Meal Planning with Connie

Popover Pizza Casserole This recipe, with its popover-like crust, is quick to prepare, especially if you have pre-cooked and frozen your ground beef or pork. Since I had packages of both in my freezer, I used a half pound of each. The combination was really good. I freeze my meat in heaping 2 cup portions, which is about a pound. If I don't need the full pound, a quick tap of the package on the counter will break the package contents in half. Remove the needed portion and immediately return the remainder to the freezer for another use. Popover Pizza Casserole 1  pound ground beef or pork sausage or a combination of the two 1  cup chopped onion 1  cup chopped green sweet pepper 1 cup fresh sliced mushroom(or a small can of sliced mushrooms) 1 clove garlic, minced 1 (3-1/2-ounce package) sliced turkey pepperonis, halved ( Kitchen shears make quick work of this chore. ) 1 (16-ounce) jar pizza sauce 2  eggs 1 cup milk 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup all-purpose flour 1

Crispy Praline Cookies I received the latest edition of Mississippi Magazine in Saturday’s mail. I love this periodical! It always has several great recipes and lots of interesting information on my home state. The current issue contains the winning recipes for the magazine’s latest cooking contest. This cookie recipe won in the Dessert Cookie category.  A quick Google search turned up a very similar recipe from Southern Living’s 2002 October issue. Southern Living suggested letting the butter sit at room temperature for several hours, or softening it in the microwave at HIGH for 10 to 20 seconds. Do not melt the butter. I allowed mine to soften while I ran some errands. You don’t have to use an electric mixer with the recipe, but I decided to use mine. I creamed the softened butter and brown sugar. I then mixed in the egg until it was just incorporated and gradually added the flour. I stirred in the nuts by hand. I thought these were quite tasty. I served these cookies to the br