Three's Company Thursdays: Meals for Three

The Buffalo pork tenderloin with dill potatoes and homemade
slaw that started the movement

By now most have heard of Meatless Monday, which may seem new but goes back to war times along with Wheatless Wednesdays. Back then they were conservation efforts to reduce consumption, but today MM has been 'reintroduced as a public health awareness campaign, Meatless Monday addresses the prevalence of preventable illnesses associated with excessive meat consumption'. Well, I came up with a new weekly night to share and reduce food waste and also provide healthy food to others. While participating in social media shenanigans I invented a new program that was meant as a joke, turned into a half-joke and now may be something I would seriously pursue and encourage others to do: Third-Wheel Thursdays, or maybe Three's Company Thursdays - you tell me which rings better and I'll run with it.

The concept is for a household of less than 3 people (yes that us 2 or 1) to invite others over to share a meal. There are many reasons for it including allowing for making of recipes you can't cut down to serve a few, reduce waste of said extra helpings (because really how many actually eat leftovers), and also, well, just to be social.

Here's how the idea came to me. I am married, but we have no children. I love to cook, and I am reasonably good at right-sizing healthy, tasty meals for my wife and I. To me food is medicine, the better you eat the better you will feel and I often wish I could help others eat as well as we do. I also participate in one of the social media taboos: posting pictures of our meals. I get it can be kind of douchy to post what we eat when others might not be exposed to the same level of meal, but I do it to inspire rather than taunt or troll others. I even stopped posting for a while when I read a blog stating it was baggery to do so. But then some told me they missed my posts as it did indeed inspire them for future meals. So lately I have been posting pics again (pics or you didn't make it?). Today a few single friends and family replied that they wanted some and I joked that I should start a night to have one at a time over to partake of the meal and company.

There are many scenarios where a home is just two, or one: empty nesters, new couples that aren't in a family way yet, couples that never will be, friends or siblings who share a home, and so on not to mention all the single people of their own or others' choice. We can all pair up and partake of meals and company. Of course it doesn't need to just be a 'third' it could be another couple, or a few friends, any reason to make a meal, in the home, for a group of people that isn't conducive to just a few. Consume it all, don't throw any away, and reduce food waste and save money and the environment in the long run.

It started as a joke, but really - what's stopping me or anyone else? Sure we are all busy and making the time is hard, but that's the point isn't it? We all eat at some point, why not together? And why not in home versus out where you can make good meals for less, and in the quiet of your own home versus the din of a busy restaurant. As I said I am good at downsizing or rightsizing menus, but yes there are some that you just have to make for many: chili, lasagna, roast, stew, etc.

Will I follow through? Maybe not as often as I could/should but when I feel like making a big meal, sure I would definitely think about throwing it out there on social media: "Hey who wants some?" and letting the "First" responder get dibs. I encourage everyone else to think about doing so. Let's start a hashtag for it #ThirdWheelThursdays or #ThreesCompanyThursdays (I am leaning towards the latter since the 'company' part speaks to the social aspect and also to a certain amazing comedy show), post your pics of the food and our company enjoying it.

Are you with me?