Sweet Potato Pie with a Kick!

My friend recently started a blog. Obviously I am following it, and you should too! (Check it out here). She posted a sweet potato pie and I knew I had to make it. Tonight was the night. My husband was away all last week so he was dying for a home cooked meal (other than Easter dinners). He got lucky today! I made blueberry oatmeal muffins and the potato pie! J The potatoes are sweet, but the meat mixture has a bit of a kick to it, which I really enjoyed.

Ingredients:

-          1 lb lean ground beef

-          1 onion, chopped

-          1 red pepper, chopped

-          1 tbsp minced garlic

-          1 tbsp chilli powder

-          ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

-          ¼ tsp dried oregano

-          ¼ tsp sea salt

-          1 can diced tomatoes

-          2-3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼-inch slices

-          1 tbsp EVOO

-          1 tbsp flour

-          Salt & Pepper

-          Optional Toppings: Shredded cheddar cheese and chopped green onion

Directions:

1. Over medium heat, brown ground beef until almost cooked through and drain fat.
2. Add onion, pepper, garlic, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, oregano and salt. Cook until onion and pepper is tender (about 5 minutes).
3. Stir in canned tomatoes and cook until juices are evaporated (about 20 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, toss potato slices with EVOO, flour, salt and pepper.
5. Lightly coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Create 2 layers of potato slices and top with meat mixture and cover with foil.
6. Bake at 350^oF for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Top with cheese and green onions when 5 minutes remain.

Beef, Rice and Vegetable Soup

Winter has finally decided to make an appearance. The past two days it has been damp and cold with snow and freezing rain. So the obvious choice for dinner was soup. It was somewhat of a "clean the fridge" soup. We had soup bones and stewing beef in the freezer so it had to be beef something.

I boiled down the bones in 4 cups of water with an onion and Epicure Beef Bouillon Base (if you read my blog you know how big a fan I am of the Epicure Chicken Bouillon Base. When I went to restock, I decided to buy the beef and give it a try. It was really good as well!). I then strained the broth and used it in my soup. But if you don't want to do this to make a broth, you can use 4 cups of a store bought broth.


Making Broth



Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 pound stewing beef, in small chunks
• 1 leek, thinly slice everything but the dark green leaves
• 3 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chopped baby carrots
• 1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms

  

  
• 4 cups beef broth (made as above or store bought)
• 3/4 cup rice, uncooked

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, cook beef in water over medium heat for 10 minutes.
2. Add in the leek, celery, carrots and mushrooms. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
3. Stir in broth and simmer on low heat for at least an hour.
4. 20 minutes or so before serving, add in rice.

Meatloaf

We love a good meatloaf! It is also one of those dishes I make for my husband when I will be gone for a couple days. He doesn't like to cook when I am gone, so it is something he can throw on bread and make sandwiches, or just eat alone. I don't really follow a recipe, I just throw a bunch of stuff together and it always turns out good!

BUT last night I used Lipton Onion Soup Mix which makes it super easy to make. I usually top my meatloaf with tomato soup, or sometimes I use my husband's grandma's chili sauce (which is actually really sweet). I have the recipe for it, but I have never made it. One day I will give it a try and share the recipe with you!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
• 1/2 cup crushed soda crackers or bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp BBQ sauce
• 1 can tomato soup, divided

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients using only 1/3 of the can of tomato soup in a large bowl.
2. Press into a loaf pan
3. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes, drain and top with remaining tomato soup and pepper. Bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Rachel Ray - Steakhouse Chili Pot

My husband loves chili, but I hate beans, so this was a great compromise. This dish had all the flavours of chili minus the beans. It was really yummy! I followed the recipe exactly, but I found it was very liquidy, so I added a can of tomato paste. The recipe says to cook bacon in olive oil, but the next time I make it I will skip the olive oil, and I will drain the meat once partially cooked. I think that will help (and make it a touch healthier!)

You can find the original recipe here, but this is how I will make it next time:

Ingredients:

• 4 slices bacon, finely chopped
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tbsp chili powder
• Salt and pepper
• 1 can tomato sauce (14 oz)
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 cups beef stock
• Optional: Sour cream and fresh parsley for topping

Directions:

1. In a large pot, cook bacon over medium-high heat for a couple minutes and add beef. Cook until brown (5-6 minutes) stirring occasionally. Drain excess fat.
2. Add onions, garlic, chili powder, a litte salt and lots of pepper until soften (5 minutes).
3. In a bowl, stir together tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and tomato paste. Add to beef mixture and combine.
4. Add stock and bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook to thicken (6-7 minutes).
5. Serve in bowls topped with sour cream and parsley

Sheppard's Pie

I love comfort food, a good hearty meal that warms up any day. Sheppard’s Pie is one of those meals. It is the dish that I love to make for people when they need comfort – after having a baby or surgery (for example). It is also the meal when I have leftover mashed potatoes. Basically it is one of my favourite dishes, so enjoy!

 
**Note: This is a basic recipe. You can easily change the amount of vegetables and mashed potatoes. Also the amount of Bisto depends on you. The beef/gravy mixture should be a thick consistency (but still slightly runny).

Ingredients:

-          1 lb ground beef

-          1 onion, chopped

-          1 can sliced mushrooms, drained

-          Bisto Traditional Gravy Mix and water

-          1 cup frozen corn

-          1 cup frozen peas

-          3 cups mashed potatoes

-          Cheese (I usually use cheddar or 4 cheese Italiano)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF
2. Brown beef on medium high heat until partially cooked; drain, add onion and mushrooms and finish cooking
3. Meanwhile cook peas and corn in a medium pot
4. Add about 1 cup of water from cooking vegetables to the beef mixture; Mix Bisto and water and add to mixture until you get the right consistency
5. In a deep casserole dish put beef mixture on the bottom, followed by vegetables and top with potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese.
6. Bake for 40 minutes

Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole

I make a pretty awesome cabbage rolls but they are a little time consuming. I subscribe to the Kraft What’s Cooking magazine. And in the festive issue there was a recipe for a Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole. It was amazing!! Really easy to make and delicious! It calls for one carrot, but I didn’t have any so I added a package of fresh sliced mushrooms and of course used my normal seasoning (Montreal Steak Spice and Seasoning Salt). Next time I will also add garlic. Other than that the recipe was amazing!

Ingredients:

-          5 large savoy cabbage leaves (I used 8 green cabbage leaves)

-          1 lb ground beef

-          1 onion, chopped

-          1 parsnip, shredded

-          1 package fresh slice mushrooms

-          2 stalk celery, thinly sliced

-          1 tbsp tomato paste

-          1 cup instant white rice, uncooked

-          ¼ cup Kraft Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tuscan Italian Dressing

-          4 cups tomato sauce, divided

-          1 cup Kraft 4 cheese Italiano Shredded Cheese

Directions:

1. Place cabbage leaves in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile brown meat in a non-stick skillet and drain. Add onion, parsnip, mushrooms and celery; cook for 5 minutes
3. Mix meat mixture, tomato paste, rice, dressing, 3 cups tomato sauce and ¾ cup cheese
4. Heat oven to 370^oC. Dry cabbage, pat dry and remove vein from centre of leaf and cut in half.
5. Pour ½ cup tomato sauce in a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with cabbage leaves and 2 cups of rice mixture; repeat layers 3 times. Top with remaining cabbage, tomato sauce and cheese
6. Bake for 1 hour covered and an addition 10 minutes uncovered
7. Let stand 5 minutes and use a serrated knife to cut casserole

Italian Meatballs in a Mushroom Tomato Sauce

The other night I asked Shawn what he wanted for dinner and he said “I want lasagna, but not…something Italian, but not pasta and sauce…” Humm..thanks babe!! I will get right on that!! LOL

I went to the grocery store with NO idea on what to make. I bought ground beef, chicken and an Italian loaf. I got home and put my thinking cap on. I decided I would make meatballs. It would have been nice if I got buns and we could have had meatball sandwiches, but we just had fresh bread slices so we made do. I thought they were amazing!! I made a big pot so I could freeze the extras.

Ingredients:

-          2 lb ground beef

-          2 eggs

-          ½ cup parmesan cheese

-          ½ cup crushed up crackers (I used plain old soda crackers)

-          1 package Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix

-          Vegetable Oil

-          2 tbsp butter

-          1 onion, sliced thinly

-          2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

-          2 cans Hunt's Thick & Rich Spicy Red Pepper & Chilies Premium Pasta Sauce

Directions:

1. Mix egg and ground beef together
2. Add parmesan cheese, crackers and soup mix. Mix well
3. Make 2 inch meatballs
4. In a large skillet, put about 1 inch of oil in and put over medium heat
5. Add meatballs turning them frequently until cooked (about 10 minutes) – place on a plate
6. Meanwhile, heat butter in a large pot
7. Add onions and mushrooms – cook for about 5 minutes
8. Add pasta sauce and cooked meatballs
9. Simmer for approximately 30 minutes
10. Serve with fresh bread

One Pan Taco Dish

Oops!! I forgot to take something out for dinner this morning, so as soon as I got home I took out a pound of ground beef. It is easy to defrost in the microwave (which I HATE doing) and there are tons of quick meals you can make with it. Well I was hoping to make tacos, but unfortunately I only had two tortilla wraps…so I turned to kraftcanada.com which has tons of quick, easy meals to make. (I am spoiling this 9 month pregnant body by getting a massage tonight so I wanted something quick).

Well I put in ground beef and found a “One Pan Taco” recipe (which is REALLY similar to my mother in laws famous taco salad – just a warm version!). It said it only took 15 minutes to prepare so I was game!! Well it turned out great, so now I will share with you!! J

Ingredients:

-          1 lb ground beef

-          2 cups water

-          2 cups instant rice

-          1 package taco seasoning

-          1 cup shredded cheese

-          1 cup shredded lettuce

-          1 cup crushed nacho chips

-          Salsa and Sour Cream

-          Optional toppings: Chopped Tomatoes, Green Onions, Pepper

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef in a large skillet and drain
2. Add water, rice and taco seasoning; Bring to a light boil and simmer for 5 minutes
3. Mix in cheese and let sit for 5 minutes
4. Add lettuce and nacho chips
5. Serve in a bowl, topped with salsa, sour cream and optional toppings

Honey Garlic Stir-Fry: An Original :)

We had leftover meat and veggies from our Shish Kabobs, so my husband wanted me to make a stir-fry. The thing is he doesn’t really like rice, and he doesn’t love stir-fry! (LOL) He wanted me to change it up a bit, and use noodles instead of rice. I love trying new recipes (or creating them). So this is an original! I will try my best to give you accurate measurements!! I really enjoyed it, it was very different from anything else I have made, however the next time I make it I want to try and make it spicier. This one was pretty sweet. Enjoy!

Not the best picture...it is our lunch! I forgot to get a picture of dinner :)

Ingredients:

- 2 tbsp oil

- 1 cup diced chicken breast

- 1 cup diced steak

- 1 cup mushrooms (whole or sliced or both!)

- 1 pepper, chopped

- 1 onion, chopped

- ½ jar VH Honey Garlic Sauce

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- Egg noodles

Directions:

1.    In a large skillet, fry both the chicken and beef in oil

2.    When half cooked, remove excess fat/oil and add veggies

3.    Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat

4.    Add Honey Garlic sauce and soy sauce and simmer for 10 minutes

5.    Meanwhile, cook noodles and drain

6.    Dish out noodles and top with stir-fry mixture

Spring is here!!! Shish Kabobs :)

This past weekend was BEAUTIFUL!! It was a perfect weekend to pull out the BBQ. My husband wanted to make shish kabobs. I love making them! It is one of those meals that we can do together, and we can make them to our liking. I bought a few stainless sticks that we can reuse and put on the BBQ. If you will be making lots of kabobs you can easily buy the wooden disposable ones.

Our kabobs usually consist of bite size pieces of:

- Steak

- Chicken

- Mushrooms

- Peppers

- Onion

Like I said before you can put pretty much ANYTHING on them. You can easily make them all meat, OR vegetarian!! We season them with spices and cook on medium heat for approximately 15 minutes, turning once. However BBQ’s differ! So you will have to watch your kabobs!! Ours turned out great! I typically use BBQ sauce for dipping!!

Cabbage Rolls

I have made cabbage rolls before, but like I have said in previous posts my mom always finds the best recipes (and is the best cook)! She made these cabbage rolls for our rehearsal dinner and they were a hit!! I decided to give them a try tonight! There is a decent amount of “prep” work but they weren’t overly exhausting! This recipe is from Canadian Living. I forgot to take a picture of them all in the roasting pan, but I did get a shot of our lunch for tomorrow!!

This recipe says it makes 24 rolls, but I only made 8. I was very generous on the filling! You could put less filling and make more; it is entirely up to you!!

Ingredients:

-          1 head of green cabbage

-          2 tbsp butter

-          2 large onions, sliced

-          ¼ tsp caraway seeds

-          ¼ tsp each salt and pepper

-          3 tbsp brown sugar

-          2 cans crushed tomatoes

Filling:

-          2 tbsp butter

-          1 onion, chopped

-          4 garlic cloves, minced

-          ½ tsp thyme

-          Pinch cayenne pepper

-          ½ cup long grain rice

-          1¼ cup chicken stock

-          1½ lb ground beef

-          ½ cup chopped parsley

-          2 tbsp chopped dill

-          1 egg, lightly beaten

-          ¾ tsp each salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch cored cabbage for 5 to 8 minutes or until leaves are softened. Remove and chill under cold water.
2. Carefully pull off leaves from cabbage (as many as you want to make, plus a couple extra). Cut out coarse veins and pat dry. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Sauté onions, caraway seeds, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes.
4. Add sugar and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Filling: In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, thyme and cayenne pepper for about 10 minutes.
6. Add rice and stir for 1 minute. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
7. Put rice in a large bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes. Stir in ground beef, parsley, dill, egg, salt and pepper.
8. Spread 1 cup of tomato mixture in roasting pan.
9. Spoon filling onto centre of all leaves; fold ends and one side over filling and roll up. Arrange in a single layer and top with remaining tomato mixture. (Note: If you can make more than one layer, top bottom layer with half of tomato mixture and place other layer on top). Top with extra cabbage leaves to prevent scorching.
10. Cover and bake in 350^oF oven for about 2 hours, or until tender.
11. Optional: We added cheese before serving :)

Super Spicy Superbowl Chili

Sunday we went to our annual Superbowl party at our friend’s place. Usually I take some kind of nacho dip, and the host usually makes chili (or his mom made it…). Well this year our friend has his own place, which means no mom!! No mom means no chili! Our other friends were complaining so I decided to make chili.

My husband LOVES chili, but I HATE beans…But I love him, so I make it! I just take some sauce out before the beans are added and make pasta to go with it. He tells me I make awesome chili! However this time I spiced it up, and when I say “spice it up” I mean it!! It was pretty spicy, but not unbearable. I thought (the sauce before beans) was very yummy!

Remember you can spice it up or down, just alter the amount of spices and hot peppers. Here you go:

Ingredients:

-          1.5lbs ground beef

-          1 onion, chopped

-          1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

-          2 peppers (I used yellow and green)

-          2 Jalapeño peppers

-          5 Serrano hot peppers (I think – they looked like skinny green beans!)

-          Spices to taste: Montreal Steak Spice, Seasoning Salt, Cumin, Cayenne Pepper, Chili Pepper Flakes

-          2 cans diced tomatoes

-          1 can crushed tomatoes

-          1 can tomato paste

-          2 cans of beans (I usually use Red Kidney Beans and a brown bean)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef with spices (amount depends on how spicy you like your chili)
2. When ground beef is almost done, add onion, mushrooms and peppers and simmer for approximately 10 minutes on medium heat (until beef is fully cooked and vegetables are soft)
3. Add beef mixture to crockpot with diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste
4. Cook on low for 5-7 hours
5. 1 hour before serving, add drained and washed beans

This is my fancy crockpot to go :) I got it has a shower gift,
and it is amazing for taking food to parties!

Yummy Burgers

I love homemade burgers, and I am not going to lie, I make a pretty good burger!!! We love them. I hardly use a recipe but I put the same things in every time. Here you go, and enjoy!!!

Ingredients:

-          1½ lbs ground beef

-          1 onion, chopped

-          2 cloves of garlic, minced

-          Montreal Steak Spice

-          Seasoning Salt

-          ¼ cup crushed crackers

-          ¼ cup BBQ sauce

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl
2. Make 6 balls and press them down to create a burger
3. BBQ on medium heat for 20-30 minutes (flip once)
4. With a few minutes left, add a few slices of cheese to the top of the burger while toasting buns
5. Top with your favourite condiments

Stay tuned for some amazing recipes!! Tonight we are having Goat Cheese Chicken and tomorrow slow cooker Ribs are on the menu. I will post them as soon as I can! :)

PS: I would LOVE to hear your comments when you try a recipe, so feel free to leave them!!!

Stuffed Peppers

I had a couple peppers in the fridge and I was wondering what to do with them.
I decided I would try stuffed peppers…using my homemade salsa of course!!! I found a few recipes online, and I combined them to make my own version.

OMG they were absolutely amazing!!! I will defiantly make these again!

Here you go:

Ingredients:

- 4 medium bell peppers (any colour)

- 1 lb ground beef

- 1 onion, chopped

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- ½ cup water

- ½ instant rice

- 1 cup salsa

- 1 cup pasta sauce

- ½ cup cheese

Directions:

1. Fry ground beef in a large skillet. Drain grease and add onion and garlic. Cook until tender.

2. Add water, rice and salsa. Allow mix to simmer for approximately 5 minutes until rice is cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.

3. Meanwhile, prepare peppers by cutting the tops off and removing seeds.

4. Preheat oven to 350^o

5. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with the pasta sauce. Set peppers in sauce so they are standing up straight.

6. Stuff peppers with mix, and top with cheese.

7. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes

Just before going in the oven

Stuffing simmering in skillet

Final Product

You could easily stuff mini peppers and make this a party appetizer :)

Simple Lasagna

I love a good lasagna!! Today being another snowy day I decided to make my famous lasagna and garlic bread. I love when my husband walks through the door and smiles when he sees what I have made for dinner. Today was one of those days! This is a very basic lasagna recipe, but so delicious!!

Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground beef
- Montreal Steak Spice and Seasoning Salt to taste
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
- Tub (500g) of 1% cottage cheese
- 1 can of Hunt's® Thick & Rich Spicy Red Pepper & Chilies Premium Pasta Sauce
- 1 cup (at least!) of shredded cheese (Cheddar, Mozzarella or Marble)
- 12 oven ready lasagna noodles
- 1/2 cup water

Directions:
1. Brown ground beef and remove excess fat
2. Add spices, pepper, onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook for approximately 5 minutes
3. Mix cottage cheese, pasta sauce and beef/vegetables
4. Make 3 layers (in a deep dish) of: 4 lasagna noodles side by side, topped with 1/3 of beef mixture and 1/3 cheese
5. Poor water around edges of dish
6. Cover with foil and bake for 40min at 375 degrees, remove foil and bake for an additional 15min
7. Remove from oven and allow lasagna to sit for 15 minutes before serving

Mrs. Cochrane

Beef Wellington

My husband and I went out to eat at this little restaurant in our town. He ordered beef wellington, and has been bugging me *every* day since then to make it for him. For some reason I kept putting it off, but today I treated him to it!! I was worried it was going to take forever to prepare, but in all honesty it took less than an hour. Here is the recipe adapted from Allrecipe.com.

Ingredients:
- Beef tenderloin (cut into individual pieces)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup mushrooms
- 2 tbsp pork and ham pate
- Puff pastry (either bought or prepare your own - recipe to come!)
- 1 egg, beaten

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Brown tenderloin on both sides (approximately 3 min on each side) in an oven safe frying pan. Remove from heat, and allow it to cool
3. Fry mushrooms, onions and garlic in butter
4. Meanwhile, cut pastry into pieces (one for each tenderloin section). Roll it out ensuring there is enough to completely cover tenderloin.
5. Put tenderloin in the middle of the pastry, top with a thin layer of pate and fried mushrooms.
6. Cover tenderloin with pasty and cut holes in the top.
7. Cover with egg mixture and bake for 20-30 minutes (in frying pan), until browned.

I served this with mini roasted potatoes. It was delicious; however I used too much pate. I put it on both sides of the tenderloin. Next time, I will just put it on the top. I also didn't prepare au jus to serve with it. That would be very simple to do. Just reserve all juices, add a can of beef broth and bit of wine. I would whisk in a *small* amount of flour (to slightly thicken). Strain and serve :)

I will be preparing this again in the near future! We both loved it :)

Enjoy!

Mrs. Cochrane