Food Culture in the Nemergut Residence

Friday – Lunch = Frozen pizza - $4

              Dinner = Restaurant – $110

Saturday – Lunch = Frozen pizza - $4

                   Dinner = Nothing

Sunday – Breakfast = Restaurant – $8

                Lunch = Restaurant – $30

                Dinner = Restaurant w/ dessert - $50

Monday – Lunch = restaurant – $10

                  Dinner = Cooked – Chicken, peas, stuffing - $7

Tuesday – Lunch – Cafeteria

                  Dinner = Ordered Pizza - $15

Wednesday – Lunch = Cafeteria

                        Dinner = Cooked - Chicken pot pie - $7

Thursday – Lunch = Restaurant – $5

                   Dinner = Raviolis, bread, sauce - $6

Extras

Dad’s lunch/breakfast – Fruits/Vegetables and cereal - $30

Moms Lunch – Anything – probably leftovers and occasionally eating out - $45

Snacks – Pretzels, chips, oreo’s, yogurt, fruit (bananas, strawberries) - $25

Mom’s birthday – cake, cookies, cupcakes - $25

Drinks – Water, orange juice, milk, soda - $12
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               The kitchen is the center of the household at the Nemergut residence. Whenever there is discussion, it occurs in the kitchen. In general, dinner at the Nemergut household is a little more traditional than at most households. My mom cooks almost every dinner from Monday to Thursday and every meal is eaten at the kitchen table. And also unlike most families, my family eats dinner abnormally early sometimes eating as early as 4:30. This week was special considering it was my mom's birthday. This week she made dinner Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I enjoy most of her meals and one of the best parts of her cooking is how cheap it is.

                Every Friday night my family goes out to dinner to a location that is usually chosen by my dad then argued with by my mom and I. He prefers fancy/elegant restaurants while my mom and I prefer your local good eats. There are often some arguments and often some compromises. I don’t dislike my dad’s favorite restaurants but they can definitely get tiresome. I also dislike the fact of how expensive the meals are especially because I will be attending college next year. This week we went to Old Man Refferty's which cost about $110 dollars. I think this is ridiculous but my dad insists that we go every Friday.

                Saturday is more of a free for all where we either order out or consume things from the refrigerator or the pantry. I prefer to order Dominos in which case my dad will order some cheesy bread. My parents prefer to make pasta and sauce or scavenge for leftovers in the freezer and fridge. This week we ate whatever was in the cabinets so it was fairly cheap. Sunday night is a completely different story. My dad, who is a pretty good cook, usually makes meals that take hours just to prepare. The meals are good but the desserts he also prepares are even better. Occasionally my grandma will join us where she will say, no matter how bad the meal is, that this is the greatest thing she has ever tasted. Since it was my mom's birthday, she got to choose what we ate. She chose Chicken Holiday which I was unhappy with.
                My family spends approximately $400 dollars on food a week with a majority of it coming from the restaurant we go on Friday night's. We also spend a lot on going out in general. We spend approximately $133 dollars per week each on food. Besides going out, which takes up more than half of the money we spend, we spend most of our money on fruits, vegetables, desserts, and snacks. When my mom cooks, the meals are fairly inexpensive so she tries to cook as much as possible. When I grow up I plan on spending my money differently considering I probably won't have the luxury of going out all the time.

                Food is what brings my family together. If we didn’t have dinner at the dinner table then we would lose approximately 30 minutes of family time a night. Kitchen is the ideal place to hang out due to its set up. If you see the pictures below, there is one centerpiece where we are able to sit and hang out. On top of that, there is the kitchen table and a lot of table tops and drawers to put important papers forcing us to be in the kitchen throughout the day. The kitchen, dinner, and food in general are the main reasons why my family is as close as it is.