Meal Planning with Connie

I'm not making the meatloaf tonight, because we have leftovers we need to eat. One of the reasons I often choose to use fresh beef recipes (meatloaf, hamburgers, chopped steaks, etc.) on Thursday nights is that I don’t always need to cook. Many times we have leftovers that need eating. If we don’t have leftovers, one of us runs to the store for the fresh ground meat. This plan works well for us. I know lots of people freeze whole packages of hamburger meat for these types of dishes. For some reason, I’ve never been good at using frozen raw meats. Many thanks to Aunt Jean for cooking a turkey breast for us today! I have chopped and bagged the meat and have it in the freezer! I use it in place of the chicken called for in recipes. AJ often asks if she can cook something (meaning a ham, roast, pork loin, or turkey breast) for us. We just about always choose the turkey breast, because we can use it in so many ways - sandwiches, casseroles, salads, etc. I suspect she thinks we're go...

Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole and Mexican Salad Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole We all like Sour Cream and Chicken Enchilada Casserole and Mexican Salad. They're favorites! Kitchen shears make quick work of cutting the tortillas. 2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 can chopped green chilies 2 cups sour cream, OR 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup chunky salsa 2 c. cooked chicken 6 flour tortillas, torn into pieces (6-8 inch size) 2 cups Co-jack cheese, shredded Mix together first 4 ingredients. Cover bottom of pan with a thin layer of chicken and sauce mixture. Layer ingredients in casserole dish in this order: Top thin layer of sauce with ½ of the tortilla pieces. Spread ½ of remaining chicken and sauce mixture over tortilla pieces. Sprinkle with ½ of cheese. Repeat layers. Bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly - usually about 20 minutes.  

My sweet friend, Donna S., treated all the moms in our Sunday School class (We let the dads have some, too!) to this delicious breakfast casserole on Mother's Day morning! Donna has such a sweet and gentle spirit. I appreciate her ministry! Of course, we all wanted the recipe! Donna not only shared it, but she puts in a big thumbs-up for the cookbook it came from. I don't have this, but Donna says it's great. After listening to her and reading the Amazon review, I want one! From the What Can I Bring? Cookbook by Anne Byrn, The Cake Mix Doctor "For all of you busy worker bees--you know who you are, working all day and staying up until midnight catching up on housework and getting a head start on a party dish you're toting the next day--well, this dish is for you. It should be made the night before and tucked in your refrigerator so you can go snooze. The next day it will bake up puffed and golden, like some precious souffle'. The only secret is...

Banana Nut Coffee Cake I had bananas that were ruining. This cake is a great way to use bananas that are getting too ripe! It's moist, can be used for breakfast or dessert, and is large enough to feed a fairly large group. Banana-Nut Coffee Cake 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 1 cup sugar 4 very ripe bananas, mashed 1/2 sour cream 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup chopped nuts Streusel Topping 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 4 tbs. sugar 6 tablespoons butter Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan. Dust chopped nuts with a tablespoon of flour, and set aside. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy with electric mixer. Blend in bananas, sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Add flour to banana mixture alternately with milk, blending after each addition until combined. Stir in chopped nuts. In a small bowl mix flour and sugars. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle streusel topping over...

Three Cheese Ziti Pizza Casserole Three Cheese Ziti Pizza Casserole 1 pound ground chuck, browned and drained 3 cups ziti or other tubular-shaped pasta, cooked and drained 1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese 1 jar pizza sauce 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir sugar into pizza sauce, and set aside. (Adding this bit of sugar is optional.) Combine browned meat, cooked ziti, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and one cup of the mozzarella; stir to blend. Spoon pasta mixture into a shallow, sprayed 2-quart casserole; spread with pizza sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and hot. Uncover, add remaining mozzarella, and bake until cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Many thanks to Leigh and Brendan for the beautiful plant in the photo background!  They are always so sweet to remember me on Mother's Day! Love you guys!!

I make a lot of Bundt cakes. They are generally easy to throw together, travel well when sharing, and there are tons of great Bundt cake recipes out there! I do use the Pampered Chef Stoneware Fluted Baking Pan for my Bundt cake recipes. If you want to try a piece of the PC stoneware, this is a great one to start with ! Inside-out German Chocolate Pound Cake 1 box German chocolate cake mix 3 eggs ½ cup canola oil 1 cup water 1 container of coconut pecan icing Preheat oven to 325. Pour cake mix into bowl of mixer. Turn mixer on low for a few seconds to break up any lumps in the dry mix. Slowly add water, oil and eggs. Beat on medium speed for two to three minutes. Lower mixer speed and add icing a glob at a time. Pour batter into a Bundt cake pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until done. This cake is delicious without a glaze, but here’s a simple recipe, if you’d like to use one: 1 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon ...

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25:35 Printable Shopping List: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mealplanningwithconnie Scroll down to find all three pages of shopping list. Monday - Three Cheese Ziti Pizza Casserole, simple green salad, garlic bread Three Cheese Ziti Pizza Casserole 1 lb. ground chuck, browned and drained 3 c. ziti or other tubular-shaped pasta, cooked and drained 1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese* 1 jar pizza sauce 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese *I have about 1 1/2 cups of ricotta cheese left from a recipe from last week that I need to use. I will stir into the ricotta cheese enough sour cream to make this closer to 2 cups. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir sugar into pizza sauce, and set aside. (Adding this bit of sugar is optional.) Combine browned meat, cooked ziti, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and one cup of the mozzarella; stir ...