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!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Source: Skinnytaste.com, with a few modifications
Serves: 6 large servings, 8 smaller servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1.5 c. chicken broth
• 1.5 c. skim milk
• 1.5 c. frozen peas
• 1 pkg baby bella mushrooms, chopped
• 2 can of tuna, packed in water, drained
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• salt & lots of black pepper
• 1.5 c. shredded old cheddar (the older and sharper the better!)
• 4 c. whole wheat yolkless egg noodles
• Toppings: 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese, paprika, bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Boil the egg noodles until around 2 mins from done.
2. In a dutch oven or large sauce pan, melt butter and cook onion until softened.
3. Add the flour and coat onions, stiring continuously for about 1 min.
4. Add the chicken broth and whisk in. Add the milk. Boil for 3 mins.
5. Add the peas and mushrooms. Simmer for 7 mins until sauce starts to thicken slightly.
6. Add the tuna, salt and pepper and dry mustard. Cook for 1 min, to heat tuna.
7. Sprinkle in the shredded cheese 1/4 c. at a time, stirring continuously to melt cheese into the sauce.
8. Stir in the egg noodles.
9. Pour into a greased rectangular baking dish, like a lasagna pan. Top with parmesan cheese, paprika and bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 20-30 mins.

Comments:

I served this with a side of asparagus, sauteed in evoo, s&p and garlic. We really enjoyed it as a nice, comfortable meal. It didn't have crazy ground-breaking flavors or anything, but it was a light version of an old favorite. Definitely beat boxed tuna helper!

Best Ever Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

CHEESY CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE
Source: Me!
Servings: 8 (or 6 big ones :)

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 c. brown rice, cooked (or whatever 1 c. uncooked makes)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 large carrots, diced
• 4 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 can of mushrooms, drained (or 1 package of fresh sliced mushrooms)
• 1 tbsp jarred garlic
• 1 can of Campbell's low-fat cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 c. milk (I used 1/2 the soup can)
• 1 c. fat-free or low-fat sour cream
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• salt and pepper (I like lots of fresh ground black pepper in this)
• 2 c. low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cook diced chicken and rice, if you aren't using leftovers.
3. While they are cooking, dice carrots, celery and onion (mushrooms too, if using fresh). Cook the vegetables in a pan until they are soft. Add garlic and the canned mushrooms at the end and cook for about a minute.
4. In a large mixing bowl, mix the chicken, rice, vegetables, soup, sour cream, milk, dry mustard, s&p and 1 c. of the cheddar.
5. Pour it into a large greased rectangular pan, like your lasagna pan. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20 mins if ingredients are already warm, 30-40 if cold.

Comments:

I have a cold and had a hankering for creamy comfort food. I had chicken breasts thawed and the other ingredients are things I always have on hand. The KEY to this recipe is the dry mustard. It might sound crazy, but it doesn't make it taste mustardy at all, trust me, because I LOATHE mustard. It just gives it it a nice kick. Using all low-fat and fat-free ingredients, due to the vegetable content, this is a pretty light recipe too!

You could totally use leftover chicken or turkey too. I would keep the onion/carrot/celery veggie base, because it gives it a nice flavour, but you could definitely add chopped peppers, corn, broccoli, etc...

Bubble-Up Pizza Casserole

BUBBLE-UP PIZZA CASSEROLE
Source: Internet/Me

Ingredients:

• Ground chicken or turkey (you can use beef, I'm just trying to keep things light)
• Turkey pepperoni (I used a package of butterball brand)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp jarred minced garlic
• 1 large can tomato sauce
• 1 small can pizza sauce
• 1 medium can diced tomatoes, liquid drained
• Italian seasoning (1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp Italian seasoning)
• 1 can Pillsbury biscuits
• 1 c. Kraft 4 cheese Italian blend (skim)

Directions:

1. Grease a lasagna pan (large rectangular) and turn over to 375 F.

2. Brown ground meat and put it in a large mixing bowl. Soften onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic and add to the mixing bowl.

3. In the mixing bowl, combine ground meat, vegetables, sauces and seasoning.

4. Remove biscuits from the tube and quarter them. Stir into mixture. Pour into pan.

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until biscuits are puffy and start to brown. Cover the top in cheese and bake for 10 more minutes. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken a bit. Cut and serve!

Comments:

I made the enchilada version of this a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious, so I thought I would give the pizza version a try. It did not disappoint! Again, the presentation certainly wasn't great, but the taste made up for it. It is quite time consuming to make all at once. I really should make it all up the night before and when I get home, just add the biscuits and bake.