More Colorful Shepard's Pie

Usually Shepard's pie comes with mashed potatoes, I made it with others to make it more colorful and more healthy!

More Colorful Shepard's Pie
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1 Ib ground beef
onion
frozen peas
carrots (steamed until soft)
frozen corn
acorn squash
1 small or 1/2 large sweet potato
 3/4 beef broth
1 stout or porter beer
garlic

Dice onion, put a little olive oil in a saute pan with the beer, broth and garlic. Simmer on med-high heat while cooking the squash and sweet potato.  Poke a few knife holes in the sweet potato and cut the squash in half, remove the seeds.  Place the squash cut side down into a glass pan with 1/2 inch of water.  Cook both the squash and the sweet potato in the mic for about 10 minutes until both are soft.  Peel the skin off the potato and scrap the meat of the squash out.  Place them both in a bowl.  Mix with a mixer until blended and a "mashed potato" consistency, put in some salt and pepper.

Once the liquid in your pan is thickened add the ground beef and brown it.  Add the peas, carrots, corn.  Put the mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Top with the potato/squash mixture.  Bake on 400 until warm.  Eat with some yummy bread!!

Orange Pineapple Sunshine Cake

I found this recipe in a cookbook that my mom made for me so I am pretty sure it is not an original but when I asked her if it is good she said, "I have never made that cake before".  So, I decided to whip it up and take it to the lake to share, especially since it only calls for apple sauce and has no real "fat".


Orange Pineapple Sunshine Cake
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Cake

• 1 box  yellow cake mix
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 4 eggs
• 1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges in light syrup

Frosting

• One 8 oz container light whipped topping, thawed
• 1 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 can (15.5 or 20 oz) crushed pineapple in juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9 x 13 cake pan with nonstick spray.
2. Mix all the cake ingredients in a large bowl until moist. Beat on medium for 2 minutes until combined.
3. Pour batter into pan and bake 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
4. Cool completely.
5. For the frosting, simply mix together all ingredients in a large bowl and spread over cake.
6. Store in the fridge.

Beets from the Garden Salad

I really love beets, I know......that's not really normal but I make them really yummy and now I think my husband likes them too....especially when the beets and the carrots are from our garden :)

Beets from the Garden Salad
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Beets sliced or diced
Carrots sliced
kale
feta
avocado
s/p
lime juice

Put the sliced beets and carrots in a glass bowl with a splash of water and plastic wrap tight over the top.  Microwave for a few minutes until they are tender, add the kale and mic one for minute.  Let the veggies cool while you dice up the avocado.  Mix it all together with some feta cheese some s/p and a splash or two of lime juice.

yummy and healthy!!

Shrimp Tomato Pan Sauce Pasta

I made this for dinner tonight because it is easy and fast.  It is altered from a recipe i saw in a magazine.  Its yummy!

Shrimp Tomato Pan Sauce Pasta
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linguine or spaghetti pasta
Olive Oil
Garlic-chopped
1/2 an Onion- diced
a pinch of red pepper flakes
red and yellow pepper-1/2 of each diced
cherry tomato (one plastic container you get at the store, cut them in 1/4ths)
feta cheese
shrimp
basil and sage (fresh if you can)

Bring water to a boil and cook pasta as instructed (reserve water).  In the meantime, use about a Tbs of olive oil in the bottom of a saute pan.  Saute the garlic, pepper flakes, onion, tomato and peppers for about 5 min until the tomato are soft.  Add the shrimp and cook until just pink.  Throw in the basil and sage for taste.  Add the cooked pasta to the saute pan with 1/3 cup of the pasta water.  Turn the burner off and add feta cheese to taste (you might want a little or a lot).  Add some salt and pepper and toss it all together......eat!!

Baked Ziti Casserole

This is my go-to meal when I want to make food for a friend or their family when they are feeling under the weather, just had a baby ect.  Its fast, simple, filling and makes great leftovers!!

Baked Ziti Casserole
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1 box or bag of pasta (penne, spirals, macaroni or even tortellini)
1 jar or can of spagetti sauce
1/2 to 1 Ib ground beef or Italian sausage or a combo
1 small container of ricotta cheese
1 bag of shredded motz cheese (reserve 1/2 cup)
onion-diced
garlic
pepper
red pepper flakes-optional
*(you can add whatever you want to this dish.  You could add mushrooms, red or green peppers or some zucchini and squash, just cook it up with the meat or leave the meat out and make it vegetarian)

Boil the pasta as recommended on the package.  In the mean time brown the meat with diced onion. Add garlic, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.  Place the browned meat, the spag sauce, and both cheeses in a large mixing bowl.  When the pasta is done drain and mix it in.  Pour into a casserole dish (or a disposable 9x13 if giving it away).  Top with remaining motz cheese. You can now refrigerate or freeze it and keep for later or bake it now.  Bake time will be based on if it is warm, cold or frozen.  Bake at 350 uncovered until hot in the middle.

Grilled Zucchini

Looking for a summer or fall veggie to make on the grill.  Here is the ticket.  Learned to slice them the long way from my friend Mere.  Yummy and easy.

Grilled Zucchini
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zucchini
olive oil
garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
any other spices you might want

Slice the zucchini the long way about 1/2 inch thick.  Place on a cookie sheet, rub with olive oil and season as desired.  Flip them over and repeat.  Place them directly on the grill and grill over med-high heat a few minutes on each side until they are crisp-tender and have grill marks on them.  Pull off the grill and eat!!

Jake's Grilled Fajita Wraps

When I came home from work the other night Jake had "whipped up" this yummy dinner.  He made extra to share with his brothers at the lake the next night.

Jake's Grilled Fajita Wraps
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steak (could use chicken)
onion
red and green Peppers
1 fajita seasoning packet
shredded mexican blend cheese
laughing cow cheese wedges- chipotle flavor
large size burritos tortillas
olive oil

Put half of the dry fajita seasoning on the steak and grill it until desired "pinkness".  Slice onion and peppers, season with the other half of the seasoning.  Either use a BBQ specific grill pan to grill the onion and pepper or saute in a pan until crisp tender.  Slice steak.  Steam or mic the tortillas until they are a little moist so they are a bit sticky.  Spread the soft cheese on the tortilla.  Place the other cheese, steak slices and veggies inside the tortilla too.  Roll it up closing the ends and place a small amount of olive oil on the outside.  Place and rotate on the grill until crisp.