Family Dinner: Southern-Inspired Goodness

Because I just returned from a fantastic trip to California (link to Baked from the Heart blog post TK) I found myself sitting on the couch tonight around dinnertime in a bit of a jet-lagged haze. Famished, I knew that I needed some serious food nourishment and fast. Proud of myself for actually losing weight in CA thanks to a hotel gym and a serious art therapist dancing session, I wasn't in the mood for take out. So I turned to one of my favorite comfort food meals: a veggie adaptation of KFC's bowl o' favorites.

I remember when I first saw a commercial for this brilliant dish. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped in the same way that it did when I was 12 and my friends and I first opened a Tiger Beat magazine. Mashed potatoes with chicken, corn and cheese? Brilliant! Since then, I've made several veggie versions, all of which pretty much depend on the random ingredients we have in the pantry and freezer. Sometimes I add cheese on top, often I'll use breaded veggie chicken, and many times I actually serve this in a bowl. For tonight's recipe of sorts, as always, I just winged it:

Southern-Inspired Goodness

1 can of corn
1 block of frozen green beans
3 servings of flaked mashed potatoes (follow directions on box)
1 recipe of Bisquick Heart Smart biscuits
4 Morningstar Farms fake bacon strips
Morningstar Farms veggie chicken strips or nuggets

Prepare the corn, mashed potatoes, biscuits, fake bacon and veggie chicken as per individual directions. Defrost green beans (I prefer french cut for the thin texture) and prepare as desired. I added in some soy sauce, a light touch of honey, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Pile together in a bowl or on a plate. Enjoy!

Tonight's substitution: I realized halfway through making dinner that I was out of milk and I needed it for the mashed potatoes and biscuits. To sub, I used sour cream with a couple tablespoons of water. It worked and neither Doni nor I noticed the difference!