Meal Planning with Connie

Well, I lost 1 pound this week. It's a start!  Let me know if you'd like to join us!  Susieloulou, Felicia and I would love to have you!

My friend Judy gave me this recipe many years. It was a recipe George’s aunt, Jesca, had shared with her. It was the first Cornbread Salad I had ever eaten. Although, I’ve had many versions since, this is still by far my favorite and the only one I personally make. I love having my recipes on my computer, mainly because it makes them so easy to share with others. There are few recipes though that I’ve purposefully never added to my computerized recipe file. This recipe is one of them. I just love taking out this old 5x7-inch ruled index card with Judy’s handwriting; love seeing her notation that the recipe was from Jesca; and love being reminded of that sweet, long-ago day in her kitchen on Poyner Street, where I took my first bite of Aunt Jesca’s Cornbread Salad. Great food! Great memories!   Aunt Jesca’s Cornbread Salad Fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes are best in this! Don’t go using low-fat mayo here! Cut calories elsewhere! Full-octane Hellman’s is the ticket for this parti...

 Creamy Crawfish Pasta We had been craving crawfish since we watched an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats the other night. This dish satisfied our yearning! We love Alton Brown and always learn so much from his shows! On his crawfish episode, this brainy Marietta, Georgia resident gave validity to our calling this little crustacean - "craw" fish and not "cray" fish, as some would have us believe it should be called. We all know it's "craw"fish, right?!   Alton's Wikipedia bio says he's a Christian! I thought some of you might be interested in that! He genuinely seems like a really nice guy! I picked up a package of frozen, fully-cooked crawfish tails the other day and just sort of just threw this pasta dish together with things I had on hand. I thought it turned out really well. The family all raved, which is always a good sign! I didn't have any parsley in the fridge, but it would surely have added a nice touch of color to our p...

My sweet and hilariously funny blogging buddy, Mub , asked about Ro*tel tomatoes in the comment section under Cornbread Tomatoes . I thought I'd answer her question in a post, since some others might not be familiar with Ro*tel Tomatoes. Hey, Mub! Ro*tel Tomates are just canned stewed tomatoes that have been kicked-up with some green chillies. If you can't get Ro*tel tomatoes in the Netherlands, just throw in some canned green chillies or chopped jalapeno peppers with a can of stewed tomatoes. I'm not sure about the rest of the country (USA), but in the South, we do love us some Ro*tel tomatoes. We actually just call it Ro*tel. As in - "I added a can of Ro*tel, and it was just what that recipe needed!" I doubt there's hardly a pantry in my town without at least one can of Ro*tel. Most of us don't like to cut it that close though, so we keep several cans on hand. We put it in dips, stews, casseroles - whatever we're cookin' that we think needs...

Cornbread Tomatoes I found several boxes of frozen veggies and 4 of my frozen mini-meatloaves during my tidying of the freezer. So, we're having the meatloaves with some butter beans, shoe peg corn and Cornbread Tomatoes for supper. This is the kind of food I love the most! The Cornbread Tomatoes will be a hard sell for some of you, I know. It doesn't really sound or look good, but it really, really is! This dish is difficult to describe. It’s hard to say whether it’s a salad, a relish, a side dish, or even a bread. I think it’s all of these rolled into one!  I first ate a similar dish several years ago in the tea room of McCarty's Pottery in Merigold, MS. Larry had treated me to a trip to Mississippi's premiere pottery makers for my birthday. It's a good man who will drive a woman two hours to look at pottery! We ate lunch at the facility's restaurant, and I ordered this delicious tomato dish, aptly named Merigold Tomatoes! I loved it! When we got home, ...

Don't dig your grave  with your own knife and fork.   ~English Proverb A couple of you have mentioned wanting to start to track our weight loss again. I need some weight loss buddies! I've gained and lost the same 5 pounds all winter long. My goal was to loose 10. So, right now I'm up to needing to lose 15. (Yes, I am the perfect poster child for yo-yo dieting!) I got off track with my healthier eating during my dad's illness, and I didn't walk very much all winter. NOT a good combination! Well, spring has sprung, and I need to get serious about being healthier! I bought The Hungry Girl cookbooks a few months back, and they have managed to collect a nice, little layer of dust over the weeks! I've decided to brush them off and to try to put them to use! I'd love to have you join me! "Misery loves company." No, no! I mean - "the more the merrier!" Right?! ; Let me know, and I'll add your name to the list! I'll weigh in on Frid...

Spinach and Bacon Quiche Straightening my freezer and fridge, I found a few items that need using: a pie crust left from the holidays, a box of frozen spinach and half a package of bacon. This quiche was a great way to use all of them!  Spinach and Bacon Quiche 6 - 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 1 (10-ounce) frozen spinach, thawed and drained well 4 chopped green onions, sautéed in bacon drippings 2 - 3 tablespoons chopped pimentos or roasted red peppers 5 eggs, slightly beaten 1 cup cream, half-and-half or milk 1 cup cheese of your choice, shredded salt and freshly ground pepper to taste dash of cayenne pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ingredients. Spoon into unbaked pie crust. Bake for 35 minutes or until middle is set. Tent quiche with foil if crust becomes too brown before quiche is fully cooked,