Shepherd's Pie - Secret Recipe Swap

It's that time of the month....Surprise Recipe Swap....yay....that means for the past weeks I have been blog stalking a fellow food blogger :-) Custom Taste has such a vast variety of healthy, unique and very allergy friendly recipes. I myself am lactose intolerant so it was nice to find recipes that had lactose free substitutes. I liked how each post/recipe has a list of needed tools or hardware you will need to cook/bake the recipes. I also saw a few links to online stores that gives you the option to purchase the needed items if you do not already have them.

Another great feature on the posts at Custom Taste is that they have added nutritional values, tips & tricks, reheating and storing instructions too. Oh and before I forget, cost of their recipes was also included....of course this is subject to change depending on where you live and shop.

Straight out of the oven!

After going through all of the recipes on Custom Taste I decided to try the recipe for a

 Simple Shepherd's Pie. 

And now am glad that I did! This is an easy and very tasty recipe. Something I hadn't tried before was to grind the dry spices before adding them to a recipe. Well let me tell you it is something that I am going to try again in recipes to come. 

Simple Shepherd's Pie

3 potatoes, washed but do not peel**

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

3-4 mushrooms, sliced

1 lb ground turkey or beef

1 cup milk (I used lactose free milk)

2 TBS olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

Spices   

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried sage

1 TBS dried parsley

Grind these spices and set aside for later. You can either use a mortar and pestle to grind the spices together or you can put them in a blender (I used my Bullet to grind them).

Directions:

Chop all the vegetables; carrots, onions and mushrooms go in a bowl for later and potatoes go into a pot covered with water.Bring the potatoes to a boil and cook them until fork tender. Drain and return to pot. Mash the potatoes with the milk, olive oil and salt. Set aside.

Meanwhile brown your meat in a nonstick skillet. Once meat is not longer pink add the set aside vegetables and stir in the ground spices. 

Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a square baking pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Scoop just enough potatoes to cover the bottom of the baking pan. Top with the meat & veggie mix and then cover with the remaining mashed potatoes. 

Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. 

**Custom Taste broiled the Shepherd's Pie for 3 minutes before removing....I opted not to do this**

Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. ENJOY!!

Taco Joe's

Who hasn't had sloppy joe's at some point in their life and I am pretty sure tacos have been eaten too BUT what about a taco shell filled with a mexican flavored sloppy joe?! While this is simmering away in your crockpot be prepared for the scrumptious smell that is going to fill your house.

Taco Joe's

2 lbs ground turkey or beef

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tsp minced garlic 

1 cup chili sauce

1 can (8oz.) tomato sauce

1TBS worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp pepper

1 pkg taco seasoning

buns or taco shells with toppings

Directions:

Brown the ground turkey with the chopped onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink.

While you are browning the meat combine the remaining ingredients in your crockpot. Starting with the chili sauce and tomato sauce. Then stir in the worcestershire, water, pepper and taco seasoning. Carefully add the browned
meat to the sauce mixture and stir to coat.




Cook on low 6 hrs.










The best part about this recipe is that you have the choice to serve it either as a taco filler or as a sloppy joe.....either way tastes GREAT!! I personally liked the taco option the best! With a little shredded cheddar and sliced green onions....yum

Mexican Quinoa Patties

Spring Break is over for us and we are back on track with our schedules. It's hard to believe that my kiddos only have a few more weeks before they are finished with this school year.....6.5 weeks of school left to be exact!!! OMG....where has the time gone?

As you all already know I am always looking for new ideas and recipes to try out but this time it wasn't me who found this new addition to my list of keeper recipes. My husband saw this recipe and told me about it SO of course I looked it up, found it and made it! I found the recipe for Mexican Quinoa Patties over at my fellow bloggers website site This Gal Cooks

Quinoa is a great gluten free option since it is not a grain, it is considered a seed. Quinoa is a also a great source of protein and is high in fiber!

These patties are very easy to put together and taste great. This recipe will make enough for 6 servings maybe even more depending on the size of the patties you make. 

We ate them for dinner and had enough leftover for 2 lunches or dinner. I am going to make these again because I am pretty sure they would taste great served with scrambled eggs for breakfast too.

The only complaint I have about making these is that they are a bit messy since the quinoa sticks to your hands. The original recipe says to press them into a 1/3 measuring cup which I couldn't do because mine have an angle so they would have needed to be reshaped anyway ;-) 

Mexican Quinoa Patties

2 1/2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa

1 jalapeño, finely chopped

1 roma tomato, gutted and finely chopped

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp taco seasoning

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup ground oats (use your food processor or blender to grind the oats)

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp minced garlic

3/4 cup canned black beans, drained, rinsed and then dried

3 egg whites

vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients minus the egg whites. Mix until well combined. Then add the egg whites and stir to coat the mixture well.

Heat just a thin layer of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Take about 1/3 cup of the quinoa mixture and shape them into patties (you can either do this by hand like I did or you can use the measuring cup trick) Place no more than 4 patties in your pan at a time, this will give you enough room to be able to flip them ***flip them carefully because they will fall apart easily if you aren't gentle*** 

Cook them for 3-4 minutes on each size, until you get a nice golden brown crust on both sides. 

Serve them with sour cream, salsa or even guacamole.  

Serving size: 2 patties