Do you know what the first picture below is?
Bacon.
Do you know what the second picture is?
Cream cheese melting in hot bacon fat.
Would you believe me if I told you that the recipe for which I prepared these ingredients is from Cooking Light? Well, it is.
Last week I read an article online featuring Cooking Light’s “25 Best Budget Recipes,” and Bacon Pierogi Bake was one of them. This dish can be made for a mere $1.47 per serving, according to the site! Frozen pierogies are an item I have been wanting to try as well, so I decided to give this recipe a go. It was not until I actually began cooking that I realized how sinful some of the steps seemed – like cooking cream cheese in bacon fat!
But everything is in moderation (i.e., only two slices of bacon, and only three ounces of reduced-fat cream cheese), kids, and that’s what keeps the dish relatively low calorie and healthy.
To the oh-so-sinful bacon fat & cream cheese mixture, I added chicken broth, and whisked to create a creamy sauce. This sauce was then poured atop the frozen potato and onion pierogies (I used Mrs. T’s brand), followed by a layer of shredded cheese. Into the oven the pierogies went, for about 20 minutes. Here they are before being baked:
After removing from the oven, I topped the pierogies with the reserved, cooked bacon crumbles, scallions, tomato, and fresh black pepper. Plus my current favorite veggie: roasted Brussels sprouts on the side!
This dish was a winner! I would have actually preferred fewer, or no, scallions and tomatoes on top, though. I will definitely be buying more frozen pierogies in the future.
- Bacon & Pierogi Bake recipe from Cooking Light.
- My rating: 8.1/10
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Travel
I have been doing lots of travel research lately. We’ve received some fun dining ideas for next month’s brief Chicago getaway from friends and readers, so thanks!
Currently I am seriously researching flights for a possible international vacation this autumn. We shall see what happens, but I’ll keep you posted. I love planning trips but I tend to stress myself out immensely because, well, one could argue that I over-plan every.single.detail, and am never satisfied settling on an activity/destination/flight/restaurant until EVERY OPTION is considered and explored. It’s good and bad I guess! I really have not done a lot of international travel, so this is relatively new territory for me. The only other countries I have been to are:
- Canada – ballin’!
- Jamaica (x2)
- Cayman Islands <-hottest day of my LIFE!
- Belize
(I have like 8,903,209 pictures from these trips. Would those make interesting blog posts or does that make you feel like the Honey Badger [i.e., don’t care]?).
Speaking of planning and decision-making, I will leave you with a recent, favorite Pinterest find!:
I think I need to do this more.
Meg Goes Nom Nom 
I finally tried bacon!!! I put it in a salad to start. I’ve gotta say I didn’t instantly fall in love but enjoyed how it adds a smoky flavour. I think I may grow to enjoy it more so I’m gonna try it in a few other things…Your dish looks great btw! Even better is knowing that it’s pretty darn healthy too
Oh gosh! Ever?? True story: I didn’t really like bacon as a kid but I adore it as an adult. I think a lot has to do with how it’s prepared. I’ve eaten some not-so-pleasant over- and under-cooked bacon that’s subpar. But good luck experimenting! (I may or may not have an entire blog category devoted to this food – doh!).