I wondered into the kitchen by myself while the guys were out there chatting. I looked around the fridge as well as the cabinets and pantry. There was quite a lot of empty space which made me frown. I ran back up to my room and checked my wallet and sighed softly. My feet took me to the living room where the couch was covered with laughing guys, minus Jay since it was obvious that he was in a time out. I put my hands on my hips while looking down at them all. “Okay, since we’re all probably hungry, can some people pitch in some money so I can go get groceries? We also need to agree what we’ll be eating for dinner.” They all looked up at me while nodding. Their hands dug around in their wallets as they took out money that formed a pile on the coffee table in front of them. I took the money and counted it, also adding the money I was willing to contribute and stood up. “I need two of you to help bring groceries back. I have the reusable bags that can hold quite a bit if you know how to put things into a bag.”

“I’ll help her. I’ve known her the longest.” Andy grinned while looking around, soon Aaron stood up as well, not to mention all the guys wanted to come help. A sigh came through my mouth as they all seemed to be happy helping with the shopping.

“I guess everyone is coming with then. We’ll need at least two carts and I’ll be sure that we get things as well as enough of the items for meals so we can be sure to have meals enough for a week at least. My goal is to have it be every 2 weeks we go grocery shopping. No pointless things that won’t last. We’ll get extras later.” They all nodded eagerly and we all left the house, leaving Jay behind to sulk.

The boys came to a large international market which seemed to have quite a bit inside. Andy and Jack took carts as I walked inside, the boys following me like little ducklings. I took out a list I wrote down when I was in the kitchen of what they would absolutely need in the fridge as well as in the pantry.

“Alright boys, I made a list for us to use. I went through the fridge and well as the cabinets and the pantry to see what we were in need of. I also need to know what foods you won’t eat.” At the moment the last sentence slipped past my lips, Aaron and Jack raised their hands. They both asked who wanted to speak first until they settled the matter with rock paper scissors. It ended with Jack loosing and Aaron going forth with his little food allergy or something to that extent. “I won’t eat seafood. I’m part fish in a matter of speaking and I refuse to eat any creature from the sea. It’s a little bit like cannibalism if you think about it.” I nodded and wrote it down, soon looking at Jack who stated he can’t handle garlic as he gets an allergic reaction from it. I also wrote it down and rattled off the list of items we mostly needed.

“First of all, we need to go through the freezer section to look at meats as well as cheeses, yogurts, well, anything that needs to be refrigerated. I was thinking we could get some beef as well as chicken and turkey. Pork is a last resort as it doesn’t agree well with my stomach. If you can find cheap steaks, then we’ll get those too. It depends on the cost since we only have so much money. If we can’t get steak, we’ll get a little more beef or chicken. I have a plan on making curry with chicken or beef, possibly turkey if I can make a good batch that matches with turkey. We could also make hotpot since I know that will feed you all. Do we have a pot we can do that with? Oh, and we can make stir fry as well.” They all nodded and went to work. The quest for meat lasted for about 20 minutes. They all came over and asked me which ones that they should buy and some of them just didn’t jive well with me. The 20 minutes we spent there with the meats ended with buying three packages of all beef hot dogs, 3 packages of ground beef, 3 of turkey as well as 4 of chicken. The amount of money that we had left over left for me to downsize the meat. I took out one package of each which lowered it significantly. Next was milk and we all agreed on whole milk, taking two gallons of it as I had a feeling we would go through quite a bit. The cheese issue lasted a bit as they argued over getting three different cheeses which was solved by me of course where we bought the one the majority wanted which was Colby-jack cheese which was already shredded. Butter was needed as well as plain yogurt as the ones with fruit already with it was way too expensive to by each person 2 yogurts of their choosing. It resulted in two tubs of plain yogurt which would be later mixed with lots of fruit. Isle after isle we went and took what we needed. Each member put in a suggestion for a meal idea which many were wonderful. The boys all ran all over the place to get fruit but few wanted to pick veggies. I ended up picking quite a few jalapeños, some lettuce, some cabbage, and a few tomatoes to go with a few onions. Potatoes were needed as well as there would be a lot of them. The guys agreed to curry for a day or two so lots of spices and other items were needed for this. Check out time and the boys were still pondering what they needed, soon coming to the realization that we needed eggs as well as cereal. Two of them ran to the breakfast isle while another ran to get 3 dozen eggs. You’d be surprised how many eggs they might eat for just one meal. There were at least 5 boxes of different noodles and some different soups mixed in. The two carts were completely full and the price came just short of all the money we pitched in. A sigh of relief came from all of us as we all took a few bags and made the journey back. I had a portable cart that people can keep things in with that long wire basket with a handle and wheels to help behind me as I carried another bag. The guys bought a few of the same style of “carts” and it made the load to carry rather than push or pull much smaller.

“I say we did a great job for shopping as I don’t want to eat out again at that cheap ramen shop we seem to go to a lot.” Danny’s face went sour Aaron’s congratulatory comment. Each face of the guys turned to versions of sick and sour as they also remembered. I assumed that they didn’t like it anymore and laughed softly. “Well boys, today, we’re having hot pot with some noodles. You all have to eat the veggies too.” A soft groan came from everyone which I rolled my eyes at before marching to the house, leaving them to catch up.

Dinner went smoothly as I was the one cooking. I wouldn’t let anyone help me as they might do something behind my back or something. We purchased some strips of beef, chicken, and turkey as well so I tore the larger parts into thin strips. If the strip was too long, I would cut it into a smaller portion so the boys wouldn’t eat too much meat rather than get an equal balance of both veggies and meat. The soup that they all cooked it was spicy as I added some jalapeño peppers to it, seeds and all, minus the stem of course. The scent of food wafted through the house as the boy soon set the table. My chair was empty as it was between Eric’s seat as well as Danny’s seat. I put on a pair of oven mittens and set the hot pot on a stand. It was placed in the middle of the table and we all said “Thank you for this meal,” before we started to take some of the pot’s contents. I looked at the guys closely to make sure they would get veggies as well. Jay was allowed to come down and eat with the rest of us. I swear I smacked a few hands for taking so much meat as they had to put it back so that everyone could get almost an equal amount. Everything was gone from the pot, even the soup which mixed with some rice which was consumed during the meal. I have to say I never felt so full or content with the meal. It turned out great! All the guys after eating played rock paper scissors to decide who would clean the dishes. I giggled as the Jay, Andy, and Jack were stuck cleaning the dishes today. They made sure I didn’t participate as I had made them the wonderful dinner. Aaron, Danny, Eric, James, and I all migrated to the living room to relax a bit after eating. I was sitting between the same two guys again but it was fine for me. All three of us sort of ended up cuddling together as were slightly sleepy after eating quite a meal. I closed my eyes for a moment but drifted off to a wonderful sleep.