Archive | What’s For Dinner? RSS feed for this section

Easy Shepherd’s Pie

23 Feb

I got my first shepherd’s pie when my first son was born, and fell in love. It was the most incredibly easy recipe: cooked ground beef, a can of beef gravy and a can of mixed veggies topped with prepared instant mashed potatoes and baked for 20 minutes on 350.

My version is not that much different. The main deviation is that instead of using canned beef gravy (oh so bland), I discovered a British shepherd’s pie seasoning in the international aisle at Kroger. (I do NOT prepare this using the recipe on the back of the package.) I have no idea what’s in that stuff, but it is divine. Best of all, my entire family loves this meal that I can prepare ahead of time and just heat up at supper time.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 package Coleman’s Shepherd’s Pie seasoning
2 cups water
1 can of mixed veggies (you can also use frozen; use as little or as much as you prefer. Fresh veggies are okay too, but you’ll probably want to cook a little longer.)
1 package of instant mashed potatoes (I use regular size, but family size wouldn’t hurt.)
Paprika

Directions:
Fully cook the ground beef. (You can drain the fat, but personally I think the little bit of fat in lean ground meat ain’t gonna kill you as long as you’re not eating it every day. It adds to the flavor.)

Sprinkle seasoning mix and water over the ground beef, mix and bring to a simmer.

Place beef mixture in a casserole dish, adding mixed veggies and mixing thoroughly. (If using frozen veggies, rinse under warm water to thaw slightly.)

Prepare instant mashed potatoes as directed on the package. FYI, some require only water, others require milk and/or butter, so be prepared before you start making the meal!

Spread cooked mashed potatoes evenly over beef and veggies. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (longer if using fresh veggies).

Tags: ,

Creamy Tomato Soup

2 Feb

This recipe makes enough for two adults. I made it up based on several recipes I found online. I do not have precise measurements for the spices, as I just kind of threw it together, so what I have here is an approximation.

Ingredients:
3-4 tomatoes, chopped
½ cup chicken stock
3-4 whole cloves
¼ tsp chopped garlic
¼ tsp basil
¼ tsp oregano
1 tbs grated parmesan cheese
2 pats of butter
1 tbs flour
¼ cup heavy cream

Directions:
Heat chicken stock over medium heat, adding chopped tomatoes with seeds and skin, cloves, garlic, basil and oregano. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes.

Pick out the cloves with a fork, add parmesan cheese and puree mixture in a blender or food processor. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a fresh pan, adding the flour to make a base. Add the pureed mixture to the flour and butter. Stir in cream.

Serve hot with – what else – grilled cheese sandwiches!

Turkey Chili

25 Jan

This is an original Crock Pot creation of mine. I call it “chili” because it has ground meat and beans, but it really isn’t “chili” the way you might be expecting. It’s definitely not spicy, at least not the way I make it. I think it has more of a middle eastern flavor, due to the excessive amount of fresh parsley. You can make it without fresh parsely, but it’s really not the same. It looks really pretty when served fresh due to the colors of the tomato and parsley, and looks kind of drab as leftovers, but it tastes great either way!

Ingredients:
1 package ground turkey (1-1.5 lbs)
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can black beans
1 can white corn
1 prepackaged pico de gallo (you can chop up your own tomatoes, onions and cilantro if you want, but buying the grocery store pre-packaged kind saves a lot of time.)
1 bunch fresh parsley
salt to taste

Directions:
Fully cook ground turkey in a skillet. Mince it as fine as you can.

Remove stems from the parsley, finely chop the entire bunch.

Combine meat, beans, corn, parsley and pico de gallo in the Crock Pot. Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Salt to taste.

Tags: , , ,

Chicken Tikka Masala

18 Jan

This is an Indian dish that I discovered as a prepackaged McCormick recipe with premeasured spices and recipe card (http://www.mccormick.com/Products/Herbs-and-Spices/Recipe%20Inspirations/Chicken-Tikka-Masala.aspx). I have altered it slightly, but it is one of my absolute favorite dishes to cook, and my kids really like it.

Spices:
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tsp Garam Masala (McCormick makes it, as well as Penzy’s)
½ tsp Ground Cumin

Other Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tbs butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp lemon juice
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp cornstarch
½ tsp salt

 

Directions
Melt butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken, onion and lemon juice, stir and cook 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Add in spices and stir for about a minute. Stir in tomatoes.

In  a small bowl, stir cream into cornstarch and salt until well mixed. Gradually add mixture to chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer 5 minutes until slightly thickened.

Serve over rice. I prefer Rice Select’s Royal Blend® Texmati® White, Brown & Red Rice, which I buy at Kroger. http://www.riceselect.com/royal-blend.aspx

 

Tags: , ,

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bread Pudding

11 Jan

I saw this recipe for Chocolate French Toast on the Food Network show Ten Dollar Dinners and decided to try it out, but my pantry is simply NOT a Food Network Pantry. Like I routinely have heavy cream and semi-sweet morsels . . . as if! So I had to make do with what I had, and frankly, I thought my version turned out pretty good.  But if you want to try the original, it’s here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/chocolate-french-toast-pain-perdu-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:
¾ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/2 cup mixed milk chocolate and peanut butter chips
2 eggs
6 slices white bread
Whipped cream topping

Oblong baking dish, roughly 9×5

Directions:
Over low heat, bring the milk, sugar and butter to a simmer.

In a heat safe bowl, pour the mixture over the chips and let it sit for a few minutes to melt.

While the chips are melting, cut the crusts off your bread and cut in half in triangles. Arrange the bread in your baking dish in any way that looks pleasing to the eye.

Mix your milk and melted chips with a fork. Add your eggs and beat them into the mixture with the fork until thoroughly blended.

Pour the mixture over the bread, making sure the all of the bread is covered with the mixture.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before baking. (I’ve left mine in overnight, too.)

Remove 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand for a few minutes before serving topped with whipped cream.

Karen’s Tuna Casserole

4 Jan

This is my mom’s recipe. She made it up when she was a single gal living in D.C. in her early twenties. It has long been a family favorite, and it’s one of the first dishes I made when I moved out on my own because it is so easy. It can easily feed a family of four as long as you have modest appetites, and if you have leftovers it keeps and reheats well. Bonus: my kids usually like it. Ususally.

Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked medium pasta shells
2 small cans of chunk light tuna packed in water
1 can condensed cream of celery soup
White cooking wine
Wheat germ
Salt, pepper, whatever spices you like

Directions:
Boil 2 cups of uncooked medium pasta shells until well done. Drain and place in casserole dish. Add condensed cream of celery soup and flake the tuna out of the cans with a fork. Add a splash of cooking wine. Mix thoroughly. Sprinkle the top with wheat germ, and dash with salt, pepper or whatever spices you prefer. (You can also substitute panko for the wheat germ, and shredded cheese also works well as a topping.) Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until the top is crispy and the contents are a little bit bubbly. I usually serve this casserole with a side of wax beans.

Tags: , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

%d bloggers like this: