Austerity April

Austerity April...*rolls eyes*

If anyone watches Parks and Rec, the t.v. show, the relationship between me and Andrew is very similar to Andy and April’s. It’s so creepy how much April and myself are alike. So, through-out this entry…keep that in mind. I totally understand with a new house and I’m in school, things are little bit hairy right now. But like I said, I’m like April and like to be a little…I don’t know J  

We were not supposed to purchase ANY thing, nothing during the month of April. 

I mean it has been working out well. There was this one time where I was so angry and frustrated with school that I started to cook dinner, but had to ran out and re-buy somethings because I screwed some stuff up. The moral? Don’t cook when you’re angry. For some people, driving a car while angry isn't good, for me it’s cooking. Anyway! 

We ran out of coffee a few mornings ago, so I bought a pound of coffee beans.  

But we did have/had an opportunity to use some foods we already have...I did create a meal plan in late March and went shopping for some essential items. I firmly believe in meal plans. Saves a lot of time and A LOT of money. I do/did miss going shopping at Meijer every week, as it’s probably the only real human interaction I get all week. Therefore, I’m clearly looking forward to weekly Meijer trips. BUT!

Here’s the meal plan:

April Meal Plans

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Monday	class	class	class	class
Tuesday	Strip steak	Chicken tenders with french fries	bacon rissotto with corn bread	orange chicken
Wednesday	Steak tacos	polenta with steak	tator soup with corn bread	orange chicken wrap
Thursday	bruschetta chicken	chicken tender wraps	rissotto	italian sausage
Friday	leftovers	thai chicken pizza	leftovers	Leftovers
Saturday lunch only	sausage with pasta	leftovers	grilled cheese and/or leftovers	LO
Sunday	Leftovers	leftovers	leftovers	leftovers

Shopping list

onions

cheddar cheese

sour cream

lemon juice

1-lemon

wheat bread

basil

1# chicken tenders

sweet tator fries

mozzarella cheese

aborio rice

red wine

frozen oj

lettuce

processed cheese food slices

garlic

Things did change. I decided to make potato soup early because I was worried my potatoes weren’t going to keep. We got a big cooler full of meat and poultry products for Christmas 2012, so I didn’t have to buy steak or chicken or Italian sausage. My pantry is always stocked with the essentials. The freezer always has some sort of frozen vegetable in it as well as other snack-y items. 

ANOTHER BIG NOTE: Notice none of the above foods are pre-packaged. Ok, minus the cheese slices and oj and French fries. I made everything for scratch…and I had a blast doing it. Recipes will be posted later! 

My favorite meal has been the polenta and baked potato soup. Both are worth the effort!

*I recommend investing in a Dutch oven, if you don’t already have one. Makes cooking/baking polenta easy!