New Gadgets - Cyber and “Real"/Shepherd's Pie Recipe/Fourth of July Meal

Many thanks to Logan for installing a few new gadgets in our left sidebar for me yesterday! He added the calendar/clock above the Bread of Life devotional area. I hope you are enjoying reading from Proverbs each day and listening to the worship song!

He also added a SEARCH THIS BLOG widget. This will allow you to type in the name of one of our recipes and, hopefully, locate it more quickly. For most recipes there will be two posts - a post with the actual recipe, and a post with my review. Most of the time, the actual recipe will probably be second on the list of links. Because of the nature of a blog, you may still have to scroll down a bit, especially if a recipe is part of one of our weekly meal plans - but it should still be easier to find what you are looking for by using this blog search engine.

He also added a RECIPE FINDER for us! You’ll see it under the Search This Blog widget. I think we will all find it very useful! You can find a recipe by typing in the ingredients. This will be great for incorporating foods that are needing to be eaten, as we make out our meal plans each week. Just type in each ingredient you want to use, separating each one with a comma. We had left-over Oh So Good Baked Potato Casserole last night. I also had browned ground beef in the freezer. Needing to put together a quick lunch for today, I typed in ground beef, mash potatoes. A wide selection of recipe choices resulted. I decided to tweak one of the Shepherd's Pie recipes I found. Everyone said it was really good! The recipe is below!

I also tried typing in a few recipe titles like Coca-Cola Cake and Chess Squares. Again, a myriad of recipes resulted from the search.

I was successful, too, when I tried typing in recipe types such as Easy Desserts and Chocolate Cake. Again, an abundance of recipes!

I hope it will be helpful to you to be able to search for a recipe to accompany some of our dishes. If we have an entrée that sounds good, but the suggested side-dishes don’t appeal to you, without leaving our site, you can search for a side dish recipe more in tune with your family’s taste. A great feature is that each recipe's main ingredients are listed under the link, making it much easier to determine if it’s a recipe you’d like, or not. Not having to click on recipes that won't work for you saves time! Please pass along any good recipes you find to us!!

The Pampered Chef Mix and Chop

I also have new “real” gadget for the kitchen that I have to tell you guys about! I discovered it a couple of months back in Susan’s Pampered Chef catalog. It is a new item from Pampered Chef called Mix and Chop.

The Mix and Chop looked like it would work great for all my ground meat cooking! Since my birthday was just around the corner when I first found out about it, I “casually” showed it to Larry in the catalog and said, “Doesn’t this look neat?!" Any man who has been married to a woman for almost twenty-five years knows that “Doesn’t this look neat?!” is really code for - “I want one of these!” I fully expected him to add a Mix and Chop to my b-d list! Well, my birthday came and went. I received lots of nice treats and gifts, but no Mix and Chop. I believed that either my “coy communication skills” or his “read-between-the-line skills” must be slipping. I didn’t mention the absence of the Mix and Chop from his presents to me, but I vowed to myself to be a bit more direct at Christmas and resigned myself to waiting until the end of the year for the Mix and Chop.

Then a couple of weeks ago, Larry and the kids were out mowing the yard, when my dear friend, Donna S., pulled into the drive. M.C. invited her into the house and yelled to me that Donna was here. When I got to the door, there stood Donna, with gift bag in hand. Donna and her girls have been so kind and truly encouraging of this little blogging endeavor. Donna is absolutely one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met. She gives of herself to our church, the school, and the community. She’s just a very special lady!

As she presented me with this pretty bag, with the sweetest note attached, she said she just had a little happy for me. What could it be?! To my great joy, the bag contained a Pamper Chef Mix and Chop!!! Bless her heart, she had gone to the trouble of asking Susan and Larry for a gift recommendation! I told you how thoughtful she is!

I am loving my new Mix and Chop!! I have used it several times already, and with great results! I just love the even texture it gives to my browned ground meats - no more chunks! I browned 5 pounds of sausage (The Pig has Williams Sausage on sale for $1.79!) yesterday. I hope you can tell from the photo how well this tool works in helping the meat to evenly brown! It has already become indispensable in my kitchen!!

Many, many thanks to Donna for this new gadget. As great as it is, the best thing is that I will think of her, and how blessed I am to have such a sweet friend, each time I use it!! Thank you, Donna! Love you!!

By the way, I should know better by now, than to doubt my sweet husband!! He’s the best!!

Here's my sausage stash from yesterday:

Individual small bags of browned ground meat

Large bag holding individual bags of meat

This is the best way I have found to freeze our cooked meats. I pre-cook almost all of our ground beef, ground sausage and boiled chicken. Having these meats precooked, and in the freezer, is the best way I have found to put together a quick meal.
I place two heaping cups of meat (this is about a lb. of meat) into a plastic zippered sandwich bag. I place the individual bags into a gallon freezer-weight bag.

The things I like about doing it this way are:
1. All the bags of one kind of meat are in the same bag. To me, it's easier to locate these in the freezer.

2. I don't have to label each individual bag - just the gallon-sized bags.

2. The individual lighter-weight bags allow the meat to thaw quicker when ready to use, and they're less expensive, too.

3. When I remove next-to-the-last small bag of meat, I add that meat to my grocery list.

4. I toss the light-weight bags, but reuse the gallon freezer-weight bags. I just change the date.

Very Easy Shepherd's Pie

This is a great way to make use of left-over mashed potatoes. It also goes together really quickly. If you don't have left-over potatoes, or time to make fresh mashed potatoes, use frozen or instant. Add corn-on-the-cob, a green salad and "Biscuit" Rolls for a hearty, quick meal.

Very Easy Shepherd's Pie

1 lb. ground beef, browned (with a bit of minced garlic and chopped onions, if you like)
1 packet brown gravy mix, prepared according to packet directions
3 -4 cups mashed potatoes (fresh, left-over, frozen or instant)
1/2 - 1 cup cheddar cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a deep dish pie pan, or other small baking dish, with cooking spray.
Mix gravy with browned meat. Pour meat mixture into pie plate. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake until bubbly, 20 minutes or so. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven long enough to melt cheese.

Ultimate Pork Tenderloin, Oh So Good Baked Potato Casserole
and Easy Cheesy Garlic Rolls

Strawberry Salad (with a few blueberries in honor the 4th!)

I want to quickly give a shout out to Vicki at From Our Home to Yours for the great Oh So Good Baked Potato Casserole and Strawberry Salad recipes!! Both were wonderful!! Because it was the Fourth of July - and they are fairly cheap right now ;), I tossed in a few blueberries with the salad, too. I thought it made a lovely, patriotic-looking salad!! I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer I had bought a few weeks back - on sale and with a coupon!! I did use the brine, and our meat was very tender and juicy. The kids were crazy about the Easy Cheesy Garlic Rolls. I did cut back a bit on the butter in both the potatoes and rolls. Donna S. told me in Sunday School this morning that her family had our July 4th meal plan for their supper last night. They gave everything a thumbs-up, too! Oh, she said they tried the Penne Pasta with Spinach and Bacon, too. Another thumbs-up!! You should be able locate any of these 4th of July recipes by typing their names into Search This Blog. Let me know how you like the new gadgets!!

Many Blessings and Happy Cookin' ~ Connie

If you'd like your own Mix and Chop, remember you get 10% off your
Pampered Chef orders with my friend, Susan, just for mentioning
Meal Planning with Connie.

Email Susan at:

pamperedsusan1@yahoo


Don't forget to register for our July Giveaways!!

We have some great prizes to give away!!!

Be sure to register by emailing us at:

mealplanwithconnie@att.net

Deadline for registering:
July 30th at 10pm

Baptist Memorial Hospital's Relay for Life Cookbook



Better Homes and Gardens Grilling magazine, ice cream scoop & soda can covers

Pontotoc First United Methodist Church Building Program Cookbook