Shepards Pie

Totally took this from Alton Brown but OMG it is delicious. Fresh herbs are a MUST. 

Ingredients
For the potatoes:
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
1/4 cup half-and-half
2 ounces unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg yolk
For the meat filling:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled and diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb or beef
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup fresh or frozen English peas
Directions
Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Place the half-and-half and butter into a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave until warmed through, about 35 seconds. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes and then add the half and half, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth. Stir in the yolk until well combined.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the lamb, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.

Add the corn and peas to the lamb mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008

Rigatoni Bake

This was really good!
I used spaghetti sauce in place of the tomato sauce, for added flavor. I also added garlic salt and italian seasonings to the white sauce.
I also cut the recipe in half (didn't wanna make one to freeze since it was my 1st time making it and didn't know if we'd like it) ☺
Here's the link.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package rigatoni or large tube pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and salt until smooth; gradually add milk and water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
2. Drain pasta; place in a large bowl. Add eggs. Spoon into two greased 8-in. square baking dishes. Top each with one can of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Spoon white sauce over top; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
3. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Bake second casserole, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.

Footnotes

• To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Cover and bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 7-10 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.

Cheesy Potato & Corn Chowder

This was really good and easy to make! (the girls didn't care for it, but whatever, they never like anything!) ☺

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth (or vegetable broth if u really wanna make it vegetarian)
• 3 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
• 1 (2.5 ounce) package country style gravy mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup shredded Mexican-style processed cheese food (IDK what this even means! LOL, I just used shredded Pepper Jack Cheese and it was yummy!)

Directions

1. In large saucepan, melt margarine over medium high heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in corn and chiles; return to boiling. Dissolve gravy mix in milk; stir into boiling mixture. Add cheese; cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

Here's the link to the recipe as well. Enjoy!

Ratatouille Polenta Bake

This is what we are having for dinner tonight. I'm excited to try it. :)

Ingredients

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1/2 cup)

1 medium bell pepper, coarsely chopped (1 cup)

1 small unpeeled eggplant, (1 pound), diced (2 cups)

1 medium zucchini, diced (1 cup)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 tube (16 ounces) refrigerated plain polenta (or any flavor) - I'm making my own.

2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Step 1 - Heat oven to 375ºF. Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook onion and bell pepper in skillet 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in eggplant, zucchini, salt and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes, breaking up with spoon; reduce heat to low. Cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 2 - Spray rectangular baking dish, 11x7x1 1/2 inches, with cooking spray. Cut polenta into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange slices on bottom of dish, overlapping and cutting to fit where necessary. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Spoon vegetable mixture evenly over top.

Step 3 - Cover and bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and parsley. Bake uncovered about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Cheese Enchiladas Verde

So we have decided to stop eating meat at night for the most part. Only because we generally eat really late and it's not very good for the body to try and digest meat when you are sleeping. Does this mean we are NEVER eating meat at night? No, of course not. Occasionally we will and in all reality we will still eat it on the weekends as we USUALLY eat earlier in the day and I have time to prepare. During the week it's sometimes like running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Yes I do prepare, no it's not always the greatest preparation, and sometimes I am just exhausted and meat takes much longer to prepare anyways so ha!

With all of that being said here is the recipe we tried last night. For the most part we really liked it. Sam and I did. The girls somewhat picked at the salsa, I don't know why they usually like it. Maybe because Jadyn wasn't feeling well and was being grouchy and Jakayla was... I dunno being a weirdy LOL!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend (6 ounces)

1 small zucchini, shredded (3/4 cup)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

8 soft corn tortillas (5 or 6 inch)

1/3 cup soft cream cheese with roasted garlic

1 jar (16 ounces) green salsa (salsa verde) (2 cups)

1 medium avocado, diced

4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

Directions

Step 1 - Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray rectangular baking dish, 11x7x1 1/2 inches, with cooking spray. Mix shredded cheese, zucchini and cilantro.

Step 2 - Spread each tortilla with about 2 teaspoons cream cheese. Spoon about 1/3 cup shredded cheese mixture onto each tortilla; spread to within 1 inch of edge. Roll up tortillas; place seam sides down in baking dish. Pour salsa over tortillas.

Step 3 - Cover and bake about 25 minutes or until hot. Top with avocado and onions.

SPAGHETTI AGLIO, OLIO, E PEPERONCINO

I came across this recipe on pinterest and decided to try it. SOOOO glad I did, it was AWESOME. I made a single serving, so I will give you exactly how I made it and the link to the original recipe as well.

2oz uncooked whole wheat thin spaghetti (I'm watching my protions, so I used a scale and actually measured)

1/4-1/2 teaspoon roasted garlic - use as much garlic as you like

1/2 - 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil - make it as oily as you like

2-3 shakes of red pepper flakes - make it as hot as you like

2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese (I only had the Kraft style, so it was a couple of shakes from the shaker, I can't wait to try it with real freshly grated Parmesan cheese) 

salt and pepper to taste (I used neither)

Cook spaghetti to al dente - don't over cook the pasta, that would not be good for this dish

Drain and put back in pan, turn heat on low

Add garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes, stir and cook just until all is heated together.

Turn into a bowl, add cheese, salt and pepper, stir together

NOTE: Parmesan cheese was not part of the original recipe, so to save on calories, you could leave this out. I'm glad I added a little :)

ENJOY!!

Full Recipe Here

Black Bean Burgers

I'm just adding the link to the recipe I like.

Black Bean Burgers