New Week, New Goals

I'm in spring fever mode - I want to purge my closets, clean out the fridge, and give half of my house to goodwill.  I'm often guilty of buying ingredients I only need for one meal. This week, i'm making an effort to plan my menu ahead,  start with items I have on hand, and hopefully waste a lot less food. 

I have three goals in mind:

1) Clean out the pantry and fridge and focus on using up my random collection of ingredients.

2) For any items I have to buy, think of ways to stretch the ingredients from one meal to the next.

3) Choose a new recipe to try (and actually follow it - this is rare for me)

Here is what I have on hand (much of which is leftover from a build-your-own pizza party last weekend)

-fresh ricotta cheese; half bags of grated mozzarella and cheddar

-2 tomatoes, half box spinach, 1 red onion, fresh garlic, half container of sliced mushrooms

-leftover Pizzetta's marinara sauce (the best marinara sauce ever)

-a huge variety of half boxes of pasta

- fresh Oregano

-frozen chicken breasts

- 1/2 of 32 oz box of chicken stock

1) Baked Penne

*Use: half box regular penne, half box whole wheat penne, mozzarella, ricotta, Pizzetta's sauce, oregano

*Buy: ground sirloin, fresh parsley

2) Greek Chicken served with Sautéed Spinach and Garlic with Mushrooms

*Use: frozen chicken, garlic, spinach, fresh oregano, mushrooms

*Buy: feta, lemon, fresh parsley

3) Smothered Pork Chops with Cheese Grits (Food Network Magazine)

*Use: chicken stock, red onion, grated cheddar

*Buy: pork chops, grits, fresh parsley

Hopefully this will become a weekly effort.  Wish me luck!