Recipe: Shepherd's Pie

Some of my fondest memories as a child, are in the warmth and comfort of my step-mom's kitchen. Being with my single-father for so many years, it was not lost on me how blessed I was to have a Momma that was such a wonderful cook. She could make anything and that anything always tasted or felt special, even if it was just sweet cornbread on Sunday mornings with honey and butter. After all the years of Dad's PB&J's, Campbell's soup, and crock-pot chickens, Momma's food was like heaven! As a teenager, I was blessed to be a student under her tutelage and some of my best meals are because of things I learned from her.

I was browsing through Recipezaar on Monday night after dinner and just happened to bump into this recipe, which brought up a load of memories of a meal my Momma cooked on a regular basis! Since I have this knack for cooking waaay too much of something, I decided I wanted to give this a try. A nice way to use up the 10 gazillion pounds of leftover mashed potatoes I'd made just that night. I've tweaked it some (per usual), but the end result was really, really wonderful! This is definitely one of those meals you can call comfort foods.

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 medium sweet onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can Italian style tomatoes
1 can green beans
2 to 3 cups cooked mashed potatoes

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Brown ground beef, drain fat, and pat dry with paper towels.
Salt and pepper to taste and mix.
Layer on the bottom of a loaf pan.
Brown onions and garlic in butter and olive oil, until golden and tender.
Layer on top of the ground beef.
Drain can of Italian style tomatoes VERY WELL and layer on top of onions.*
Drain can of green beans VERY WELL and layer on top of canned tomatoes.*
Layer mashed potatoes thickly on top of green beans.
Cook in oven for 30 minutes.
Broil on high for 2 minutes or until mashed potatoes are golden brown.

*It's important to drain the canned vegetables really well or the "pie" is runny. A mistake I will not make again. While this tasted wonderful, it was not pretty. Next time I know what to do.

This is one of those recipes that's fast and a good use of "pantry" items or leftovers. You could use corn, mixed frozen veggies, sauteed peppers, ground turkey, whatever you have on hand. N and I enjoyed this, but Monkey did not. Lately, he has this Thing for not liking his food being mixed up. (Shelia, I think just talking about your kids being like this, jinxed me. LOL!)

*kicking myself for not taking a picture of the meal, yet again*

Weekly Shopping Trip - 4/13/09

This week's shopping trip was MUCH more successful than last week's. Not that that took much. Ha! But the menu plan was fairly simple and I didn't have any high cost items that were really needed, so extra money was spent on some meat I found on sale. I am SOOO wishing we had a deep freeze so we can put some of this stuff away without filling our freezer too much. One of these days...

I also hit a different store that I don't frequent. It's on the same corner as Target, so it's not out of my way. Nature's Grocer/Vitamin Cottage. It's an all natural health food store. Honestly, I've been pretty impressed with them. I would venture to say that their selection of gluten-free items comes close to, if not rivals, Sprouts. And they're cheaper! A bag of my GF Tinkyada pasta is 50 cents cheaper and their Pamela's cookies are 80 cents cheaper. Also, I noticed they had a sale bin in the back where they had cookies and crackers close to expiring on sale for really, really ridiculous prices. That makes the trip worth it! So for those weeks where I REALLY need to be watching the pennies, they will probably win the bid for the week. Like I said, it's not out of my way. The drawback: Their produce selection is VERY limited and I don't see myself purchasing produce there. Sprouts just has everyone beat in that area. So, who knows...I might be frequenting them more often.

I don't necessarily enjoy hitting FOUR stores like I did this time, but all four stores are at three corners of ONE intersection, so I don't feel like I'm counteracting my savings with gas-money. It IS more time-intensive, but my goal is to stay under a certain amount every week. I don't think an additional 15 minutes a week to hit that goal is really much of a sacrifice. I'm comfy with it.





Target Total - $37.42
Ruffles 3.50
Hebrew National hotdogs 3.29
1 lb split peas 1.00
Malt-O-Meal Wheat Spooners 4.83
Frosted Flakes (on clearance) 2.08
Bananas .85
Small gala apples 2.89
Lean Cuisine 2.25
Apple juice 1.19
Generic orange juice 1.32
Dozen eggs 1.67
4 Generic yogurts 2.08
Wax paper 1.19
Generic paper towels 3.49
3 boxes lotion Kleenex 4.99

Natural Grocers Total - $5.98
Pamela's Mini Cookies 2.99
Tinkyada GF Penne Pasta 2.99

Tom Thumb Total - $10.31
Stouffer's Panini 2.50
Red Baron Pizza 3.00
2 Top Sirloin Steaks (on sale) 4.81

Sprouts Total - $16.15
.05 used bag credit
Rice Cheese 3.49
GF Waffles 2.49
2 lbs Ground beef 4.12
Bulk baby spinach .94
2 yellow onions .81
3 HUGE oranges 1.40
Red bell pepper .88
2 lbs grapes 2.07

Weekly Budget - $75.00
This Week's Total - $69.86
Difference - $5.14 under budget

I'm realizing as I'm typing this out, I might need another trip to the store, as I've forgotten I signed up for a breakfast item at a baby shower this coming weekend. Either way, it'll still be fairly inexpensive and I'll still be under budget. I'm still in decent shape for the month, despite what happened last week! Yay for good weeks!

If you get a second, visit Gayle over at her weekly GCC Shopping Round Up! I'm so wishing I lived close to her...I'd be attending that workshop she's hosting. Boo!

Menu Plan Monday - 4/13/09

I really tried to keep costs down this week since last week was such a bust. Although it might take a few weeks to get caught up on going over so bad. Eeks.

Monday - Grilled porkchops, mashed potatoes, grilled onions & 'shrooms (I'm writing this AFTER I've cooked dinner. Yum-o!)
Tuesday - Shepherd's pie
Wednesday - Grilled chicken salads
Thursday - Gluten-free Baked Ziti
Friday - Split Pea Soup
Saturday - Breakfast Tacos

Some of these I've never fixed before, so I'm not entirely sure if all of these will work. I keep a few frozen meals in the freezer for nights like this. I made a Cuban black bean soup last week that was a DISASTER. Probably my worst meal I've ever cooked. Boo! I'm so grateful I've got such a laid-back hubby...he's forgives me easily for bad meals. (And is still willing to let me use him as a guinea pig a few nights later. LOL!)

For more creative menus, visit Laura over at orgjunkie.com for this week's challenge.

Product Review: Pamela's Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies

I've had a few of Pamela's pre-baked gluten-free cookies and have never been impressed. But I read a review lately that said these little guys were pretty good. So I thought I'd give 'em a try.



So I got a bag today at Nature's Grocers. My verdict: TWO THUMBS UP! Seriously. These totally remind me of Chips Ahoy. From the store to home I probably ate 6 or 8 of them! I'm only like 3 miles from Nature's Grocers too, so that's a lot of cookies in a 6 minute drive. I've never been so happy to get stuck at that stupid light in the middle of a construction area. LOL! Tonight after dinner another 3 or 4. Ridiculous. I have no self-control with these suckers! They run about $2.99 a bag and I think they're worth the money. Almost too worth the money...these are a little on the dangerous side. Eeks.

Weekly Shopping Trip - 04/06/09

As mentioned in my previous post, this was a tough week. I won't re-regale you with the details, but suffice it to say, I got home and realized I didn't purchase two of my larger priced items and had to make another trip. Busting our budget and encouraging the rhino-virus migraine I was trying to thwart. Oh well...Holy Week is a time to celebrate right? :-S

As I'm typing this, I'm realizing I'll probably go even more over budget because I haven't yet been given my Easter Lunch assignment from the in-laws. Oh man. I hope this doesn't send us over the edge this month. :-(





Tom Thumb Total - 30.78

Hormel Cure 81 Ham - 7.18
Starbucks Coffee (with $2 off coupon) - 5.99
Generic Club Soda - 1.25
Generic Sprite - 2.50
Stouffer's Panini - 2.50
Ground Beef - 1.96
Pork chops - 5.32
2 lbs Green grapes - 1.79
Cucumbers - 1.98

Sprouts Total - $8.97
Rice Dream Ice Cream - 2.49
GF Waffles - 3.98
2 onions - .61
1 Red bell pepper - .89
3 Mangoes - 1.00

Target Total - $45.82
2 pks Extra Gum (with coupon) - 1.04
Tostitos - 3.00
Goldfish - 1.66
2 bags Dole lettuce - 3.98
10 lb bag russet bakers - 2.99
Mission corn tortillas - 2.29
2 pkg McCormick Enchilada sauce - 2.04
Box Cocoa Pebbles - 2.84
Box Frosted Flakes (with coupon) - 1.50
Can Dole Pineapple - 1.25
2 cans pink salmon - 4.38
2 lbs strawberries - 3.98
Bananas - 1.10
Gala apples - 2.40
Apple juice - 2.38
1 gallon milk - 1.99
1 dz eggs - .99
2 cartons yogurt - 1.10
Colgate toothpaste (with coupon) - 2.49
Nexcare bandaid tattoos - 2.00
2 jars Barilla sauce (with coupon) - 2.78
$5 off coupon for entire order over $50.00 (yippy!!!)


Weekly Budget - $75
This Week's Total - $85.57
Difference - $10.57 over budget

To see more shopping trip details, visit Gayle at her weekly Grocery Shopping Roundup. Is it tacky of me to feel relieved that she too has her off weeks???

Menu Plan SUNday - 04/06/09

This week's already gone awry before it's started. LOL! Sweet MIL is out of town tomorrow, so Monkey is going to school tomorrow instead of Gramma's. The sticky part here is N always picks up Monkey on Gramma Day, so I have the few hours immediately after work to do the weekly grocery shopping. Not so this week. Momma and school's on duty, which means I had to scramble today to get the menu plan and grocery list squared away. With a sick baby, sick husband, preggo (Adderal-less) brain, tight schedule, and what I think might be my OWN cold, the menu plan and shopping trip left a lot to be desired.

It started off with making the mistake of taking Monkey WITH me so N could rest. Wow. Big mistake. I see now why Gayle recommends NOT shopping with the kids. First he knocked two bottles of glass items off the shelves and made a disaster in the aisle. Which started a major cry fest for the whole store to hear - the crashing scared him. Then when I went to pay, I realized I didn't have my wallet. So a quick call to N to come bring me my wallet and to please fetch his son, solved the issue. But at some point in this, I lost my gumption and said "screw the list". Oy. I'm gonna pay for this.

I read a quote last week talking about pregnancy brain being compared to feeling like a koala bear that is slightly stoned all the time. OMG, I can sooo relate to that. I think that describes me perfectly lately. Except my munchy cravings don't include bamboo leaves, but peanut butter cookies and chocolate covered raisins.

Anyhoo, with lots of grace and patience with myself, the end of today is drawing near. Tomorrow is a new start. Onwards to the menu plan...

Monday: Cuban Black Bean Soup with Mango Pineapple salsa (new recipe I'm trying out)
Tuesday: Huevos Rancheros
Wednesday: Salmon Patties on fresh greens (encore from last week's hit!)
Thursday: Fried pork chops/black beans over polenta
Friday: Home made pizza
Weekend: leftovers

For more fun menu plans, visit Laura over at www.orgjunkie.com! I'll be sharing my Weekly Grocery Trip details in my next post.

Recipe: Salmon Patties

Have you ever tried a new recipe and just been totally surprised with how easy and good it was? This is one of those recipes! N and I just finished dinner and I just had to get online to share the recipe. Tonight's dinner was AMAZING! I'm just kicking myself for not taking a picture of it before we dug in! Boo!

I had a can of salmon in the pantry. Not sure why. We don't eat canned salmon. But it wasn't expired, so I tried to find a way to utilize it in this week's meal plan. I found this Salmon Patty recipe online and it looked easy, had strong reviews, so I decided to give it a shot! I tweaked it a smidge, of course, because I never stick with a recipe verbatim.

Salmon Patties

Ingredients
1 can salmon
2 eggs
3 T finely sliced green onions
1/4 to 1/2 cup buttery crackers, crushed (I used gluten-free Glutino pretzels)
parsley flakes (I did not use this)
red pepper flakes (to taste)
salt & pepper (to taste)
large pinch of dill

Directions
1. Drain salmon well, and remove skin & bones. (Or keep the bones in for more calcium. They soften during cooking and you can't tell they're there.)
2. Place into medium mixing bowl & mash up with fork.
3. Add all other ingredients & mix together (mixture should be stiff enough to form patties, but not too dry).
4. Form into patties & place in a medium-heated skillet, with approximately 2 T of oil. (I divided the mixture into 4 parts and made 4 patties.)
5. Cook until golden brown on both sides.

We served this over fresh wild greens with a few cucumber and tomato slices, tossed in a homemade red wine vinaigrette. I think next time we'll use a lemon juice based vinaigrette instead of red wine. I think the lemony tartness will complement the salmon better.

We also drizzled the salmon patties with a sweet and spicy dressing:

2 T of Miracle Whip with a few big splashes of Tabasco, a large splash of rice milk (to thin it to the right consistency) and a pinch of dill.

I'm not sure what a can of salmon costs, but both N and I said this is DEFINITELY coming back on the menu plan. We loved it! The patty stood on it's own, but the sweet and spicy dressing really made it pop.

For more yummy recipes, visit The Grocery Cart Challenge's weekly recipe swap.