I have to share a new variation on our Creamy Italian Casserole mix!  We featured this mix in our October customer newsletter, In The Mix, and mentioned how you can use smoked sausage instead of chicken as an alternate meal option.  Well…this week I had some precooked Italian Sausage in the freezer (I had cooked it up earlier in the week, just like I precook ground beef, and put it in the freezer to use later). I was inspired to try adding that sausage to the casserole instead of the smoked sausage or the chicken.  FANTASTIC!  It may very well be one of my new favorites!  You really need to give it a try.  And if any of you have some recipe variations to share…I’m listening!  I love trying what others think of…and this is a great place to pass it on!  I am especially interested in cold weather meals this time of year…what do you serve when the weather turns chilly? 

I also wanted to share why I had precooked italian sausage in my freezer.  This is not something I would normally have on hand (but that is going to change now!).  Last month I was traveling a lot.  This meant I had missed many meals with my family over a period of 3 weeks.  They know that when I travel I am spreading our mission and helping other families enjoy the same things we enjoy…time around the table and having a successful home based business.  So they don’t get upset that I am gone…but just like me…they miss our time together.  Well, at the end of that travel time I had a weekend event in Oklahoma that would bring me home on a Monday and keep me home for several weeks before going out again.  My husband and 2 youngest joined me for that last leg of the trip, but jobs kept my 2 oldest at home.  They wanted to celebrate our family being back together on that Monday and because they have grown up treasuring time around the table…their natural instict was to plan and prepare a meal to for us to enjoy together.  Things happened (job called one in for a late shift, etc…) so the meal plan fell apart but the groceries had already been purchased (including the sausage…now you know why!) 

When I got the call on the way home from Oklahoma that the plans had changed…I was touched by the sincere disappointment heard in my daughter’s voice.  One more reminder that family time truly does matter.  I respected her decision to step up and help out her employer in a time of need, and I knew she did not make the decision lightly.  She is growing up… and part of growing up is learning to make the tough choices.  I took that moment to reflect and realize that one of the places she has learned how to make those choices was during conversations held around the dinner table.  What lessons have been learned around your table?

God Bless and Keep You,

Tami

This entry was posted on Friday, October 13th, 2006 at 10:07 am and is filed under Family Time, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.