Meal Planning with Connie

Creamy Cheese and Bacon Vermicelli Creamy Cheese and Bacon Vermicelli I found this on the back of the pasta box. It was super easy and yummy! It could be lighten by using low-fat or no-fat cream cheese and milk, sautéing onions in water or broth, and reducing the amount of bacon. 8 ounces vermicelli 1/4 cup sliced green onion 1 tablespoon margarine or 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup milk 4 ounces cream cheese , cubed 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional) 6 slices bacon , cooked crisply, crumbled grated parmesan cheese Directions: Cook vermicelli according to package directions. Drain, cover and set aside. In small saucepan, sauté green onions in margarine or butter. Add milk, cream cheese, parsley, and seasonings. Cook, stirring constantly over low heat until smooth and cheese is melted. Add cooked pasta to pan; toss with cream cheese mixture and bacon. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Note: If sauce is too thick, add a bit of milk.

This recipe is great for those nights when time is really short! It is also a great way to use leftover meat! You'll just need to add desired amount of your favorite barbecue sauce. You can make the barbecue from left over chicken or pork or beef roasts. You can also use a commercially prepared container of meat, such as Lloyd’s or Corky’s. Picking up 1½ pounds of meat from your favorite bbq joint is another great option! Zapping your potatoes in the microwave will help this meal to come together quickly. Here is my favorite way to make baked potatoes in the microwave: Best Microwaved Baked Potatoes Begin by setting your regular oven to 450 degrees.  (You're going to bake the potatoes for few minutes in your regular oven after microwaving to help crisp the potato skins!) While oven is heating, wash and scrub baking potatoes well. (Russets work best for baking!) With a fork, pierce the skins of the potatoes in several places. This will allow steam to escape and prevent ...

Popover Pizza Casserole This recipe, with its popover-like crust, is quick to prepare, especially if you have pre-cooked and frozen your ground beef or pork. Since I had packages of both in my freezer, I used a half pound of each. The combination was really good. I freeze my meat in heaping 2 cup portions, which is about a pound. If I don't need the full pound, a quick tap of the package on the counter will break the package contents in half. Remove the needed portion and immediately return the remainder to the freezer for another use. Popover Pizza Casserole 1  pound ground beef or pork sausage or a combination of the two 1  cup chopped onion 1  cup chopped green sweet pepper 1 cup fresh sliced mushroom(or a small can of sliced mushrooms) 1 clove garlic, minced 1 (3-1/2-ounce package) sliced turkey pepperonis, halved ( Kitchen shears make quick work of this chore. ) 1 (16-ounce) jar pizza sauce 2  eggs 1 cup milk 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup...

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,

Sausage and Corn Stuffing Casserole Sausage and Corn Stuffing Casserole  This was my first time to try this casserole. Larry and Logan really liked it! I had part of a bag of stuffing mix that I needed to use, and this recipe was a good way to use it. The original recipe called for 1/4 milk. I know that the desired texture of stuffing/dressing varies from region to region, and even family to family. I could tell when I mixed the ingredients for this casserole with only the 1/4 cup of milk, that this texture would way too dry for this Southern family. I ended up increasing the milk to 2 cups. It was perfect to us. I've changed the amount in the recipe below to read 1 - 2 cups of milk, depending on desired texture. I also think you could add a can of cream of celery soup, if you prefer a creamier casserole. Again, it's a personal preference sort of thing! This is definitely one of those recipes with which you can experiment. I will make this again, especially if I'm needing...

We have been out-of-town for a few days celebrating our anniversary.  I did want to touch on a couple of comments from last week.  I appreciate my friend, Wayne, sharing his thoughts on the Sausage Squares recipe. I usually use mild-flavored sausage, because that's what Larry and the kids like. I encourage you to experiment with using different varieties of sausage - mild, hot, sage or a combination.  If "hot" is too hot for your taste, but you want more of a kick than you get with "mild," use half mild and half hot. Freeze any leftover browned sausage for the next use. Also, Wayne mentioned halving the recipe and baking it in an 8x8 pan. I, too, generally have great results halving a recipe designed for a 9x13 dish and using an 8x8 pan.  Thanks for the great tips, Wayne! Also, there were a couple of questions about the Sausage Bread recipe, which is an all-time favorite of our Sunday school class.   For clarification, I brown and drain the sausage rea...

It is the first Sunday of Advent. We began our Christmas season with these beautiful verses from Luke this morning and will decorate our sanctuary, as a body of believers, with our annual Hanging of the Green ceremony tonight, all in celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Luke 1:30-35 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."  34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"  35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relat...

We all really, really liked liked this, and I will definitely make it again! The kids had lots of fun with the name of this dish, too! Because we are still paying the price for all those delicious fried veggies we ate this summer, I took a few steps to make this meal a bit more healthful. To save a few fat grams, I used a package of Butterball Turkey Smoked Sausage and nixed the butter in the sauce. I cut the Parmesan cheese to 1/3 cup. We all thought my lighter version was still very good! I think adding a few shrimp right at the end of sauteing the sausage would make for a good variation of this dish! I had several cans of biscuits in the fridge, so I made "Biscuit" Rolls instead of the garlic bread. To save a few fat grams and calories, I sprayed the tops of the biscuits with Parkay fat-free buttery spray and sprinkled on a tough of garlic powder. They were still good. Of course, both the pasta and rolls would be better with butter, but I didn't have to tell y...

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...

I accomplished a few things in the kitchen yesterday. I browned and froze four pounds of sausage, and I chopped and froze a turkey breast Aunt Jean cooked for us. Last week I cooked and froze five pounds of chicken. I hope to brown several pounds of ground beef today. All this will give me a nice little stash of pre-cooked meats in my freezer before we start back with our school work next week. I think I've mentioned a time or two, or maybe more like - twenty, that pre-cooking and freezing meats is the best meal planning tool I've found! On Monday night, Logan and M.C. ate supper with Aunt Jean, and Larry, Dude and I polished off the last of the pot luck leftovers from Saturday night! Larry had taken Dude to the doctor in Memphis on Monday, and they stopped by at had a yummy lunch at Corky's after Dude's appointment! We all love Corky's! Their frozen bbq, which is available in most grocery stores' freezer sections, makes a great, quick meal! I love their sau...

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. Psalm 130:5 Brother Ken started a new sermon series yesterday on waiting for God. I know I will personally benefit greatly from these sermons, since I hate waiting. Larry, on-the-other-hand, is a great waiter. I often accuse him of being patient to a fault! The difference in the way each of us choose to do things, based on this ability to wait, shows up in all situations of life - including the way we prepare food. Larry usually cooks for our Sunday school class a few times each year. Yesterday was one of those times. He decided to cook pork tenderloin and biscuits. After some serious consultation with "seasoned pork tenderloin grillers," Terry, Julie and Mark, Larry had his recipe, which included Lawry's Season Salt. Y'all know, Larry was elated when they told him to put some Lawry's up on that tenderloin!!! As I've shared before, Larry loves the Lawry's!! Now that he had his r...

Ultimate Pork Tenderloin, Oh So Good Baked Potato Casserole and Easy Cheesy Garlic Rolls Ultimate Grilled Pork Tenderloin Pork Tenderloin is a great meat choice. It’s low in fat and very easy to grill. You just have to be careful not to dry it out. One way to avoid this is by using a brine. This is completely optional, but is well worth the time and effort. This is where meal planning really pays off! If you don’t have time to use the brine, just skip it. Begin by trimming all the “silver” skin from the meat’s surface. Make your brine by add 2 -3 tablespoons of salt to about a quart of water. Place the tenderloin in the brine and refrigerate for about 12 hours. Removed the tenderloin from the brine, dry it off and coat with the following rub. A rub adds flavor and forms a nice crust on the meat’s surface. Use a commercial pork rub or try this one: Pork Rub Combine all ingredients in a small bowl: 3 tablespoons bro...

Penne Pasta with Spinach and Bacon, Best Green Beans Ever and Garlic Bread Last night was the first time I had made this pasta. Larry and I both really liked it. I will definitely make it again. While it has enough bacon in it to make it meaty, I do think chopped grilled chicken would be good added to this dish. Or, you could use the pasta as a side dish to accompany grilled chicken breasts. The kids aren't crazy about tomatoes, so I pulled some plain pasta from the pot before adding the spinach, drizzled it with just a bit of olive oil, and stirred in some Italian seasonings and Parmesan cheese for them. Nancy was so generous with her green beans, we still had a few left. Last night I added some Best Ever Green Beans to our meal. Larry and I both love these. The onions, garlic and broth give the beans a nice, savory flavor. This recipe is very versatile. If you like crisp-tender, "Yankee-style" green beans, cook your beans only until desired tenderness i...