For some reason this week I had so many extra ingredients in my cabinet and fridge that I had to use up. It was a stressful couple weeks at work, and when I get stressed I do not eat – which is so bad, I know! – so I think I just had a bunch of meals I didn’t end up making. Read on to see how I transitioned these random foods into a new week of meals with just a few additions.

Had in kitchen (leftover from other recipes/cooking staples): 1 can pinto beans, 1 can diced tomatoes, half box linguine, 1 pie crust, goat cheese, Parmesan cheese, crackers, cream cheese, red pepper, cucumber, flour tortillas, garlic, cumin, granola

Bought: 2 sweet potatoes, 1 large head cauliflower, hummus, chili powder, 1 avocado, 1 (4.5-ounce) can Green chiles, 1 red onion, 1 jar salsa verde, Monterey Jack cheese, selection of Greek yogurts, onion, spinach, tomato paste, zucchini, 1/2 rotisserie chicken, buffalo hot sauce, green onions, ranch, cream cheese, gouda, sliced berries

Daily Breakfast: Yogurt with granola and fruit

MONDAY

Lunch: Leftovers from Sunday

Dinner: Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Comments from Claire: I had a package of tortillas I needed to use up and ended up going to a fruit/veggie market before my regular grocery store run where I got sweet potatoes, and thus decided to tackle this recipe on Monday! It came out great, even with a few tweaks I made based on what I had in my pantry already. Swapping black beans for pinto, corn tortillas for flour, and omitting cilantro still left me with a delicious dinner. I also only used about five tortillas (since that’s what I had) but just filled them with more of the bean filling. It made a big tray so I was able to save it for meals over the weekend too.

TUESDAY

Lunch: Leftover enchiladas

Dinner: Out to dinner

Comments from Claire: I ended up doing out to eat during the week – which is pretty rare – so I cooked on Friday to make up for it!

WEDNESDAY

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta

Claire’s Quips: I used this recipe, but again, tweaked it based on what I already had on hand. I’m definitely not a big believer in following recipes to a tee – being flexible to give and take based on what you have or what is really essential to a dish is definitely a huge way I save money each week. This came out pretty good – even though it had a lot of spinach and chunky tomatoes that cut through the creamy sauce, it was actually still a tad rich for me. I also used linguine since I had half a box left, but I could see how this recipe lends itself to a short pasta better.

THURSDAY

Lunch: Leftover Pasta

Dinner: Goat Cheese and Zucchini Galette with Roasted Cauliflower

Comments from Claire: I had one pie crust sitting in my fridge – half of a two pack I used for this little number a while back – and since I had extra goat cheese as well I decided to finally use it this week for one of my favorite quick meals: a galette. I think I discovered these the last time I had a spare pie crust (this happens a lot apparently) and made an apple dessert variety. This time, I used this recipe as inspiration and it came out very good. I think galettes are going to be a go-to, especially for entertaining, because they are so simple (especially with store-bought pie crust) and scrumptious, but also look very elegant and almost complex. I also had gotten an enormous head of cauliflower at that fruit/veggie market I mentioned, so I roasted about half of it tonight with garlic as a side dish, and used the rest of it in Friday’s casserole.

FRIDAY

Lunch: Leftover Galette and Cauliflower

Dinner: Buffalo Chicken Cauliflower Casserole (see top photo)

Comments from Claire: Yum yum yum. Perfect “healthy” comfort food for a Friday night in binge-watching season 2 of Stranger Things.

See you next week! To see what I’m eating in the meantime, follow me on Twitter or Instagram @ClaireLeaden