Shepherd's Pie

I love shepherd's pie! I didn't really grow up eating it, but my husband did, so I set out to find a good recipe when we started dating. I try to avoid cream-of-whatever soups, but it really does make the recipe. If you make this up and bake it all at once, it is a bit time consuming. I prefer to make it the night before and just bake it when I get home. This makes a great post-baby delivery or potluck contribution.

Adding a good quantity of onion and mushroom to the meat layer really adds some bulk to the meat layer, without adding calories. You don't even really taste the mushrooms. Finely chopped, they blend in texture wise and take on the flavour of the meat.

Ingredients:

Meat layer:

• 1lb of ground meat (I used lamb this time and it was AMAZING! But beef or turkey would do)


• 1 medium onion, chopped


• 1 tbsp crushed garlic


• 1lb of mushrooms, chopped


• 1 can of low-fat cream of mushroom soup


• 1/3 c. ketchup (I used the Heinz spicey for a little extra kick!)


• 1 tsp thyme


• s&p

Veg Layer:

• I used fresh carrots (steamed) and canned peas, but you can use what ever fresh or frozen veg mix you like

Potato Layer:

• Potatoes


• Milk


• Butter (or low fat sour cream or greek yogurt)


• s&p


• Low fat shredded cheddar


• Paprika

Directions:

1. Spray a large, deep rectangular baking dish. Preheat over at 350 F.


2. Put potatoes on to boil while you do step 3.


3. In a skillet, soften the chopped onion and mushrooms. Add ground meat and brown. Once the meat is cooked, stir in the remaining ingredients for the meat layer. Spread evenly in the bottom of the pan.


4. Layer mixed vegetables.


5. By now, the potatoes are done cooking. Mash them and add whatever ingredients you add to your very best mashed pots. I like to add a little bit of extra liquid, so the baking doesn't dry them out. Spread the potatoes over the veg mixture.


6. Top with a little grated cheese and sprinkle with paprika.


7. Bake at 350 F for 30 mins. Let is sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. I can never wait that long, so it just ends up looking a mess on my plate!

Mango-Mustard Glazed Tilapia

Photo from Kraft.com

When I got home last night, I decided it would be a good idea to make not only the tilapia on the menu, but supper for tonight, at the same time. This resulted in a ravenous Sarah when dinner was served, who totally forgot to take a photo. My fish looked pretty much the same as the kraft version, maybe just a little saucy-er (I love sauce!) I served it over wild rice with a side of roasted broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and onion.

The best part about it was that it was QUICK and so, so easy.

Ingredients:

• 5 Tilapia fillets


• 1/4 c. mango chutney


• 2 tbsp grainy mustard (Gray Poupon or other spicey mustard)


• s&p

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. If you roasting veggies, they take about 20-25 minutes. The fish will only take 12. So, put the veggies in as soon as the oven is heated.


2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it.


3. Mix the mango chutney and mustard.


4. Place the tilapia on the baking sheet and smear a spoonful of the mustard-chutney on the tilapia.


5. Bake for 12 minutes. Sprinkle with a little green onion or cilantro and serve!
   

The Bare-Cupboards Menu Planning Challenge

We just got home for a 4-day weekend visiting family and the cupboards (along with our pocket books) are fairly bare. I decided to challenge myself to avoid groceries until Thursday, when we get our kitchen box and I can make a better plan.

So, here is the mini-meal plan for the week!

Tuesday: Mustard-mango glazed tilapia, wild rice, roasted broccoli
Wednesday: Shepherd's pie, made with locally raised grass-fed organic ground lamb
Thursday: Honey-soy glazed pork tenderloin, wild rice and a veggie of some kind

The tilapia and the pork are new recipes. Look out for a post if they are as good as the sound!

Heeey good lookin', whatcha got cookin'?

I am often asked what a week of healthy eating looks like in our house, so I thought I would start posting our weekly meal plan, along with a list of the contents of our Kitchen Box from Real Food Connections.

APRIL 1-7

Sunday: Brown sugar and balsamic pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes and broccoli
Monday: Grilled BBQ Chicken Salad Sandwich, tomato vegetable soup
Tuesday: Chicken quesadillas, roasted broccoli
Wednesday: Curried lamb burgers topped with goat cheese, red pepper, red onion and buckwheat shoots and raosted broccoli
Thuesday: Leftovers

And then we are off visiting family for Easter!

Can you tell we got a giant bag of broccoli at Costco this week?!

Real Food Connections Kitchen Box

Whole wheat bread, eggs, milk, raw milk dill and havarti
Potatoes prepped for roasting (washed cut, tossed in sunflower oil and herbs)
Buckwheat shoots, mushrooms, sprouted beans, onions, garlic, fresh italian herb mix

Grillled BBQ Chicken Salad Sandwich

I have messed around with this photo (taken cellphone style) for the last 20 minutes and I can't get it to post properly, so here it is, in all its' sideways glory. The sandwich was to ooeygooey delicious not to photograph!

The Cuisinart Griddler has changed our lives. We have a new weekly tradition of having soup and a grilled sandwich once a week, because the Griddler rocks so hard. My husband loves soup and sandwich night more than anything and I have made it my personal vendetta to never serve the same combo.

I bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco on the weekend for quesadillas and the sandwiches, so this was seriously EASY. The bread comes in our kitchen box from Real Food Connections and it is The. Best. I usually try to incorporate other things from the kitchen box into both the soup and sammy. This week, the peashoot greens were especially good on the sandwich!

Makes: 4 sandwiches or wraps.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a rotisserie chicken, chopped


• 3 stalks of celery, minced


• 1 red pepper, minced


• 1/2 small red onion, minced


• 1/4 c. light or fat free mayo


• 1/4 c. BBQ sauce


• S&P


• 4 slices of cheddar


• Bread or wraps


• Shredded lettuce (I used pea shoots from our kitchen box!)

Directions:

1. Chop chicken and mince veggies. Combine with BBQ sauce, mayo and s&p.


2. Divide chicken into 4 and put on a sandwich or wrap with a slice of cheddar.


3. Grill sandwich or wrap until the outside is crispy and the cheese is melty.


4. Remove from grill and add greens. I had slimy wilted greens, so I add them after cooking.


5. Enjoy :)
   

*I was going to post the recipe for the soup, but I didn't measure a single thing when I made it! Ooops.

Pork Tenderloin with a Balsamic Brown Sugar Glaze

I have a tonne of recipes posted to my Pinterest boards. I think around 100 between the "Recipes" and "Food Porn" additions. I have vowed to start cooking at least of these recipes a week. Otherwise, I fear pinterest will turn into a "stuff I like but am too lazy to ever do" compilation.

It's Sunday, so thought I would make something a bit special. But, it turns out this is easy enough for a week night! I served it with roasted potatoes and broccoli. The glaze was
yummy on both.

Inspired by: www.candcmarriagefactory.com/2011/01/brown-sugar-and-balsamic-glazed-pork.html

Ingredients:

• Pork tenderloin
• Prosciutto (around 6 slices)
• Rub: salt, pepper, sage, garlic
• Water

Glaze

• 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp corn starch

Directions:

1. Rub the tenderloin with the, you guessed it, RUB.
2. Wrap in prosciutto. The prosciutto is optional and was something I added from the original recipe, but totally worth it!
3. Put a little water in the crockpot and cook the tenderloin on low for 6-8 hours.
4. About an hour before the tenderloin is done, make the glaze. Mix up the glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
5. Glaze the tenderloin a few times through the last hour of cooking.
6. Slice the tenderloin and drizzle with remaining glaze. (Save a little for your sides, it is delish!!)

Sundried Tomato Tilapia in a Bag

Photo (and inspiration) from redlobster.com

Ingredients:

• 4 large or 8 small Tilapia filets
• 8 c. spinach
• 1 medium red onion, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• S&P
• 4 tbsp italian salad dressing
• 1/2 c. sundried tomatoes
• 8 pieces of parchment paper

Directions:

1. Spray 4 pieces of parchment paper. Layer 2 c. spinach, 1/4 of the onion and 1/4 of the red pepper on each piece of paper. Place tilapia on top and season with s&p and 1 tbsp italian dressing. Top with sundried tomato.
2. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of each piece of tilapia and seal the packet.
3. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 F for 15-20 mins.

Comments:

I don't know how many times I can say that recipes are amazing, but I guess I wouldn't post them if they sucked, would I? This was fast, delicious and fresh. I served it with a side of wild rice and some broccoli, but there are enough vegetables included for a serving. I think you could make it on the grill too. This will be a regular in the rotation!