Shepards Pie

My mom is a wonderful cook.  Growing up, there were many things that I didn't like that I really like now.  One of the meals that I remember most and is a comfort food for me is Shepards Pie.  I love it.  My kids love it.  I don't remember if this is the exact way my mother made it or not, as she follows recipes exactly.  I, on the other hand, throw in a little of this and a little of that, following the basic recipe.  This is a meal that can be made ahead of time, or within 20 min. of when dinner is suppose to be on the table.  Its warm, delicious, and very versitile.  Substitute whatever veggies you have on hand with what is in this recipe.  It will be delicious...its the sauce that makes this so yummy...my Ryan will eat just about any veggie as he doesn't really notice them.  :-)

Brown ground turkey.  I use just a little bit, like 2 cups total, the original recipe says to use a 1 lb.
Add one can tomato soup, a dash of Worchestershire suace, 1/4 cup brown sugar, a shake of oregano, salt and pepper.  Mix up and sit to the side.

Make 4-6 cups mashed potatoes and sit to the side.

Take a 8X8 baking dish and add 1 can green beans, 1 can corn.  Spread evenly.  Pour the saucey meat on the veggies and spread evenly.  Top with the mashed potatoes.  Sprinkle with a little cheese if you like, place in a 350 degree oven for 15 min to heat everything evenly and serve.  Quick, easy and yummy.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad

I love Cafe Rio's sweet pork salad.  I don't love the price of $10 + extra if you add on anything such as sour cream or guacamole.  I have searched the web over and read many reviews on different peoples recipes.  I finally found one that I thought would work, took out of it what I didn't think I"d like and it was perfect.  I got it off of a blog called Familyfavorites.com.  Here is what I took from theirs.  Enjoy!


Pork
5 lbs. boneless pork.  Marinade overnight in 2 cups Coke and 1/4 cup brown sugar.  Sounds wierd, I know.
Next day, take your pork out, place in clean crock pot, add in 24 ounces coke mixed with 1/2 cup brown sugar and cook on high for about 1 1/2 hours.  Drain liquid when done and pull pork apart.  Return to crock pot and add the following blended mixture:  24 oz coke, 16 ounces enchilada sauce (spicy if you like spicy pork), 1 can green chilis.  Pour over pulled pork and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours.  Your done.  Enjoy.


Black Beans
I soak 2 cups black beans overnight, and then cook them the following day, starting in the morning, as they take a long time to get soft.  If you have a lot of water in them when finished, drain a little.  Add 1 cup tomato juice, 2 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp onion powder.  Mix and let rest until time to eat.  You can continue to simmer on your lowest setting on the stove if you'll be eating within the hour.


Rice
Add 3 cups chicken broth and 2 cups brown rice and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover and they should be done in about 40 min.  Add 1 cup tomato juice, 2 cloves minced garlic.  Stir and let rest until time to eat.


Salsa (my way anyway)
2 diced avacados
6 diced tomatoes
1 diced onion
Cilantro to taste.  I like a lot.


Cilantro Dressing
1 cup fat free mayo
1 cup milk with 2 Tbs. Vinegar (unless your fancy and you have some buttermilk...I never do.)
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 TBS Ranch dressing Mix or a packet, whichever you have
2 TBS lime juice
You can add tabasco sauce if you'd like to make it spicy, but I say yuck to that.


To assemble, have your tortilla hot and ready.  Place in a pin tin or on a plate, scoop out some yummy sweet pork, add your beans and rice, top with a handful of romaine lettuce, add the salsa, use a cookie scoop to plop on some sour cream and quacamole and sprinkle with tortilla strips.


You can put out the dressing in a gravy boat and let everyone have all they want.  Its nice that for once you don't get charged .50 to have a little more.


Cost wise was around $30 for all my groceries, certainly not $10 per plate.  This fed 4 adults and made 8 burrito style dinners (the kids didn't want the salad on it and it was a whole lot easier to serve that way.  We fed them and then got them the heck out of the kitchen so we could enjoy the meal.)  Steve then got to enjoy 2 days of left overs.  Perfect dinner and perfect leftovers.  I hope you enjoy like we did, and add your own style to enjoy it even more!

Easy Quick Carmel Popcorn

I love popcorn with a good movie, or a good movie with great popcorn. :-)  I am traditional...I open a box labeled "popcorn."  I take out the bag, remove plastic and place in Microwave for three min. and TA DA...popcorn.  I usually buy the 94% fat free.  If I ate it all the time I'd probably buy a machine and pop it fresh,   but...its a once or twice a month treat.  I love caramel popcorn but hate the stickiness in my teeth, hands and the amount of time to make it, bake it and break it.  I found a recipe that is quick, easy, and has me enjoying caramel popcorn in less than 10 min.  Its not sticky after a few min. cooling, and it tastes even better the next day.  What I like best about it is that is not overpowering...very light.  Enjoy!

The following is what I have found to be enough for my family of 4 to enjoy:

2 bags of popcorn, or about 10-14 cups of your own fresh popped corn
Place popcorn in a very large bowl.  On the stove top, in a small pot, put one cube of butter, 1/4 cup karo syrup and 2 TBS brown sugar.  Bring to a boil on medium/high for about 3 min.  Stir continuously.  Remove from heat, let cool about 1 min and add 1 tsp vanilla.  Slowly pour over popcorn while mixing.  Mix completely, let sit about one min, divide into your bowl and serve.  Its delicious, promise.