Shepherd's Pie

I had never even heard of Shepherd's Pie before I married into the Dean family. I will be honest, it wasn't something I wanted to make very often. I'm not really a big fan of ground hamburger as the main component of any meal. That's just me. I know lot's of people like it, especially my husband. Since Jacob happens to love Shepherd's pie I attempted to turn an old favorite into a new favorite for the whole family, with a few additions of my own. It was a hit! So, I've been making it this way since that day in 2007. Not that much different...but really, really good.

Shepherd's Pie Re-vamped
Feeds 6

4-5 medium sized potatoes
1 tbsp butter
about 1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste
1lb ground turkey
1 small yellow or white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp canola oil
1 can stewed tomatoes, cut into smaller pieces
1/4 cup ketchup
2 beef bullion cubes
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 c water
1/4-1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2-1 tsp black pepper
a few shakes of seasoned salt or to taste (we use Johnny's)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
frozen vegetables of your choice, I prefer green beans, carrots, and sometimes peas
1/2 cup cheese, I use whatever I have

Pressure cook, boil, or bake your potatoes until they are soft enough to mash. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and cook over medium heat until soft, add garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Add ground turkey and brown. Sprinkle flour over the browned meat. Add bouillon cubes and water, tomatoes, and ketchup, white and black pepper, oregano, seasoned salt, and worcestershire sauce. Bring it all to a simmer. Add more water or spices until desired sauciness and flavor are reached. Mash or whip the potatoes with a mixer (we like them whipped) with the butter, milk, pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Add more milk and butter to taste. Pour turkey mixture into a square or round pan. Spread frozen veggies over turkey. Smooth potatoes over veggies, and sprinkle cheese. Bake in oven at 350 degrees until bubbly and cheese is melted. This will only take about 15-30 minutes if your pie is still warm from the stove. You can also refrigerate the pie unbaked for up to 2 days and then bake with foil on top for about an hour. Take foil off for the last 10 minutes.

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

Oh boy. These are good. These are really good. Not too fluffy, not dense, with little chewy morsels in them. These are probably one of the best pancakes I've ever tasted, I would put them up next to Magleby's pancakes. The mix stores indefinitely in the fridge or freezer and whips up in a snap on a busy morning.
I made the mix for Jacob so that he could have something to eat in the morning besides cereal. Well the mix sat in the fridge for a few days and today Luci and I broke it out for lunch. I won't lie, I ate 5. We all love pancakes, so to have a ready mix in the fridge makes them taste even better! This recipe is slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour The Bakers Companion. I found it on mykitchencafe.blogspot.com after which I made a few changes. They didn't look amazing while cooking, but after my first bite I actually said, "wow" out loud. I was pleasantly surprised... They are definitely worth a little make ahead prep if you ask me.

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

*Makes 10 cups of dry mix

3 1/2 cups rolled (quick) oats
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups ground oats (they grind nicely in any blender)
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup canola oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixer with a paddle (or by hand). With mixer on slow speed (or gently by hand), drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it stays together, it is just right. If it is still crumbly, add another tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is correct (you probably won't need more oil). Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.

To make the pancakes: whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup buttermilk (I used half whole milk and half plain yogurt), and 1 egg. The mixture may seem thin at first but the oats will soak up the milk as it stands while the griddle preheats. Heat a griddle and drop the batter onto it. When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface and don't break, turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side.

*1 cup of mix will make about 6-7 4-inch pancakes.

Chinese Day

So I decided to have a theme for each day of the week to help me with ideas of what to cook throughout the week. Wednesday is ethnic night. So last night we had Chinese Cabbage Salad, rice, and Egg Drop soup. Yum it was good. Especially the salad. The dressing is phenomenal! I usually put chicken in it too, but I'm also trying to see if we can eat meat just a few times a week. Anyway, the whole family loved it. Luci especially loved digging for the Ramen noodles and grapes. Another plus...the cabbage came from our garden! Jacob didn't even notice that there was no meat, a key food group that makes a meal filling for a man I guess. Here's the recipe for the salad...

Chinese Cabbage Salad

Slightly adapted from Ellie Krieger, Food Network
Yields: 5 Servings

Ingredients

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
2 teaspoons sesame oil, divided (optional but very very yummy)
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed or sliced (optional)
3/4 head napa cabbage, thinly shredded (about 6 cups)
1 large carrot, shredded (about 2 cups)
3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, greens included (about 1/2 cup)

3/4 package of uncooked Ramen noodles (optional)
2/3 cup sliced grapes
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

Directions

Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and spread onto chicken breasts. Grill in oil on medium-high heat until done, about 5-7 minutes I think. Don't over cook! Remove from oven, cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine green cabbage, carrot, scallions, grapes, peanuts and
sliced chicken. In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, oil, 1
1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, and brown sugar. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine.

**Tip: Almost everything in this recipe is optional. Just use what you have! I've even substituted Romaine lettuce for the cabbage before.You can add things too, like mandarin oranges, water chestnuts, etc...