Making the most with what you have

I needed to take 2 steps to create my new Master Menu knowing that I needed to avoid going to the grocery story until I absolutely had to.

1. Inventory what I have - Luckily I have been working on creating my Prepared Pantry for 4 years.  We have plenty of canned meats, pasta and yes, wheat.  I really am hoping I don't have to start using the wheat, but if I do, well, I have lots and lots of recipes!  We have a lot of canned goods on hand which meant that my shopping trip yesterday was really only necessary for purchasing dairy, meat and fresh fruit.  The meat was a splurge... the store had extra-lean ground beef on sale for $1.59 a pound - I could NOT pass that up!!

2. Go through my recipe file and search the internet - I have a lot of canned chicken so I have been finding all my recipes for different kinds of casseroles, soups and such.  It is amazing how much I already have on hand!  I love the DVO Cook'n Software which I can search with the ingredients I have on hand and it spits out recipes.  Takes a lot of the guesswork out of my hands.

2 Job Interviews today... wish us luck!

Lisa