Olympic Shepherd's Pie

Cue the Olympic Theme music now.

I have been planning for several weeks now for my tribute to the London Olympics.  Since most of us can't afford to travel to London for a first hand look at the games, we can experience London at home.  I will be sharing with you during the games food that London is known for.  Now England sometimes gets a bad rap for their food but I have found some recipes that I think you will like.  One thing we always think of when we think of England is High Tea.  I have some great recipes for tea foods.  I hope you enjoy them along with the games.  So get the strawberries and cream ready and lets watch the games.

For Opening Ceremony night I have for you one of the most well known Enlish foods, Shepherd's Pie.

I found a very simple recipe that I think you will enjoy.  I made a few adjustments to the original recipe.  All you need is some ground beef, frozen veggies, cream of mushroom soup, and mashed potatoes.

Chop one medium onion.

Sweat the onions a little in olive oil.

Add the ground beef and brown.  Drain off the grease.

Add the cream of mushroom soup and one tablespoon of ketchup. Mix well.

Add about a cup of peas and carrots and if you like one cup of corn.  The original recipe did not call for corn but I saw several recipes that did so I added it to mine. You can add whatever veggies you like.

Spray a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with non stick spray and add the ground beef mixture to the pan.
Preheat your oven to 400.

Add the mashed potatoes to the top of the ground beef.  You can make homemade potatoes but to save time I used some premade ones.  You can't beat the connivence of them. And they taste good too.

Cover the entire pan with the potatoes.

This was another change I made.  Add some grated cheese to the top.  Some recipes call for it and some do not.  Place in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.  you want the cheese to be bubbly and the potatoes to get a little brown.

The finished Shepherd's Pie.

Welcome to London for the Olympics.  Hope you enjoy the recipes as well as the games.

Olympic Shepherd's Pie

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 c peas & carrots
1 c corn if you like
salt and pepper
mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 400.

Brown the onion and ground beef.  Drain off the grease.  Add the soup and ketchup, mix well.  Add the frozen veggies and mix.  Pour the ground beef mixture into a greased pan.  Top ground beef mixture with the mashed potatoes and sprinkle with some cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and lightly brown.

A new twist to Sloppy Joes

I saw this recipe in a magazine somewhere but can't remember where it was.  This is a nice alternative to the regular bun version of Sloppy Joes.

You will need Manwich sauce, ground beef, frozen Texas Toast, and cheese.

Brown your ground beef, then drain the grease off.

Get your bread ready to go in the oven. Preheat oven per package directions.  I used parchment paper for easy clean up.

Empty the Manwich sauce into the ground beef.

Stir well.

After your toast has been heated per directions, add the sauce on top.

Add cheese of your choice on top and put back in the oven for a few minutes.  You want the cheese to get nice and bubbly.

And now you are ready to eat.  I hope you like this new twist to Sloppy Joes.  It seems that every time I want to make them I do not have buns, but you can keep this bread in the freezer just for this reason.

Black Bean 'n' Bacon Wraps

I know you are not going to want to hear this but it is about time for Back to School.  I found this recipe and couldn't wait to try it.  This recipe is a good alternative to ham sandwiches or pb&j.  I think it should hold well in a lunch box too.

Flour tortillas, black beans, cream cheese, taco sauce and then some toppings of your choice and this lunch is ready.

You start out with 4 oz cream cheese.  I use fat free and it works well.

Mix those two ingredients together.

Drain and rinse a can of black beans.

Chop a medium bell pepper pretty finely.

Get out a flour tortilla ( I think you could use some of the flavored wraps too) and spread with the cream cheese mixture.

Completely cover the tortilla.  Put the remaining cream cheese mixture in a container and put in the fridge for tomorrows sandwich.

Spread some black beans down the middle.

Add some crumbled cooked bacon.

Add some peppers and cheese.  You could add onions if you like.  Of course that will give you onion breath the rest of the day.  If you like tomatoes you could finely chop some.

You will want to bring the top and bottom down and then roll.  Those of you with more experience than I with tortillas might have a better way of doing this.

Nice and neatly folded.

Wrap and place in the fridge.  You could make these the night before and have them ready for the lunch boxes the next morning.

Unwrap and enjoy.

Black Bean 'n' Bacon Wrap
4 oz cream cheese softened
1 tablespoon taco sauce
4 flour tortillas
1 c black beans drained and rinsed
1/2 small bell pepper diced
3 cooked bacon slices crumbled
1/4 c cheddar cheese

Stir together the first two ingredients, spread mixture on 1 side of tortilla.  Top with black beans and remaining ingredients.
Roll tortilla tightly.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 10 minutes.

Crock Pot Chicken and Rice

It's hard to believe that it is already Monday again and with it a Crock Pot Monday recipe.

This one is easy enough.  A couple of boneless, skinless chicken breast, one can of cream of mushroom soup, medium onion, and a box of wild rice.

The two chicken breast that I had were huge so I cut them in half.  Lay them in the bottom of the crock pot.

Slice the onion and place on top of the chicken.

Then spread the cream of mushroom soup on top of onion and chicken.  I tried to cover them well with the soup.

This after a day of cooking.  I always cook in my crock pot on low.  One reason is that it is usually in the crock pot for a very long time and I don't want it to burn up.  The other reason I just feel safer leaving it on all day if it is on low.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat cook the wild rice according to the package directions.

The rice is ready to add to the crock pot.

Before you put the chicken in you might want to use a spoon and break up the chicken a little bit.

Pour the rice on top and let sit for a few minutes.

You can stir the rice around a little bit then it is ready to dish up.  Serve it with some green beans or maybe a green salad and you have a wonderful meal for those dreaded Mondays.

Crock Pot Chicken and Rice Recipe

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 medium onion, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 box wild rice

Layer the chicken onion and soup in the crock pot.  Cook on low for several hours.  About 30 minutes before serving cook wild rice according to the package directions.  Add rice to crock pot when cooked and stir.

Zucchini Tots

I know I have had lots of recipes lately with zucchini.  I won't apologize for it.  Zucchini is a very versatile  vegetable like the potato.  It is very healthy and good for you.  Plus I hear it is very easy to grow.

This is basically the same recipe from before but with a few changes.

Beat one egg well, add chopped onions to that.  Grate your zucchini a little bit before you want to start cooking so it will have time to drain well.  Add a cup or so to the mixture.

Mix well.

Add 1/4 c panko and 1/4 c parmesan cheese.

Spray a mini muffin pan with non stick spray.  Completely fill the muffin cups with the mixture.  Pat down.  Place in a preheated 400 degree oven.  Bake for about 30 minutes.

They are so nice and golden brown.

The ones on the left are made with panko and parmesan cheese the ones on the right are made with bread crumbs and cheddar cheese.  Panko vs breadcrumbs there really is no difference but you can taste the difference in the cheese.