Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the croutons in a large bowl, pour in 2-3 cups of chicken stock. You'll want it quite wet.
In a large frying pan, fry the bacon until crisp, remove and set aside (to be crumbled when cool and put with the croutons.)
Sauté the onion and the mushrooms until soft, remove and place in the bowl with the croutons.
Add the meat to the pan and spices and cook until browned.
Add the meat mixture to the croutons.
At this point I may add more stock. I prefer a moist stuffing and use 3-4 cups of stock by the end. I also like one last sprinkle of salt and pepper and ground sage.
Mix all up and pack into a deep casserole dish.
Foil / place cover on baking dish, bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 min or so, to brown the top.