoveling and then painting when the handy man came over to do some repairs.

By five in the afternoon I was feeling ill and exhausted and went to bed early.

The next day I was not able to stand for more than a couple of minutes or I would start to collapse. I knew it would be  OK  and it was nothing to be concerned about. I was just exhausted among other things and I would be better in a couple of days. 
I am a practical sort of person  and realized  I was too weak to even to make a cup of coffee for breakfast.

 There was no choice I am addicted to coffee. 
If I don't have a cup a day I get terrible headaches. So I needed my caffeine!
I did what I had to do and I got in my car and drove to McDonalds to get a cup of coffee. I love their coffee and I rationalize if I got the large size I would  have enough coffee left for breakfast the next day.
As I waited in line to order my coffee I said to myself what am I going to do about tonight? I know myself and I knew I would be hungry later and self denial is not part of my DNA in fact I bet on my death bed I would order a ham and cheese sandwich! I am always hungry!
 Then I saw the dollar menu and inspiration hit me. I knew what I was going to get for dinner! I decided on one of the dollar sandwiches that I could dress up and make acceptable for dinner. 
I knew chicken was a better choice but I wanted beef later. I  had been craving beef for the last couple of days so I ordered a McDouble and a cup a coffee and left McDonald's  to do some shipping and get my mail before I went back home to rest. 
While I was driving I thought about how to dress up this McDouble sandwich. 

I realized I had a sweet onion and white button mushrooms in the refrigerator at home. That I decided would be what I would add to the burger when I reheated it later. 
I figured it would only take about a minute and a half to make  this dinner and that I told myself I could do.

When dinner time arrived I cut a small piece of the onion and then chopped up two of the mushrooms and put them is a small bowl with a quarter teaspoon of butter. I put only the mushrooms in the microwave for thirty seconds and I had nicely cooked buttered mushrooms when I took them out of the microwave. (If you don’t like raw onions like I do then add chopped onions to the mushrooms and butter before you put it in the microwave and increase the time to 45 seconds).

Then I put the hamburger in the microwave and heated it for thirty seconds.

When the hamburger was hot I added the fresh onions and buttered mushrooms to it. You know what? It actually tasted good!

The hamburger was filled with the extra veggies and it was all I needed for dinner.

I only had two things to wash up a knife and a bowl it could not get any simpler now could it?

Later if I am hungry I know I have a bag of frozen mixed berries in a dish ready to put over some pound cake I got for a quarter at the dollar store. I also have some whip cream to top it with.
I consider whip cream to be an essential item to always have in my refrigerator. (OK I love whipped cream!)
So I figured if I wanted something later this would be a nice treat with a cup of tea to go with it.

The next day I  felt better and I was able to make dinner as usual.
 I am not recommending this as a regular diet. I really am not.

I am just saying in a pinch it’s not a bad alternative if necessary.

 This may not my usual kind of dinner but anyway you look at it I did eat well and I  did keep on budget even when  the main part of the dinner was bought at a fast food place like McDonalds.