Easy Shepherd's Pie

Here is the recipe for the easiest Shepherd's Pie ever!  We love this dish around here, and I love recipes that are quick, easy, and inexpensive.

Ingredients:

4lb Potatoes, cubed (try to pick a variety that doesn't turn floury or mushy in water)

1/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Milk

Dash Pepper 

1lb Lean Ground Beef (1.5lb if using regular)

1 Medium Onion, finely diced or 1 Cup frozen diced

1 - 1.5 Cups Frozen Mixed Vegetables

1 Tsp Beef Bouillon Powder

1 Cup Boiling Water

Paprika

Grated Cheese

Step 1

Bring potatoes to a boil in enough water to cover completely.  Watch closely as the pot can easily boil over once the starch leaches out of the potatoes.

Step 2

Drain and mash potatoes with butter and milk.  Add pepper to desired taste.  Do not over mash unless you like glue. A few chunky bits is better than wallpaper paste ;)

Step 3

Brown ground beef in large skillet until no longer pink and drain the fat.

Step 4

Add onion and vegetables to skillet.  Warm until no longer frozen.

Step 5

Add the beef bouillon to the cup of boiling water and stir until dissolved. Then add water mixture to beef mixture. Cook until liquid is reduced to a thick gravy.

Step 6

Place beef mixture into bottom of a regular casserole dish and top with mashed potato. Sprinkle with paprika and place in 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.  After time is up, sprinkle with grated cheese and return to oven for 5 more minutes (long enough for cheese to melt).

Finally:

Oh and in the interest of complete disclosure, I had to borrow the last two images as we got so carried away when we dished up that I forgot to take pictures.  These look very close to the actual deal we demolished here. That is how popular this menu item is in our house!

Enjoy!

The Laziest Pizza Recipe Ever!

   

I love recipes that are quick, cheap, and versatile.  If I can make it sneaky healthy, all the better!  So without further ado, here is one of our staple, go to, speed meals we call the laziest pizza recipe ever!  I'm sure a lot of you already pull together your own versions of this from time to time, but it never hurts to be reminded of a good thing.

Ingredients:

Crust - We like whole wheat pitas or garlic naan bread best, but you can also do smaller versions with bagels or english muffins.  It's all good, really!

Sauce - We used squeezed ready made sauce today but you can substitute with homemade marinara if you have some handy in the fridge or freezer.  If you want to really health it up go ahead and add some pureed veggies to the sauce, it just adds flavor and no one has to know ;)  Making your own sauce is also a good way to track the sodium intake.  So anytime you are making your own pasta sauce, freeze a little extra for speedy meals like this.

Toppings - Anything your little ol heart desires!  One of the great things about this meal is that you can customize for each person you serve.  My kids are in the picky phase (or should I say one is and one is pretending he is), so they go basic with sauce, cheese, and occasionally meat.  Okay don't go crazy on me, I know wieners are not to be classed as real meat.  We were in a hurry and they were there, so animal leftover bits and nitrites it is.  I'm not thrilled about it but whatever, food in, grumpy out. ;)  

The best is roasted chicken in my opinion (off your roasted bird, not the preservative laden stuff at the store if possible because it tastes so much better fresh cooked!).  Again when you roast a bird or bake a ham, throw some extra in a baggy for stuff like this! Myself I like it all, especially black olives which I didn't have today *sniff*.  You will notice that the can of mushrooms in my picture is low sodium, don't be fooled.  Even low sodium canned goods are packed with the stuff, so give it a rinse first and wash away that salty nastiness LOL!

Cheese - You can use so many different kinds of cheese, but we love something with some stretch to it.  Shredded cheese like we used today is faster, but buying block cheese is much cheaper and stays fresher longer.

Step 1

Slice up your meat or meat by-product of choice. LOL

Step 2

Slather on that sauce!  Don't be shy, slap that stuff on, leave nothing exposed.

Step 3

Get those toppings on!  Yes it's true my pizzas are in pie pans because most of my cookie sheets were in the dishwasher, don't judge me LOL!

Step 4

Cheese of course!  You can go as heavy or as lightly as you wish, it's all good.  As you can tell we looove our cheese ;)

Step 5

Into the oven it goes!  15 min at 350 then broil for 3 min on low.  You can also do these in a counter top toaster oven or convection oven but keep a close eye because they cook much faster.  Closer to the element means easier to burn!

Voila pizza is ready!  Mine is a little crispier than usual after it sat for an extra few minutes while I sorted a boy  on boy dispute!

I hope you enjoy this little goodie as much as we do.  As a side note, we sometimes make lunch part of a theme day involving the kids in the cooking process.  These pizzas are excellent for younger cooks and pretty much no fail.  My kids aren't old enough for the oven, so I do that part but otherwise the creating is a lot of fun!  Here are a few things we would include if we made this a theme meal:

A game is always a good way to learn, so our choice for this would probably be Fractions Supreme by Discovery Toys.  My son isn't a huge fan of math, but somehow if it's game related it's all good.  I like that the pizza fractions are true to life pictures allowing the kids to mingle math with real world experiences.  Warning if you don't eat first, this game induces hunger!

As always a good story nourishes the mind.  One we like is Dragon's Don't Cook Pizza which is part of a series called The Adventures Of  The Bailey School Kids.  We borrowed it from the library once, but when I went to see if I could get it from Amazon it appears it's all sold out at this time.  It was carried by Scholastic originally, so if your kiddies are in public school or if your homeschool board has access to Scholastic book sales you might be able to grab it there if it's still available.  I am always one step too late LOL!

Finally, making pizza pictures is fun!  String makes awesome cheese if cut into tiny strips and you can totally play with buttons and other baubles for toppings.  Toss it up a bit and make alien pizzas with green sauce for something different! Give it a few googlie eyes or other funny trinkets and tada a pizza only a Martian could love.  Imagination rules!