Shepard's Pie With Bling

Ahhh, look.  He's so happy I made dinner. :)

While eating Shepard's Pie at dinner Jessa remarked
"it tastes better than it looks mom."

She's right.  It does taste better than it looks.  Shepard's Pie can be a yummy quick dinner. 

 Here's my recipe (more or less...sometimes I don't measure). 

Shepard's Pie With Bling

8 servings of mashed potatoes
 (I used Betty Crocker Instant Roasted Garlic Potatoes - only $1 at Wal-mart!)
about 1 lb of ground beef
2 cans of green beans or about 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables
2 - 3 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 - 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup of French's Fried Onions (this is the bling!)

Brown ground beef, drain fat.  Add Italian Seasoning, Worcestershire Sauce, green beans or mixed veggies, and French's Fried Onions to beef.  Spread meat mixture on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Spread mashed potatoes over meat mixture.  Cook for 25 - 30 minutes at 350, or until food is nice and hot. Serve with a fresh green salad.  I just always wanted to say that last part. 

Jenn's Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

This recipe is from my sister's sister-in-law, also a sweet friend of mine, Jen Jones.  It doesn't get easier than this.  And it tastes yummy.  :)

Jenn's Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

6 frozen chicken thighs
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce


Cook on low for 8-10  hours or on high 4 - 6 hours in crock pot.  Serve over rice.
P.S. If you use chicken thighs that are thawed already, add 3/4 cup water (all equal ingredients).  I just omit the water since mine are always frozen and ice glazed.

Mine were frozen but not ice glazed, so I added the water.  Enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Bars

We ran out of Cadbury mini eggs and I was craving something chocolate yesterday.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com - it's by Sara Yoder; it has 4.5 stars and 60 ratings.  I love the taste of toasted marshmallows and chocolate in these bars.  Shane said these aren't going to last long!

 ha ha ha...while eating his Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Bar Caleb said "mom, you're the BEST cooker..."(hmmm...this isn't what you said about sloppy joes last night :)) and then he adds "I wonder who invented food."  Whoever it was, they had a good idea.  :)

Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in marshmallows, chips and walnuts. Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

* I used butter instead of shortening, and I left out the nuts. Still great.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

You know the brownie mixes that always go on sale for $1? I always buy a bunch because they are so cheap, and you never know when you need a quick dessert. However, my complaint with the cheap brownie mixes is this: they turn out greasy, thin, and they flake apart. At least when I make them! Though they taste pretty good (it is chocolate!) they just don't look pretty. And I like pretty things. So in order to use the 20 boxes of brownie mix in my storage room, I have been trying different recipes for brownie mix cookies. I found this recipe on http://www.cooks.com/, and it turned out lovely. I made a few changes (added peanut butter, and swapped chocolate chips for oats) and the result was heavenly. Chocolate and peanut butter were just meant to go together. And I love the addition of oats - they make the cookie a little chewy. So if you are in the mood for a chocolate peanut butter concoction, grab a cheap brownie mix and give this recipe a try.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies



1 package (21.5 oz) Brownie Mix (milk chocolate or fudge)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oil
3 Tbsp water
2 eggs
1 cup oats
1/2 cup peanut butter


Mix. Bake at 350 for 9 - 11 minutes.

Yogurt Fruit Salad

Yogurt Fruit Salad

fruit
yogurt

Chop up your fruit. Mix with some yogurt.

We eat this fruit salad a couple times every week. It's such a great way to get your fruit at dinner time. I just use whatever we have on hand. Apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, pears, plums, blue berries, peaches, raspberries, grapes...anything will do. We just use what yogurt we happen to have. My favorite is probably vanilla. Two thumbs up for quick and easy!


This yogurt fruit salad has 1 pear, about 1 cup green grapes, 1 banana and 2 individual serving sizes of Yoplait Yogurt.