Today’s two-part discussion for Ask Nine Women comes from another anonymous reader (or two). But it could have come from anyone. Isn’t that the beauty of it?

My mother would probably be horrified, but when I think back on the family dinners I knew as a child, I remember one pound of ground beef magnified to the power of 8 by some protein enhancement that looked and tasted not unlike All-Bran. I recall the nights when one box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese somehow doubled as dinner for seven with the help of sumptuous stir ins of peas and/or sliced hot dogs. And who can forget how the sickly sweet taste of powdered milk can turn one gallon of milk into two? The irony is that we lived on a farm complete with a dairy and beef cow or two, so we shouldn’t have been wanting for milk or meat.

Nevertheless, I remain impressed by my mother’s skill in managing two amazing feats: 1). Despite an often-meager budget, my mom never sent anyone away hungry and 2). Even with six kids she usually managed to get all of us to the table at the same time.

So here are today’s topics:

I. In this day and age a trip to the grocery store can run me more than a month’s utilities and prices continue to rise (over 6% in ‘07 and expected to top another 6% this year).

How do you do manage to feed the same number (or more) people while your grocery dollar buys you significantly less? Please share any tips you have for stretching your grocery dollar or taking food for two or four and doubling your assets.

II. Despite being an advocate of not over scheduling children (or myself for that matter), I am lucky if more than half of us are same place at one time for family dinner. I really loved this Slate article which I’ve renamed, “Family: It’s what’s for dinner.”

What do you think? What are some of your own successes and struggles with family dinner. (Please tell me I’m not the only one occasionally serving breakfast cereal for dinner at 8:30 at night.)

Want to bring something to the table to discuss? Suggest topics via e-mail to askninewomenATgmailDOTcom. Submissions are chosen at random.