As I begin to make the last meal plan for this year I have to reflect back over the many wonderful meals that we have shared together. All your notes of support, thanks and encouragement mean so much to me. My hope in sharing these meal plans with you and your family is somehow to encourage and inspire you in your own meal plans while here and there we share a new recipe along the way. With Gods help I am planning on continuing Whats For Dinner Next Week for one more year. I have actually published these meal plans since August of 2010 and you can check them out in the Index Of Meal Plans . Wishing You and Your Family Bountiful Blessings and Prosperity In 2018!

Welcome to our very last party of 2017, it has been so much fun sharing the table with you each Thursday for our Full Plate Thursday. You and your amazing post of recipes, food related, tablescapes and table decor are what make this party so very special. You all are truly the greatest cooks on this planet! This is our last party of the month so today we are featuring our Top Ten from last weeks party, we sure and stop by to give these awesome bloggers some special holiday love! Wishing You and Your Family Abundant Blessings and Every Happiness In 2018!

As we move past Christmas we begin to look at which one of our favorite Good Luck Recipes we will serve over New Years. There are many traditions that surround New Years Food and the color of the food bringing Good Luck in the new year. We have very southern traditions that have been passed down to us through the years and we in turn have passed them on to our children and grandchildren. My Mother and Grandmother would actually call and remind me and some of my cousins to be sure and eat our peas on New Years Day to ensure prosperity for the next year.

What a wonderful time of the year, the cottage has Christmas everywhere awaiting the big celebration. We have certain food traditions that we have handed down through the years. We will sometimes vary from these, but this year we are sticking to tradition. May The Peace Of This Season Live In Your Heart and Home All Through The Year Merry Christmas

We are so excited to see you here today during this very busy season. We are ready for Christmas here at the cottage and some of our friends will be here for a party this week. I love this party every week and always look forward to your post throughout the year. Be sure and stop by the awesome bloggers that are featured this week, there are some great ideas. I can't wait to see the amazing recipes, tablescapes, and food related articles that you will be sharing with us today!

Tex Mex Cranberry Dip and the holidays go hand in hand here at the cottage. We start making this dip around thanksgiving time and serve it through Christmas and New Years, it seems to be one of our favorites. This dip is a blend of fresh cranberries and fresh jalapenos blended with special spices and cheese. It is great served with chips or crackers. We have used it as a spread for little sandwiches, it is just a very versatile recipe to have during the holidays.

We often times have guest in our home for the weekend and it is so nice to serve a lovely Brunch Bake with a simple side of fruit for breakfast or brunch. When it is just the two of us we will enjoy the bake and then freeze the rest in individual serving bags for a grab n go breakfast on a busy day. I developed this recipe recently and have served it several times, it has received great reviews. The combination of herbs is a perfect balance with the cranberries and topped out with a Gruyere to give it a very distinctive flavor. Hope you will enjoy our new Brunch Bake.

We had so much fun this week finishing all the preparations for Christmas and now we can sit back and enjoy the rest of the holidays. I often times make meal plans for several weeks ahead especially around busy times like the holidays. I am busy this week baking holiday breads for some of my husbands co workers and some other folks in our community that we have interaction with during the year, of course the best part of that is getting to deliver them. Making my meal plans helps me  have the time to enjoy the season!

I am so happy to see you today, we have so many wonderful features to share with you from last weeks awesome party. The food is amazing this time of the year and I sure love looking at everything that you bring to our table each week. We also have been having some beautiful table decor all about the holidays. Our cottage is all a buzz with Christmas everywhere so lets get our party started!

All through the year I keep a list of items from the kitchen that some of my friends and family might really enjoy receiving at Christmas time. When I am giving a gift from my kitchen it is really part of me, loving time spent creating a special gift just for you.When I receive a homemade gift, it is so meaningful to me and I really treasure the love and time that goes into the gift.  Since most of you are very far away from me, I am happy to share these gifts with you today!

I am so excited to be participating with a wonderful group of blogger's today for a Christmas Home Tour. I would love for you to step into my cottage and have a nice slice of coffee cake and a lovely cup of coffee or tea. We are very casual here at the cottage but we hope you can feel the warmth and love as we welcome you here today. My very special thanks to our hostess for the tour  Barbara Garrett at  The Everyday Home !

We actually had a little bit of snow this week, it didn't last long but it sure put us in the mood for a cozy fire and hot chocolate. It is sure starting to look a lot like Christmas around the cottage as we are putting the finishing touches on our decorating. I am thinking about warm cozy food for the meal plan this week because of the cold weather we are stating to have. I will have to bundle up and make a trip to the barn to see what we have in the cold bin and then stop off at the garden to see what fresh greens I can use. Lets get going so we can have our hot chocolate!

Come on in we are all in the kitchen today, already tasting some of the amazing foods that you bring for the table. We have some great features from last weeks party that you will sure want to check out. Here at the cottage we have been very busy putting the final touches on all the things that make Christmas so special. I am looking forward to you sharing what makes Christmas and Hanukkah  so special at your house.

This Southern Sweet Potato Pie has been served at our family gatherings since before I was born, and oh my that's a very long time. We grow sweet potatoes in our garden every year so we really enjoy the home grown potatoes for this recipe. Roasting the sweet potatoes enhance this rich and very flavorful  pie making it one of our favorites, from our garden to the table!

Whats In Season and How Can I Use It Our December Food and Recipe Basket is filled with wonderful fruits, nuts and green vegetables from garden to table. We have lots of pecan groves in our area and lucky for us our neighbor has several pecan trees that they are so sweet to share the nuts with us. A fruit that we enjoy this time of the year is our cranberries, all of which are shipped to our area for the market places.  We have several green leafy vegetables that we enjoy during this season which we grow in our garden here at the cottage. Our holiday this month is Christmas and Hanukkah.

December is here and the cottage is very busy. Our meal plans will be important this month to help keep us organized during a busy month. We are putting the final touches on our Christmas decorating for one of my favorite times of the year. The little communities are beginning to have special parades, dinners, festivals, and church services. All the clubs have a special covered dish luncheons and dinners with lovely programs. It is a wonderful and busy time of the year.

I sure hope that each of you had a great Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving was wonderful with lots of great food and fellowship with friends and family. For our last party of the month today, we will be featuring our Top Ten Post with the most views from last weeks party. We have some really great recipes from some of the greatest cooks on the planet, be sure and check out their recipes! I am excited to get the Christmas Season started and can't wait to see what you are sharing with us today!

When I was a young girl, my Grandmother would take me out to the garden to pick Mustard Greens. We would pick greens in the fall and winter months when it was very chilly or cold outside. Today when I go out to my own garden I remember my Grandmother when she would make the Wilted Greens Salad. I remember washing the greens with her in the cold well water. I would pump the water and my Grandmother would wash the greens. This was one of my favorite salads when I was growing up and I love getting to make this salad for my own Granddaughters.

This casserole has layers of wonderful vegetables and fruit to make a delicious flavored dish. The last layer of the casserole will make you think it is a fantastic apple pie. This is a real easy casserole to prepare and is ready in no time to go on the table. Our family loves this recipe and we serve it for family dinners and very special dinners. My friends that have had the casserole through the years will sometimes request this bowl of goodness.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with delicious dishes and lots of love from family and friends. Now we get to move quickly into our next season, which for me is one of my favorites, I love Christmas! I will be using up some of my leftovers that I put in the freezer from the turkey for this weeks meal plan. Sometimes the left overs are the best.

Welcome to our special Thanksgiving Edition of Full Plate Thursday! I love Thanksgiving with all the wonderful food and fellowship. We have some really great features today that are very special from our last weeks party, be sure and check them out they have awesome ideas and recipes. I am looking forward to see all of you today and letting you know how special it is to have you gather around this table every Thursday! You are a very special part of my week and through all these almost seven years you have grown very dear to my heart and I am grateful for each one of you!

My husband loves Mandarin Oranges and we love a Fluff Salad, it is a natural combination for our family. This recipe is a little different from the usual Fluff Salad, it is actually crunchy and yet still has all those ingredients of a comforting salad that we all enjoy. This salad is a great side dish for any occasion and some folks (that includes me) even like it for dessert.

Our cottage is all a buzz with thanksgiving company starting to arrive today, we are so excited! In making our meal plan this week, I will be making some of our house guest favorites that they have requested, plus a great Thanksgiving Buffet! It is at times like this that I am so happy to have my meals planned out, the shopping all done and as much prep work done as possible. This allows me to be able to spend more quality time with our guest. When We Sit At Our Thanksgiving Table Please Know That I Count Each Of You Among My Many Blessings May God Bless You Abundantly

I am so excited to see you here today, what an awesome party we are going to have! Be sure and stop by the featured blogs they have some great post to share with you. I know that many of you are starting to gear up for Thanksgiving Day and next week will be very busy. Next Week's Party To Honor Your Time With Your Family Full Plate Thursday Will Post On Tuesday November 21, 2017 Link Will Be Live at 8:00 a.m. CST This will allow us to have our party before your parties get started, I hope this helps you with your busy week! Now Lets Eat!!

Pears are one of our favorite fruits and we love to use them in as many recipes as we can while they are in season. This recipe is a classic crisp with a fabulous walnut crumble on top. The walnuts in the crumble and the pears are a perfect paring making this crisp one that will have your family and friends coming back for seconds. Here at the cottage we serve it with a nice dip of ice cream on top, but it is great just served warm with no garnish.

We love turkey here at the cottage, and there are so many good recipes for turkey. We have had baked turkey, fried turkey, and smoked turkey, but our favorite is a very simple Roasted Turkey. I have been roasting turkey's for family dinners, church dinners, and other events for well over, ( to many years to mention). Our turkeys are always beautiful and very moist with the distinct flavor of the turkey. When the turkey comes to the table the true celebration can begin, and always invites a gratitude of fellowship that comes with sharing a meal with loved ones.

It is officially cold outside, summer has definitely left us. We are almost finished with our home projects so I will have full use of my kitchen back very soon. It is good to come to this time of the year when I just sit with my cup of tea and enjoy making my meal plans for the next week. Max just sits right by me and I don't think he really cares what we have to eat next week, as long as he has a little nibble from time to time. A blogger friend ask me, how do you plan anything but Turkey and Dressing for November, I laughed and said well we have to eat between now and thanksgiving day.

We are so happy to see you today here at Full Plate Thursday. We had so many inspiring post last week for fall and Thanksgiving, delicious recipes and beautiful tables to put them on. Be sure and stop by these great blogs and get some new recipes and ideas for your Thanksgiving table.  Every week I look forward to seeing your outstanding post and I can hardly wait to see what you will be sharing today!

We are sweet potato lovers here at the cottage, and we grow them in our garden each year. I remember my Grandmother making a stew from the Sweet Potatoes and it was always delicious.  Our Southern Sweet Potato & Sausage Stew is a recipe that features some of our great garden vegetables with a spicy flavor of sausage. This is a hearty stew that will have family and friends coming back for just one more bowl full of this goodness.

Whats In Season and How Can I Use It November is such a great time to use wonderful garden vegetables that are in season. Of course one of the first is Pumpkin then one of my favorites Sweet Potatoes. Thanksgiving is our big holiday this month and a food lovers holiday! We see pumpkins just about everywhere we go, they are in the markets, pumpkin patches, and front porches. I use them for decoration, but mostly love them in a delicious recipe on my table. Sweet Potatoes are one of the farmers crops here in our area and we see Sweet Potatoes in the farm stands, back of pick trucks, and in our very own gardens. November is a great food month to enjoy!

November is sure here with very cold temperatures, making us want to seek out recipes that warm up our cottage and let us feel comfort. We have been involved in a couple of home improvement projects that we are trying to finish before the holidays, so I want my kitchen time this week to be simple and delicious recipes. This is really one of the advantages to having a meal plan, I won't have to take the time to "wonder" Whats For Dinner Next Week.

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday & The First Day Of November!  November is a great month for food with the Thanksgiving Feast Tables loaded with some of the best food in the land. Turkey and Dressing is one of my favorites and I love all the side dishes and desserts that go along with it.We always see the most beautiful table settings around the holidays to be sure.  I can hardly wait to see your awesome post in the next few weeks as we lead up to this great holiday! Lets get this party started and get all your delicious food on this table and thanks so much for coming today!

You know there is going to be a special breakfast when you wake up to the smell of a lovely Coffee Cake baking in the oven. This is a delicious recipe and it takes a very short time to put together and have in the oven. It is filled with warm spices and fresh pears nestled in a light and fluffy cake with a nutty crumble topping. Our family loves this coffee cake and it is often times a request from returning house guest.

We are a Chili loving family, and we are always looking for a different chili or one that might have a special flavor. This White Bean & Chicken Chili has a very special flavor that we really enjoy. We have served this chili for many a game day gathering and it has also been a star at our Christmas Eve Mexican supper. It really is one of those recipes that will be great for any occasion.

Our little community is very busy with fall festivals and preparing for the little spooks that will be coming to trick or treat parties next week. We will be having a great new Slow Cooker recipe on the meal plan this week. Our temperatures are a little lower now, so we will be looking to some recipes that warm the body and soul. We are also looking forward to having some family visiting this week and that is always a very special treat!

Here we are at the last week of October already, and it is so much fun! We feature the Top Ten Post from last week page views, I always look forward to seeing the post that you want to check out, the delicious recipes, beautiful table settings and great food related post.  We have the greatest community at Full Plate Thursday and I am so happy that you choose to be a part of it!

When the temperatures begin to drop and the leaves begin to turn it's time to start watching for the seeds that need to be saved for the next year. I have some Zinnias in my yard that have been reseeding for many years. Sometimes they surprise you by where they come up, but they will keep coming back each year. I have some heirloom tomatoes that I save the seed every year. Our Magnolia's have the most beautiful seeding process with beautiful seed pods. Saving our seeds in the fall enables us to always have the quality of our seed line to continue every year.

If you live in Texas or ever travel through our great state you may want to try a Big Red Soda. I grew up drinking Big Red and have shared it with many friends from out of state. Today you can find Big Red in just about any supermarket. This recipe combines the great flavor of Big Red with some other seasons to make a very tasteful pulled chicken. Slow cooking in the Slow Cooker lets you enjoy all this flavor with very little work. We love this recipe and often times serve it for a party as a slider or as a sandwich for a great family supper.

I have been so busy enjoying this weather and our little house guest that I almost forgot to take my pantry inventory to prepare my meal plan for the week. I always take my pantry and refrigerator inventory before making my meal plan, then I am using what I have on hand and won't be buying unnecessary products. We have been  having so much fun at the cottage this week, we are dog sitting for our Granddogs Claire and Chole, little weenie  dogs. Max loves having company and we love to watch the interaction of the 3 musketeers. Lets get started on this meal plan before these little darlings lead me away again.

I am so excited to see you today, we are out on the patio, just have a seat in one of the rocker's and grab a throw it is a little chilly out today. Be sure and check out our awesome features today from Table Settings and Decor, Food Related Topic's and of course How I Filled My Plate Last Week With Your Amazing Recipes! I can't wait to see what you have brought for our table today so lets get the party started!

There is nothing like walking in the door and smelling homemade bread baking in the oven. I really enjoy baking bread and my family loves it. We have no problem with left overs when it comes to a great loaf of bread. Our Cheesy Olive Beer Bread is a quick bread that doesn't take all day but rather just a few minutes to mix and put into the oven. This recipe is a blend of a olive and cheese board all rolled into a wonderful bread. Just one slice of this bread won't be enough!

We really enjoy the combination of pork, apple & onions, in a recipe. The flavors in this recipe really come together cooking real slow to insure a fabulous dish. Pepper Jelly Pork Chops, Apples & Onions is so easy to put together and can serve a nice family dinner or a crowd. It is just one of those recipes that can be used for any occasion. Coming in the door at the end of the day and smelling this delicious recipe is a special welcome home!

I am sitting out on the screen porch today, just reflecting on the bounty of the harvest that we have had this year and looking forward to making my meal plan for next week. I have a couple of request from family for some of their favorites so of course we will work that into the meal plan. I am headed to the barn to check out the inventory in the cold bins before I start the meal plan, who knows what I will find to give me inspiration. Hope you are inspired to make a meal plan this week saving time and money for you and your family.

It has been very busy here at the cottage, getting fall cleaning and fall decorating completed. I have had my slow cooker out lately, it just gives me more time to spend outside of the kitchen when the days are so beautiful. I sure am looking forward to all of your beautiful tables and the awesome recipes you bring to share with us every week. We are also enjoying some great food related articles at our party now. I'm ready to get this party started, it is so good to see all of you today!

I was going through my recipes the other day and saw this cake recipe that I haven't made in a long time. It is filled with warm spices and so moist it is almost like a pudding cake. This is a very easy recipe to put together and is great to have on hand when your friends are stopping over for cake and coffee after the game. I use fresh apples in this recipe giving it a very rich consistency with the spice cake, caramel and little bites of apple, yes it is delicious!

We used to go to a restaurant called the Iron Tender and my favorite thing on the menu was their Steak Soup. After we moved away from that city we really missed their awesome Steak Soup, so I developed my own recipe for Steak Soup which is very close to the one we loved so much. This soup just simmer's all day in the slow cooker giving all the flavors a chance to come together to make this amazing soup. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

Our meal plan for this week looks so good, I just love the fall recipes. I hope that you are planning your meals and enjoying the rewards of more time and money from planning ahead.  It is a beautiful fall day here in the country. There are many signs of nature that tell us the season is changing. We have had a very active colony of humming birds this season and now they have all left but two. I posted a video of them at the feeder on my Face Book , some commented they had never seen that many at one feeder.We watch every morning to see if those last two will be here just one more day. We do love our hummers. 

Fall is all around us and I am so glad you could come and be a part of our first party for October. Our beautifully decorated tables are starting to fill up with wonderful fall recipes that we are excited to try. We had some awesome food on the table last week I sure hope you will visit these blogs and try their recipes. Be sure and check out the new additions to our party! Our Thoughts and Prayers Go Out To All Those  Who Have Been Affected By The Horrible Tragedy In Las Vegas May God Be With You

Sometimes it gets really busy here at the cottage and we really don't have time to have a sit down breakfast. These little Mini Tex Mex Quiche's are just perfect for a grab and go on a busy day. This recipe is easy to put together and it makes enough to put them in the freezer. We love the Tex Mex flavor of these mini's. This is also a great recipe to make for a brunch or a large family which we have. Hope you enjoy the recipe for your busy days!

What's In Season and How Can I Use It? That is the question that we address in our Food and Recipe Basket. Fall garden production is hardy here because we still have temperatures that allow production to continue. Although we still have some of our summer production available, some of the all time favorite fall products are ready to harvest in the month of October. Some of these crops have been growing for several months. We planted some our winter crops earlier this month. I am excited for the fall fruits and vegetables with their wonderful warm and cozy flavors.