Are You Planning for Easter, Yet?

I am. In part because I will have a lot going on near Easter; so I need to plan ahead. Also, it's been such a dreary winter and now spring, that I really want a lovely Easter.  Even if I don't find any deals or sales, I know that I can pull something together. This is what I currently have that is being saved, or that will be growing well enough by mid-April for harvesting:

• ham from freezer 
• canned sweet potatoes 
• canned green beans and cream of mushroom soup for a casserole
• rhubarb from the garden for a pie
• Easter candy 

That covers most of the basics for easter dinner. I will be hoping for a good price on asparagus and potatoes. 

Some of this menu plan an be made ahead and frozen; and some can be made a day or two before, and heated at the last minute. The sweet potato casserole actually freezes quite well, as do the baked pies. Green bean casserole can be assembled a day or two ahead. That leaves the ham and anything extra for Easter Sunday.

For Easter breakfast, I think I will keep it simple, some canned pineapple juice from the freezer, and an overnight crockpot casserole, using potatoes, eggs and turkey bacon (freezer, again). 

E.O.T.M.

or, end of the month.

Can you relate? End of the month's grocery budget.  I've been trying to dream up yummy things, using what we have on hand. Last night, my plan was to make pumpkin muffins to go with lentil vegetable soup. But I didn't want just any pumpkin muffins. So I made a maple glaze for the muffins. Oh wow, yummy!

I am also running low on favorite flavored teas for my own consumption. I added a drop of maple extract to a cup of plain tea, and topped off with vanilla soy milk. That was a delicious maple tea latte which used only items from my pantry.

I got creative with the frozen sugar cookie dough the other evening. I cut it into squares (I'm too lazy to do shapes, ha ha), baked, then topped with milk chocolate chips. Once the chocolate chips were melty, I spread them with a knife, to make chocolate-topped sugar cookies.

No salsa in the house; so for some burritos at lunch yesterday, I mushed up canned tomatoes with some chili powder. It was a decent-enough salsa substitute.

Last of the eggs, too (when we run out of items, we run out of everything!). I made a large batch of the pumpkin muffins with just one medium egg, instead of two large eggs. They turned out just fine.

What are you running out of, and how are you improvising?