Meal Planning with Connie

For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. 'The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. 'The fig tree has ripened its figs, And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. " Song 2:11-13a It is absolutely beautiful here in Pontotoc today!  The yellow bells are blooming. The birds are chirping.  The air is crisp and clear!  Oh, the wonder of God's handiwork! I made this breakfast casserole for Sunday school fellowship time. It got good reviews! Sausage Roll Breakfast Casserole Sausage Roll Breakfast Casserole This casserole is a fun, quick breakfast casserole to make!  1 package sausage-stuffed rolls (such as Sister Schubert’s), thawed 8 large eggs 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon white or black pepper dash of cayenne peppper 4 cups whole milk or half-and-half 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated Coat a 9x13-inch...

Here’s a fun appetizer that is great for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day! Pesto Pinwheels You can a few chopped roasted red peppers, chopped pimentos, or a handful of finely chopped sundried tomatoes to the cream cheese/pesto mixture. This is especially festive at Christmas!  A bit of cooked, chopped chicken and shredded Parmesan cheese is good in these too! 2 tablespoons of pesto 1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese, softened 1 jar of roasted red peppers or pimentos 4-6 flour tortillas Combine pesto and cream cheese Spread about 3 or 4 tablespoons of pesto mixture on each tortilla. Roll up each tortilla into a tube shape. Wrap each roll individually with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or two*. To serve, cut each tortilla roll into 1 to 1-1/2 inch pieces. *This recipe can be made up to two days in advance. Prepare rolls and refrigerate until serving time. Remove from fridge, slice and serve. These freeze really well. Slice and lay in a single layer on a parchment-l...

Rainbow Cupcakes I came across these cute Rainbow Cupscakes on Lindsey Mendenhall’s blog, The Bakery Box . Lindsey has established a little tradition of baking these delightful cupcakes for her children for St. Patrick’s Day. Every “little leprechaun” I know would certainly feel like they had found a pot of gold, if they were served one of these colorful treats. How clever to tie in the rainbow theme for this celebration! On a table filled with treats of only shades of green, these pretty, multicolored cupcakes would surely stand out! They sound yummy too! Not only are these perfect for celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, I think they’d be wonderful for birthdays and school parties! Sugaree’s , a local bakery, makes a rainbow cake, which puts me in mind of Lindsey’s cupcakes. Lindsey’s recipe would work well for this. Just divide the cake batter evenly into five bowls and add desired shade of food coloring. (You might need to use 2 boxes of cake mix to create this many layers.) Bake and ice...

I took this cake to Sunday School this morning! It got really good reviews! It's yummy with a steaming cup of coffee! Blueberry-Banana Pound Cake Blueberry-Banana Pound Cake This is cake is yummy and moist! The combination of blueberries and bananas is really nice! You can add a 1/2 chopped pecans, if you like! 3 very ripe bananas 1 (18 1/2 oz.) yellow cake mix 1 (3 1/2 oz.) vanilla instant pudding mix 4 eggs 1 cup sour cream 1/3 cup oil 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (Don't thaw berries. Add them while still frozen.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a tube or Bundt pan with baking spray, such as Baker’s Secret. Slice bananas into mixer bowl; beat bananas until fairly smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend on low, until well combined. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Very gently stir in blueberries by hand. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. You'll find a ton of other great sweet re...

Yummy Low-fat Potato-Corn Chowder Yummy Low-fat Potato-Corn Chowder This soup is really, really good, especially to be so low fat. If you want to make this dish “full octane”, sauté the onions in three tablespoons butter and use full fat dairy products. 3 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed ½ onion, diced 1 can fat free chicken broth 3 tablespoons flour 1¼ cup fat free milk (or fat free half-and-half or fat free evaporated milk), divided 1 can cream style corn 1/2 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese (optional) salt and pepper, to taste Garnish: Shredded low fat cheese Bacon bits Chopped green onions Coat the bottom of a large pot with cooking spray. Add onion and sauté until tender. Add broth and potatoes to pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Whisk together flour and a ¼ cup of the milk until smooth; stir into potato mixture. Add the remaining milk and corn. Cook and stir until thickened. Remove from the heat and...

Miniature Bacon Cheddar Muffins Miniature muffins are a great way to have “just a bite” of something tasty. I love mini muffins, but I used to hate filling all those little holes with batter. Finally, I discovered that my smallest cookie dough scoop is the perfect size for filling the cups of my mini muffin tins. Using the scoop is quick, easy and produces uniform-sized muffins! Guess what?! Large cookie dough/ice cream scoops are great for scooping batter into standard size muffin tins! As much as I like the ease using a scoop to fill tins brings, what I really like best is the uniformity that is produced! Using a cookie dough scoop makes quick and easy work of filling muffin tins. A nice uniformity is also achieved! My scoop made quick work of making a batch of my Bacon Cheddar Muffins for Sunday school this past week!

This one of our favorite quick meals! Chicken Pesto Quesadillas  and Super Easy Caesar Salad Chicken Pesto Quesadillas An electric skillet works great for cooking these quesadillas! 1  (3.5-oz.) jar pesto 4  (8-inch) tortillas 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (homemade, canned or rotisserie) 1  (8-ounce) package shredded Italian cheese blend Olive oil Spread 1 – 2 tablespoons of pesto onto each tortilla. Sprinkle about a ¼ cup chicken onto half of each tortilla. Sprinkle ¼ cup cheese over chicken. Fold each tortilla in half. Brush both sides of each folded tortilla with olive oil. Garnish: Sour cream Preheat oven to about 200 degrees. (You may need to cook these in batches, and you can keep the first batch warm in the oven while cooking the remaining quesadillas.) Heat a large nonstick skillet or an electric skillet on medium-high heat. Cook quesadillas for 2 minutes on each side or until browned and crusty. Remove to a cutting board, and cut each quesadilla int...