Meal Planning with Connie

The Veranda - Starkville, MS We had another alteration to our meal plan for the week. M.C. had an appointment in Starkville this morning. Since Larry was off, so we decided to make a family day of the trip. Larry treated us to lunch at The Veranda. They serve a nice, little blue plate lunch for $8.00, which includes a meat and three veggies, drink and taxes! We all had the fried chicken, with a wide variety of sides including: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, fried okra, fried green tomatoes and turnip greens. You also have a choice of biscuits or cornbread. If you are in Starkville at lunch time, consider giving The Veranda a try! They also have a wide menu at night, too. We've eaten supper there a few times over the years and have always been pleased with our food! Here a link to their website, which includes menus for lunch, blue plate special and dinner: http://www.verandastarkville.com/ We did some errands and then stopped by Cold Stone Creamery for a bi...

It's meal planning day!! Don't forget to tidy your fridge and sort your coupons before planning your family's menu for next week! We've added new kitchen, baking and recycling tips for the week! We have a new widget: Daily Dish Logan added the Recipe of the Day widget from Taste of Home for us!. If you try any of these recipes, let us know. Someone asked if we make money from you guys clicking on the widget. We don't, but we've found some great sounding recipes the past couple of days!! Free recipes are a great reward!! The ear tests words as the palate tastes food. Job 34:3 Monday - Chicken Strips with Swiss Cheese Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta and Garlic Bread Chicken Strips with Swiss Cheese Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta 1-1½ pounds chicken strips (or 2 -3 chicken breasts cut into strips) Salt and pepper, to taste 3 tablespoons olive oil or butter 2 cloves minces garlic (or teaspoon of jarred) 2 tablespoons plain flour 1½ cups chicken broth 2 - 3 cups shredd...

Pizza Burger and Fresh Fried Okra (a combination I'm fairly sure you'll only find in the Deep South! ) I had purchased fresh ground chuck for these burgers yesterday, before Aunt Jean blessed us with the pork tenderloin last night. So, I shifted the burgers to tonight. Larry made these out and cooked them on the grill for us. He usually prepares our burgers, and he says the key to a tender, juicy burger is light and minimal handling of the meat during the mixing and forming of the patties. Aunt Jean and Dude came over and ate supper with us. We all really liked the burgers, except Larry. He's not big on Italian seasoning, and that was the part he didn't care for so much. I thought it was a good way to mix-up our pizza night a bit. The next time we make these, I think Larry will take out his portion of the meat before adding the Italian seasonings. Judy brought us some fresh okra from her garden yesterday. Aunt Jean cooked it for us tonight. I think I h...

Many thanks to Holly F. for sharing several homemade ice cream recipes she has collected over the years! Holly is a registered dietitian and knows a good recipe when she sees - or eats - one!! Thank you, Holly, for sharing these recipes and for all your encouragement of this blog!! The following recipe is one Holly got from Lula M. Lula is a terrific cook and former co-worker of Larry's! He says this ice cream is wonderful!! I can't wait for us to try it at home!! It's the perfect time, too - warm weather, strawberries are very affordable at the moment and Cherry Creek Orchard has fresh peaches!! Banana or Peach Homemade Ice Cream 2 cans Eagle Brand Milk 1 ¾ cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 4 ripe bananas or 6 ripe peaches mashed Whole milk to fill freezer Combine first four ingredients. Pour into ice cream freezer. Add whole milk to freezer's fill-line. Stir. Freeze according to freezer's instructions.

Pork Tenderloin, Cabbage Casserole, Sliced Homegrown Tomatoes with Fresh Ground Salt and Pepper, and Biscuit Aunt Jean was in the "baking mood" today and called to say she had baked us a pork tenderloin. I shifted gears with our supper plans and made a cabbage casserole that fellow foodie and registered dietitian, Holly F., had recently e-mailed me the recipe for. I sliced some of Judy's tomatoes and threw some frozen biscuits in to cook with the casserole. We all thought it was a great supper! M.C. doesn't eat cabbage, but the rest of us loved the cabbage casserole! It tasted a bit like egg rolls. Logan even put a dash of soy sauce on his! Here's the recipe for the Cabbage Casserole! Thanks for sharing this, Holly!! It's really good!! I will definitely make it again!! Cabbage Casserole Cabbage Casserole I had co-jack cheese on-hand, so I used it. I'm sure the pepper jack would give this a bit of a zip! 1-2 bags of shredded cabbage with carrots ...

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12 Friends, neighbors, relations and orchards all have blueberries coming in right now! They are beautiful and delicious! Sue's Blueberry Bars On her way to work yesterday morning, our sweet neighbor, Sue, brought us a container of yummy blueberry squares. They had a nice little crust and a little zip of lemon flavor to them. Sue said said they were low-fat, too! Yummy and healthy!! I'll have to get the recipe! Sue's husband, Mr. Elmer, planted some blueberry bushes in their yard when they moved to Pontotoc. He was a sweet, sweet man and was always so kind to share with all us neighbors. Aunt Jean...

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100 Mississippi Mud Brownies I took this to our church's celebration of Brother Mickey, our Minister of Music, having served the Lord at our church for 20 years!! He has been faithful to point us to Jesus through songs of worship!! This is only a portion of the brownies. Because they are so gooey, you can't stack them. You'll need a very large platter, or multiple platters, to hold them all. I thought this was a cute and happy little plate. It was $1.25 at Dollar General - one of those that wouldn't have to be...