Shrimp and Grits

This is a delicious and hearty meal
Serves 4 with some grits left over for breakfast the next morning

Cheese Grits
Bring 1 half-pint cream, 1-14 oz container chicken broth and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. (Add 1 clove minced garlic if desired)
Add 3/4 tsp salt and 1 cup quick cooking grits to liquid, simmer about 10 minuets until thickened
add 8 oz shredded SHARP white cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup good quality shredded Parmesan cheese and hot sauce to taste. Keep Warm

Shrimp
Cook 6 slices of bacon in a heavy duty skillet, set aside bacon
in the remaining drippings (remove some of the grease if necessary) saute 8 oz sliced mushrooms, a bunch of diced green onions an 2 cloves minced garlic until tender.
Remove shells from 32 large shrimp (devein if desired)
Salt and pepper shrimp, dredge lightly in flour
Add shrimp to skillet and saute until pink, adding more bacon grease if necessary
add 1/4 -1/4 cup chicken broth and hot sauce to taste
allow sauce to thicken

Spoon grits on to serving plates,
top with a serving of shrimp mixture
top with crumbled bacon (and some extra green onions if desired)
DELISH!
Enjoy with a loaf of crusty french bread and a side salad.

Ranch Chicken over noodles

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
6 slices of bacon
2 TBS flour
1 package dry ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 cup milk
egg noodles

Prepare egg noodles according to package direction, set aside, keep warm

Salt and pepper chicken, cut into bite-size pieces and set aside
Cook bacon, draining off all but 2 TBS grease
Saute chicken in remaining bacon grease
When chicken is nicely browned and no longer pink, sprinkle with the flour and the ranch dressing mix. Toss to coat. Add the milk, stir and allow sauce to thicken. Serve over egg noodles.

New Year Resolutions

I have a well stocked pantry and am known for buying items when they are on sale (Yes, I have 10 jars of marinara sauce on hand--but never pay more that $1.00 a jar for this either. which results in a FULL Pantry but money tied up in inventory)

Therefore, this year I RESOLVE To use what I have on hand rather than buy, buy, buy more. This is going to be a hard one for me to be disciplined enough to NOT purchase when on sale for a period of time and it will also require some creative cooking and new recipes (share yours) but I am up for the task!