Meal Planning with Connie

Our Leftover Buffet It's Kitchen Tip Tuesday!! We had a Leftover Buffet for supper Saturday night. I'd say about half the time, we have a night of the week where we take all the bowls of leftovers out of the fridge and use them for supper. We use most of our leftovers for our lunches. It's cheaper than eating sandwiches, which requires purchasing bread, sliced meats, cheeses, condiments and chips. We have literally saved thousands of dollars over the past 25 years just by Larry "brown bagging it" for his lunch. The savings from what he would spend on his lunch goes a fairly long way in paying for our nights out. I have found that leftovers are a bit more attractive to my family if I empty them into a smaller casserole dish, reheat and top with fresh toppings - such as cheese or crushed crackers. The small casserole dishes in the picture are my favorites. These are from Pampered Chef. I can't find them in the current catalog. I'm not sure they're still

Chicken Noodle Casserole, Easy Corn-on-the-cob with Herbed Butter,  and Easy Weeknight Rolls This was a new dish for us. I chose it because it was low in fat and easy to prepare. It was tasty and light. We all like English peas, but M. C. didn't care for them mixed in with the noodles. The rest of us really liked it. Anna ate supper with us, and she said it was good, too. I guess two "thumbs up" from 2 out of 3 teenagers isn't bad! Chicken Noodle Casserole, Easy Corn-on-the-cob with Herbed Butter, and Easy Weeknight Rolls Chicken Noodle Casserole 8 ounces wide egg noodles ½ cup onion, finely chopped 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced 1 can cream of chicken (I used the low-fat version.) ½ cup sour cream (I used the low-fat version.) ½ cup milk (I used fat free half-and-half.) 2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped in bite-size pieces (I used frozen pre-cooked from my freezer.) 1 ½ cups frozen English peas a dash or two of cayenne pepper (optional) 1 -

We all really like this corn. I cut way back on the amount of butter. Tonight I used a tablespoon on 6 small ears. It really was plenty. I did keep the garlic about the same, but used about half as much dried parsley as called for. Easy Corn-on-the-cob with Herbed Butter ½ stick butter, softened 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon dried parsley sea salt, to taste 4 -6 ears frozen corn-on-cob, prepared according to package directions Combine butter and seasonings. Spoon into a small bowl or ramekin. Serve with cooked corn.

Krusteaz Fat Free Cranberry Orange Supreme Muffin Mix I was craving me some cranberries this morning! Yesterday at Sunday School, my dear friend Donna S. told me about a cranberry slaw recipe she tried last week! She said it was really tasty! I've asked her to share it with us!! And then this morning, the weather was so nice and crisp when M.C. and I took a little stroll, it felt like cranberry weather! When we got home, I decided to make this box of cranberry muffins for our breakfast. Logan and I love these! I usually keep a box or two on hand, stocking up when they are on sale. They are found with all the other muffin mixes at most grocery stores. We love cranberries, and I have several good recipes I look forward to sharing when the fresh cranberries arrive this season! When the kids were small, we read a series of books that took place in the cranberry bogs of Massachusetts by Harry and Wende Devlin. I was introduced to these through the Five in a Row curri