Meal Planning with Connie

The Plan My number one suggestion for meal planning is to keep it simple! Guard against letting it become a time-consuming chore that you dread. Below is a link for  my very simple, no-frills shopping list and menu planner. Meal Planning-Shopping List Form I create my daily menu plan at the top, adding ingredients to purchase on the shopping list portion at the bottom.  I place the entire form in my coupon binder when I go shopping.  When I return home, I clip off the top portion, which contains the menu plan, and post it near the oven.  I toss the used shopping list portion.  I usually print about 12 of these forms at a time. Print page one first. Flip the stack, and print page two on the back. To help keep planning time simple and quick, we have “nights” for  certain types of dishes. We are very flexible with it, especially adjusting to try new recipes. The "nights" just provides a good jumping off point for our plans!  We change the "nights...

Country Style Boneless Chicken Tenders, Potatoes with milk gravy, Oven-fried Eggplant, Sliced Homegrown Tomatoes from Judy's Garden and Marshall's Old Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits Click here for the recipes for this meal. A reader asked about the recipe for the Oven-fried Eggplant we made Saturday night. I thought I had included the recipe along with the recipes for Wayne's chicken tenders dinner. I even told Judy this morning at The Pig she could find the recipe here. My brain just doesn't work as well as it used to!! Here's the recipe and many thanks to the reader for asking about it!! I've also added the recipe to the post about this meal below! Oven-fried Eggplant Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice a large eggplant into ½-inch rounds. Put in a bowl and salt lightly. Combine 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise. Dip the eggplant slices in this mixture and roll in bread crumbs. Place eggplant on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 12 ...

What a busy day we had!! Today we began our studies for co-op classes. It's always exciting to start with all new books, fresh folders and un-chewed pencils! It's always a bit daunting, too, opening those new books to the very first page and knowing there's a lot of material to cover and information to be learned before you get to that last page. Much as Paul encourages Christians in Hebrews 12:1-2 to run the race of living out our faith in such a way as to obtain the prize, starting and completing a school year requires endurance, persistence and sustained effort. It is not a sprint - for the teachers, students or parents. Whether your kids are homeschooled or attend a community school, it takes a lot of work and commitment on their part, and on the part of us parents, to successfully complete a school grade! May the Lord bless us all in this new school year! May all that we learn be used to bring glory and honor to Him alone. We always resolve to eat a bit healt...

Brother Ken continued with the message series on Waiting on God . The focus verse was: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 What a beautiful promise from the Lord! This verse fits in well with a quotation I heard on the radio one morning this week while I was walking. The quote was attributed to Charles Spurgeon. However, a check of the web didn't turned up verification of this. So, I can't say for sure who said this or the context in which it was said. But, I do love the quote and find it to be full of truth. "Seek preparedness, not opportunity." This can have several interpretations, I suppose. I often encourage my kids, especially Logan at his age, not to worry so much seeking opportunity (as in the spot light or fortune), but instead, to constantly seek to prepare himself - spiritually and educationall...

Bodock Food Court Food-on-a-stick and funnel cake booth Fried pancake-like batter channeled into a vat of hot oil, deep fried and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar - commonly known around these parts as a Funnel Cake Many thanks to Wayne Carter for great meals the last two Saturdays. Last Saturday, I ate some of Wayne and Barbara's delicious cooking, and tonight Larry and I enjoyed preparing one of Wayne's favorite suppers that he so graciously provided the recipes for! Our town’s annual gala is the Bodock Festival. In case you're wondering about the festival’s name, it hails from a tree, more officially know as a bois d’arc. You can visit Dictionary.com for a definition, description and auditory pronunciation. I’m assuming it’s of French origin, and that the name was probably given during the years of the South's early exploration. Of course, over the years we’ve managed to corrupt its pronunciation by leaving out a sound or two. To borrow, and slightly amend,...

Country Style Boneless Chicken Tenders, Potatoes with milk gravy, Oven-fried Eggplant, Sliced Homegrown Tomatoes from Judy's Garden and Marshall's Old Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits This is one of my favorite meals I have cooked in a long time. I think because it's just good ole comfort food! The chicken tenders were the best we've ever cooked. Who knows why, but we've never thought to use a mallet on our chicken tenders before. I'll never not do it again! They were tender and cooked evenly!! The potatoes with gravy were yummy! I tend to put so much cheese and sour cream and other things in potatoes that you can't taste the potatoes!! These simply prepared potatoes were the perfect balance with the fried chicken! Judy had brought me a mess of okra, an eggplant and some tomatoes earlier this week. Aunt Jean cooked the okra on Thursday, and I cooked the eggplant tonight. Larry and I really like this recipe! I also sliced up some of the tomatoes and sprinkled ...

Marshall's Old Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits I have seen these in the grocery freezer section for years, but have never bought them. When I couldn't find the frozen tea biscuits I usually use, I decided to give these a try. I'll have to say that they were very good and enjoyed by all. They were tender and had a great flavor! I will definitely be a repeat customer!! These were $1.69.