Today's Special: I Refused to go Grocery Shopping this Week

Monday: Tomato Soup with Ozro & Basil and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches- This tomato soup recipe was new. A couple weeks ago I picked up some ozro at the grocery store on a whim because I'd never used it before (it's just rice shaped pasta). This was the first recipe I came across that used orzo and it was fast so I decided to try it out. Honestly made as written it wasn't very good. Very bland and not very tomato-y. I ended up adding 1/2 of a 6oz. can of tomato paste and some extra salt and pepper to "fix" it. It was much better after I doctored it up, but I would say it was still not worthy of making again. You can skip this one.

Tuesday: Bean Bolognese- New Recipe. I probably would never have made this, but I had all the ingredients on hand so I decided to give it a shot. The sauce looked a little somehow when it was done... you can't tell from the parsley and cheese that covers it up in the picture. This was ok. Not bad, not that great. Don't think I will ever make it again. But not bad for a last minute dinner from the cupboard. Oh, I should mention I used only white beans as I didn't have the "salad beans" it called for.

Wednesday: Grilled Salmon with Mujadrah (Lentils & Rice) - The mujadrah was a new recipe. I was trying to find a recipe for a lentil/rice dish I had at a Lebanese restaurant a few weeks ago. This wasn't even close. It was good, but not good enough to make again. I just grilled the salmon seasoned with salt and pepper.

Thursday: Macaroni & Cheese with Hotdogs- See we don't eat fabulous meals every night. In case you're wondering, I combined Spiderman with Spongebob. You'd think this would disrupt the space-time continuum, but nay nay. Although to be honest, I prefer the classic elbow macaronis. They cook faster and more evenly. Plus I swear they taste better. I bought the Spongebob and Spiderman on sale. You get what you pay for I guess. Also, in case you're wondering, I recommend Ballpark Grillmasters Beef Franks. More pricey, but delicious. Sometimes you just want a hotdog. And preservative packed macaroni and cheese. Yum. (p.s. The sprig of parsley is for comedic effect.)

Friday: Old-Fashioned Linguine with White Clam Sauce- Repeat. This is good, easy recipe that I've made a few times before. I thickened the sauce up a little this time with a couple teaspoons of cornstarch. Nice staple to have in the cupboard.

There's a lesson to be learned from this week's experiment. Sure, you can eat cheaply from stuff you have in the cabinet... just don't expect to eat as good as you do when you actually plan out your meals and go shopping. Dang.