April Menu Plan

Wow!  April has snuck up on me!  At least that means the temperatures should be going up soon, right?

April is a busy month for our family.  G's birthday is this month, as well as her first EVER dance competition (eek!).  Unfortunately, we don't know when that competition is.  It will be sometime next weekend, but could be anytime on Friday night, Saturday, or Sunday.  Plus I have a big cub scout meeting next Sunday night.  We've also got April Fool's Day, and I want to try something fun for dinner that night.  So, that gives us several nights to work around.  Plus, April is "Clean Out the Pantry and Freezer Month"!  Here is the plan I came up with:

I have a few meals still left in my freezer from co-op:

• Brown Sugar Balsamic Pork Loin
• French Dip Roast Beef
• Italian Meatloaf
• Sticky Roast Chicken and Grilled Salmon with Hazelnut Butter (both on one night to accomodate allergies)

I also have 6 meals coming home on April 1.  My goal is to use ALL of my co-op meals up this month:

• Spaghetti Pie
• Sri Lankan Beef Curry
• Ravioli Soup
• Shredded Chicken and Noodles
• Cuban Pork Chops
• Colorado Style Beef Enchiladas

I mentioned something fun for April Fools Day?  I'm going to try making these two dishes:

• Fauxberry Pie for dinner
• Meatball Subs for dessert

Once I plugged in freezer meals, eating out on G's birthday and dance competition, and church dinners, I went through the pantry and freezer and made a list of what I have on hand.  Then I used those items to make the rest of the menu.  Here's what I had and what I'm doing with it:

• Enchilada Sauce: Spanish Rice Enchiladas
• Refried Beans: Bean Burritos for lunches
• A-1 Sauce (plus more of the homemade dijon mustard I made this week): A-1 Dijon Steak
• Cream of Celery Soup: Pork Chops and Rice for Sunday lunch
• Manicotti Noodles & 8 oz. of Tomato Sauce: Spinach Manicotti using homemade red sauce
• Pizza Crust Mix and a pound of Ground Beef: Stromboli
• Baby Corn, Water Chestnuts, and a pound of sirloin: Last Minute Stirfry
• Sauerkraut & Beer: Beer Brats (what else do you do with kraut and beer???)
• Crushed Pineapple, Pineapple Juice, and Pork Tenderloin: Pineapple Pork Loin
• Penne & 15 oz Tomato Sauce & a package of frozen meatballs: Penne with meatballs and homemade sauce
• More Penne (I have lots...): Bacon and Pea Mac and Cheese
• Oat Bran: Oat Bran Muffins for breakfasts

Honestly, this filled up most of the month.  I try to do a big pantry/freezer clean out about every 6 months and get rid of things that have accumulated because of last minute plan changes or sales or something.  Things happen.  So I've got this planned so at the end of the month, all we will have on hand is staples and canned fruits and veggies from my garden! :)