I’m trying to be a smarter cook.

By that I mean I’m trying to do a better job of planning menus a week at a time, and going shopping once a week to minimize trips to the grocery store — why give Safeway more of my time and money than I really need to?

I’ve been using Google Documents to keep an ongoing shopping list, which I can keep track of at all times. It’s also a place where I keep links to recipes I’d like to try, so I can pull the ingredients and add them to my shopping list.

I’m also cruising the ads more and keeping track of what’s on sale, and planning my menus around deals. Safeway had chicken breasts and ground turkey on sale, so guess what’s now in my fridge and freezer!

I tried out a recipe from Nugget Market for Basil-Ricotta stuffed Chicken breasts earlier this week, using chicken I’d bought on sale and ingredients already in my kitchen, including a half-used jar of pesto and an open bag of panko bread crumbs I had left over from another chicken recipe. It’s incredibly easy, and I really like how the lemon juice made the flavor of the pesto pop. The recipe calls for 1/2 pound ricotta and 1/4 pound basil pesto. I ended up using 1/2 cup fat-free ricotta and about 1/3 cup pesto. Served with Rice-A-Roni (also bought on sale) and some wilted spinach, the dinner was a great way to enjoy some fresh flavors at a reasonable price, all while putting pantry items to good use.