I like to make this Spaghetti Casserole in my slow cooker on really busy days when my family is hungry for a great plate of Spaghetti. This recipe has lots of short cuts and a great flavor. Just put it all together in the slow cooker and go on with your day, then it is ready to serve. I just add some salad and a crusty  Herb Garlic Bread for a delicious meal for my family or take it to my study group covered dish supper.

Hello everyone and welcome to August! I am looking forward to the meal plan this week as we will be having one of my very favorite French summer soups. We sometimes even serve it chilled. One of the recipes on the meal plan this week was developed because it was actually to hot to grill, it was only 107 degrees, but we got a great new recipe to enjoy. I noticed that we will be using the slow cooker quiet a bit this week which will help in keeping the kitchen cool, and I can't wait for my very favorite pudding in the slow cooker. What kind of recipes do you have on your meal plan this week, I would love for you to leave us a comment and share your meal plan with us.

Full Plate Thursday, number 600, what a mile stone! I want to thank each one of you who have helped us to get to this place with this linky party. The party would never have made it to this point without your loyal support. I am so excited that you are here today to celebrate with us!

When the temperature is 107 degrees and our area has a red flag warning which means we can't even use an outside grill, often times new recipes are developed out of need. That is how this recipe came to be at the cottage. I had prepared my spatchcock chicken for the grill and then had no place to grill it. I came up with the idea of placing it in my buffet crock pot, which turned out to be a delicious recipe. It is full of flavor and so easy to prepare, I will be using this new recipe over and over.

One of my favorite treats from our drug store fountain when I was a young girl was a Cherry Coke Float. I loved watching the clerk load the ice cream into the glass and pour the syrup in the glass then add the bubbles, it was so good! I have created my own version of the childhood favorite in a delicious ice box pie. This is such an easy pie recipe to make and it is one that I can just keep in the freezer ready to share with an unexpected guest, your friends and family will love you for serving this cool and refreshing treat.

Hello everyone, weather seems to be a big consideration in meal plans right now. No matter where you live the weather seems to be out of the norm. Some of my teacher friends are going back to school this next week, wow it is here already. We are planning a trip to a local farmers market today as our garden production is pretty much over for this summer, the heat took its toll on the garden. It will be fun to go to the Farmers Market and see what they have shipped in from different parts of the country, of course the next question will be the cost. We are in a major shift for this time of the year because of our major garden fail. I found some great fresh vegetables and some fresh ground corn meal at the Farmers Market. 

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday! I am so excited to see you here today. This is our special Top Ten Features Week, that you choose from last weeks party. The Top Ten Features are great and I sure hope you enjoy them. I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us at the party today, thanks so much for coming!

  We love to bring a basket of fresh vegetables from the garden to the kitchen and create a very special dish that our family will enjoy. This is a recipe that I recently put together with one of the garden baskets full of fresh vegetables. I have a simple sauté of the vegetables with a few seasons and then a great vinaigrette. We love a versatile side dish like this that can be served hot or cold.

  We have had a great canning season this year. Our cucumbers came on early so it allowed us to make pickles before the heat of the summer set in. This pickle recipe is a combination of a sour and dill pickle, and have been developed through my years of canning. We are a pickle loving family so we love the different flavors that can come from a simple jar of pickles.

Hello everyone from one of the hottest summers we have had for almost 20 years. We are just trying to stay cool and hoping to save as many trees, shrubs and plants as is possible. I am thinking of a meal plan that will keep us cool and nourished. I have only a few garden vegetables, but thankfully my pantry is well stocked and our electric grid is holding on so we still have some good freezer foods. I will be going to look for recipes now and we will see what I come up with for the week. Planning a meal plan is so important especially in times like this when there may be a limited supply of fresh foods in the community. 

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday! We have some great features today that I hope you will enjoy!

We have had a great green bean harvest this year. We have had green beans to can and green beans from the garden to the table and this is one of those recipes. This has so far been my favorite fresh green bean recipe for this summer, it is so easy and the flavors are amazing! A recipe that is very simple with the sauce just perfect for fresh green beans. This recipe may just be my winner for the summer garden season. A great one from garden to table!

  We really enjoy seasonal foods here at the cottage and the strawberries have been beautiful this year. I wanted to put together a salad for a pot luck, this is a delicious salad that I ended up with. We have really been enjoying the recipe it was so simple to put together. I keep cooked chicken in 3 cup measures in my freezer for salad's, casseroles and other recipes. We have the pasta, chicken, fresh Strawberries, Spinach and other greens, plus an amazing Strawberry Balsamic Dressing. This is a delicious salad!

I am so grateful to be a meal planner. I hear from so many folks asking for help with their weekly food planning, food budgets, and making some kind of meal that will feed a family. I know that by making a meal plan for the week, we will save money, by making planned left overs. and buying food products that are in season and on sale. Making the meal plan will also help us save time and energy. This week at the cottage we finally got some rain today, we are still about 10 inches below average rainfall for the season, but todays rain at least cooled things off just a bit and gave us some hope. I am off to the garden to see what might be available for a meal plan.