Shepard's Pie

There's nothing like comfort food on a rainy, fall Sunday afternoon.  I've had requests for my recipe for Shepard's Pie, so I thought I'd do a quick blog post to share.  It's so quick and easy and yummy and good and... well you get the picture.  Typically, only ground beef and peas are used in most Shepard's Pie recipes that I've seen.  I like more veggies than that so in my rendition I add one can each of corn, substituting green beans (instead of peas) and thinly sliced carrots (fresh not canned).  I think its a healthier version adding more veggies and its more colorful.  Typically I think that a cream soup is used instead of brown gravy also.  I prefer brown gravy.

Cook's Tip:  I forgot to line my cookie sheet with aluminum foil first, now I'll have a mess to clean up!

Recipe

2 lbs of ground beef 

(I used organic and I'm sure you could use ground turkey)

2 large jars of brown gravy or

4 packets of brown gravy mix

1 chopped onion

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 can of corn

1 can of green beans or peas

(Typically peas are used.  I like green beans better)

4-6 carrots sliced thinly

8-10 servings of instant mashed potatoes

4-6 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (to taste)

Brown the ground beef in a fry pan.  Add the chopped onion/garlic and simmer until ground beef is fully cooked,  drain off excess grease. Add the brown gravy to the beef/onion mixture, simmer for 5 minutes. While this is cooking make the instant mashed potatoes (7-10 servings) according to package directions.  (I like a good one inch layer to my Shepard's Pie).  Layer the ground beef mixture into a 9x11 casserole dish.  Add the corn, beans and carrots, mix all together. Spread mashed potatoes over the top covering all.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese over the mashed potatoes to taste.  Place the casserole dish onto an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet (to catch spills).  Cover with aluminum foil (spray mine with Pam on the inside so it doesn't stick to the cheese).  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until bubbling.  Take the aluminum foil off for the last 10 minutes to brown the cheese.

Enjoy!

A couple of in-process pics

All the ingredients mixed together before mashed potato topping.  Make sure you get the carrots mixed into the gravy good because they still need to cook.

Mashed potato and cheddar cheese topping added just before the oven.  My shredded cheddar was frozen from the freezer.

Fanny's Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Hellerrrrrr!



Wow I've not been blogging much.  Working full-time puts a major crimp in my playtime.  OBVIOUSLY.  How appropriate to start a post after having been gone so long, whining with the "y" part of PRISSy aka yatayatayata.

and now for the point to my story....

Recently, I LOST a favorite recipe of mine.  It was on a 3x5 recipe card.  It was ancient and I mean ancient.  Distressed and antiqued to perfection including watermarks and stains from being out on the counter next the bowl while cooking.  This recipe card is so old the ink (not pencil, INK) on the card is fading.  This also makes it one-of-a-kind.  Imagine my distress when I realized I had misplaced it?  It also just happened to be MY favorite Oatmeal Cookie recipe EVER.  I really have never found a recipe to match this one.  I was so excited when I found the card today whilst cleaning a cupboard.  Go figure?  I decided to make a post about it to share with you all my devoted blog followers and also for selfish reasons.  If I ever lose the card again I an refer back to this post.

I thought I'd share this favorite recipe as a hello back and thanks for sticking with me.   Leave a comment to let me know you and I are alive? 

This is my (maternal)  grandmother, Fanny's recipes.  I loved her so much.  Maybe I'll do a post about her one day.  Her life is so fascinating I couldn't do it justice with just a mention today.  So more on her later.

~ENJOY!

Fanny's Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Seriously, I'm not lying these are the best Oatmeal Cookies EVER

Preheat oven 350

1 cup sifted flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 shortening (Crisco)

1 1/3 Cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups of uncooked oats

1 cup raisins 

Sift dry ingredients

Add shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla

Beat until smooth (approx 2 min)

Stir in oats and raisins

Drop on greased cookie sheets

12-15 min

Makes about 3.5 dozen (and I'm not kidding)

Cooks Tip No. 1: Optional, add 1 cup of butterscotch chips for 'oatmeal scotchy' version.  

Cooks Tip No. 2: Add a crust of bread to the cookie jar your cookies will keep their just baked texture (soft/moist/chewy) for entire shelf life.  I've done this for years and I don't know why this works but it does.  Funny, my husband uses this tip now too.  It made me chuckle to go to the cookie jar and see a crust of bread in the jar that he put there.  

If you do try this recipe come on back and leave a comment and let me know how you liked them!!!

Show me some love

xoxo

M!ss Pr!ssy

Off & On... ON AGAIN

 BUMP... revisiting my todo list.

EDITED TO ADD (30 Aug 2010).  bump.  Time to resume on my running TODO list... woohoo. 

...that might be an appropriate summation for how things have gone for me this last year.  I feel so on again/off again....AND its so unpredictable when this will happen.  Don't know about you but I love this time of year.  I know we can get a fresh start each and every day but there is just something about the New Year that says DO-OVER.  I love do-overs.  Also, it puts me in a cleaning mood.  Actually I like to clean, I find it very Zenlike.  Not only that, it somehow "orders" my mind.  I like that.  I am also a list person, list making somehow orders my mind too.  (...as in organize).  I don't have any pix to coordinate with this post but I thought I'd just pop in and say HI and post the Short List of projects I'd like to work on, finish etc... in no particular order or urgency.   This is the list I came up with while taking inventory as I was dusting my artist studio.  I am also going to have a couple of items For Sale.  I will create a separate post for these things.

Finish

1. Inchie binder
2. Journal (Rhonna Farrer inspired)
3. Artist canvas family collage.  Mixed media project
4. Illustrated Discovery Journal
5. Finish Just Be Journal (Edited to add:  completed, in the mail, gift to sister. Amazing what a little space clearing and lists can do)
6. Brush up on my Spanish
7. Use Allie stamps
8. Make shortlist reminder cards
9. Use sheet music with a project
10. Use magic mesh with a project
11. Pine cone elves.  (There's always next year)
12. Chipboard village
13. Time permitting...change my blog
14. Hold monthly stamp camps =D
15. Make 10 Christmas cards a month
16. School days pages.
17. EDITED TO ADD (13 Feb 2010) Recipe cards.  I'm so glad I remembered this one.
18. Play w/Cosmo "You Know You're an Artist IF YOU CAN FINISH THIS KIT" 2-album scrapbooks (QVC score).
19. Use my Gwen Frostic stamps (Anthropological Holiday Catalog, I KNOW) & <<<---happy symbol alert<<< 21 Feb 2010 AND stamps from ALASKA.  While I'm at it...
20. Use every color of fun fluff that I own.
21. Make Card Assortment Gift Sets Xs4
22. Crafty Secret ANYTHING help me
23. (ETA:  20 Feb 2010) Mesh soap dish ...you will love these
24. 30 AUG 2010 Card Assortment Packs

 Like I said... its a short list.  Maybe I'll have some pix later.  Oh and postscript... you can't have a glitter station when there are cats around.  ;)

...later

Just Be Journal.... 1 for me, 1 for my sister...

My laptop (Mac) is docked to a larger monitor, keyboard and wireless mouse.  I have it propped on a upside down wire basket to keep the air flow.  Notice... NO dust.

Left wing of craft space  (AKA SHE-CAVE), mainly, notice clear spot on table.   This is the main center.   The big Kahuna where all the magic happens ;)

 Moving to the right....mainly, notice clearing on table.  This is my cutting and ribbon center

Moving to the right....mainly, notice clearing on table.  This is the idea center.  I store all of my idea books and catalogs here.