Irish Beef Pies

I love Martha Stewart freezer recipes. I think all of her recipes are great, but they are always so involved, so when a good/simple one comes along, I embrace it. These Irish Beef Pies are easy to make ahead and serve for dinner during the week. There are great ways to enhance this recipe by adding garlic or paprika. But this is the traditional "Irish" pie recipe. I also would want to add onions or corn. Maybe some other veggies like carrots or celery but that's your call. Great recipe, makes 8 at a time. 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 head of cabbage (won't need all of it)

1 lb ground beef sirloin

1/2 lb red potatoes

1 tbsp of tomato paste (you can use more, but i'm not a fan)

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup of water

1/2 tsp thyme

salt & pepper

2 pie crusts 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Shred the cabbage and cut the potatoes into tiny cubes.

In a sauce pan heat oil over medium heat.

Add cabbage & potatoes.

Cook for about 8 minutes until brown.

Then add beef and break up while cooking.

When they are no longer pink stir in tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, thyme, & water.

Cover, lower heat, and cook for about 15 minutes.

The potatoes need to be soft enough to mash.

After mashing with a fork season with salt & pepper.

Meanwhile, stretch out the pie crusts and split into 4 sections (use a pizza cutter).

Ideally you would want to make it more of a square then a circle, but I don't have time for that.

Place about 1/2 a cup of the filling on each square and seal up.

Crimp edges with a fork (if you're talented).

To Eat Now: Transfer pies to rimmed baking sheet (lined with foil) and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. You can rotate the pies after 5 minutes for even cooking.

To Freeze: After the insides cool, wrap in tin foil and place in freezer bags. I kept them in my freezer for about a month and used them regularly. No defrosting needed. 

To Eat From Freezer: Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.

BEFORE BAKING:

 AFTER BAKING:

Nutritional Information:

Carbs: 7.5

Calories: 362

Fat: 20

Points: 8.6

Points Plus+: 10

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Guiness Beer Biscuits

Cooking Club back in August did a Beer-Themed Night. It was amazing. Everyone had to cook with beer as one of their ingredients. Just so you know, everything tastes better when made with beer. It's so flavorful and delicious. Instead of steaming veggies in water, do it with beer instead. So good! I made this insanely delicious wasabi beer chili (stay tuned for that recipe) and since we were in need of a starch, I made these beer biscuits. Simple to make, only a few ingredients, but worth all of them.

Ingredients (this makes 12 muffins):

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 bottle of beer (I used Guinness!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mix flour, baking powder, & salt.
Cut in shortening until the dough has a cornmeal consistency.
Stir in beer.
Kneed the dough lightly.
Break off even pieces and place into greased muffin tins.
Bake about 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serve with some delicious butter!


ENJOY!


What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Homemade Italian Bread Wedges With Dipping Oil

August's Cooking Club theme was herbs. I used AllRecipes.com ingredients search to find a starch side dish recipe. I came across these flatbread wedges. It was quite a challenge since I've never made bread before, but they turned out great. 


I love the bread they give you at Macaroni Grill & dipping it in the olive oil so I wanted to mix in spices/herbs with my olive oil to create the same idea. I don't have an herb garden and I'm not very good at keeping my herbs fresh, but Darrenkamp's has these great mini herb packets that are sometimes on sale for 99 cents that are perfect for me. I used them to create both the bread & olive oil recipe. 

DIPPING OIL RECIPE:
Mix a few sprigs/leaves of basil, thyme, rosemary, & oregano in an empty jar or olive oil container/dispenser. Pour in about 1 or 2 cups of virgin olive oil and let sit for 2 to 3 days.  


BREAD RECIPE:

Ingredients:
3 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp salt
3+ cups whole wheat flour (you can use regular flour or bread flour but this is all I have)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup grated fresh mozzarella cheese






Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
Pour yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water and let it dissolve.
Add the sugar and let stand for a few minutes.
Add the salt, oil, remaining water, and at least 2 cups of flour.
Mix until smooth.
Stir in additional flour until dough is soft and not too sticky.
Place onto floured surface and kneed for about 8 minutes.
Place in a greased bowl and turn so all surfaces of the dough get greased.
Cover the bowl.
Let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes.
Take out and place on floured surface.
Pat dough flat.
Let rest for 5 minutes. 
Press into a greased 14 x 9 in pan or cookie sheet.
Cover with garlic powder, oregano, thyme, pepper, & cheese.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. 

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

I usually reek havoc in the kitchen. My poor husband. I whip up a delicious meal, but then I leave behind chaotic mess for him to clean up. So I've been trying to turn over a new strategy in the kitchen. Pre-layout ingredients as much as I can, then clean up as I go. It went very well when I made this chocolate chip zucchini bread. (see picture above). 


Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose unbleached bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1& 1/8 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 large egg, beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup apple sauce
1.5 cups zucchini, shredded


Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.
Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. 
Mix well.
Add chocolate chips and mix some more.
In a separate bowl, mix egg, vanilla, butter, apple sauce, & zucchini.
Add to flour mixture and stir until blended. 
Pour into a loaf pan. 
Bake for 45 to 55 minutes. 
Use toothpick to check to see if it's done. 
Cool for 10 minutes before slicing. 

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Low Fat Crab Dip

I know this isn't the prettiest picture, but hey, it's life! Back in May we did a special Mother's Day Cooking Club event. We invited all our moms and did a "Year In Review" where we made a bunch of recipes that we had made throughout the year. It was awesome! I wanted to do my crab dip from our Costume Party but I decided to try to do a lower fat version. 

Ingredients:

8 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

16 oz of fat free (or reduced fat) cream cheese, softened

8 oz fat free sour cream

4 tbsp lite mayo

4 tbsp horseradish
2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp white pepper

1 onion, diced

1/4 cup worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp old bay seasoning

1 pound crab meat

Directions:

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Heat frozen spinach in microwave safe dish for 5 minutes.

Drain liquid. 

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, horseradish, and mayo in a large bowl.

Stir in seasonings.

Mix in the crab & spinach.

Spoon into casserole dish.

Back in oven for 30 minutes.

I like to serve this dish with bread, crackers, cucumbers, & pretzel crisps. 

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Cheeseburger Soup

So sad I didn't get better pictures of this! Ask my in-laws for verification. It was delicious!
Served this with the sweet potato pizza.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter

1/2 pound ground beef
3/4 cup onion, chopped
2 tsp parsley flakes
salt & pepper to taste
4 tbsp butter
3 potatoes, peeled & cubed
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1.5 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup sour cream
cubes of bread, homemade croutons, or crackers to top


Directions:
In a large pot, melt 1 of the tablespoons of butter over medium heat and mix in beef and onion.
Mix in salt, pepper, & parsley.
Add broth & potatoes.
Bring to a boil. 
Then lower temperature and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. You'll want the potatoes to be soft.
Melt the remaining butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. 
Stir in the flour with the melted butter. Make sure it's mixed in completely.
Add the milk to the butter/flour mixture. 
Then add that mixture to the soup a little at a time. You want to be stirring constantly during this whole process.
Bring to a boil. 
Then lower temperature and add cheese. 
Keep at low temperature.
After cheese is melted, add the sour cream until melted through.
Serve with bread or homemade croutons. 


What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Cheeste Steak Bread Bake

This post will provide further evidence that my theory of...

PILLSBURY DOUGH + ANYTHING = SCRUMPTIOUS

If this is the first time you've heard my thesis or if you are unaware of the amazingness that is the Best Of The Bake-Off Contest Winners Cook Book then please visit my Not-So-Sloppy Turkey Joe's post for more explanation.

I was having such a Love Fest with my friends on New Year's Eve that I wanted them to all come over for dinner. You know, eat some food, (NOT PORK & SAUERKRAUT...WORST TRADITION EVER!!!!) swap new year's resolutions, play some dominoes...one last night of fun before I return to work after 10 days off. :-(

So folks came over last Sunday night and I decided to try anoter of my Pillsbury dough recipes. Somehow my results don't look as pretty as the ones in the book, but no one seems to mind. :-) This recipe served 8 (and second helpings & leftovers), so you might want to cut it in half if needed.

Inredients:

2 tablespoons of butter or margarine

2 packages of 12 oz. thinly sliced frozen sandwich steaks (i only had 1 so I used ground beef too)

2 large green bell peppers

1-2 cups of diced onion

3 cans of Pillsbury Dough grands dinner rolls (24 biscuits in all)

2 cups shredded mozzarella chese

1 egg

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, in large skillet, melt butter over medium heat and add steak. Cook 8 to 10 minutes until no longer pink.

Do not drain, remove meat and set aside on separate plate.

Add onions & green bell pepper for 5 minutes, stirring occassionally.

Return meat to skillet and season with salt & pepper, if desired.

On wax paper flatten & spread out 6 of the biscuits in a rectangular shape (see below)

Spoon meat mixture down the middle and wrap up the meat by folding the excess dough

over top of each other. (see below).

 It may be hard to get the dough off of the wax paper so just flip upside down onto a cookie sheet. [I was able to make 4 separate entities and baked 2 on each cookie sheet].

Brush dough with the beaten egg.

Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until dough is golden brown.

Hot Crab Dip in a Bread Bowl

So my amazingly awesome cooking club had a Costume Party at my house this past weekend (I know, I know who has costume parties in November??? But seriously it was awesome -- it might even be better because it's in November.) The plan was to dress in costume, bring a beverage and bring an appetizer and we awarded prizes for best costume, best drink, & best appetizer. Those who truly know me, know how competitive I am. I was determined to win something. For the life of me I couldn't come up with a good costume. I was the Spartan Cheerleader, Ariana, from SNL. It suited me well, but was not a prize-worthy costume. I tried to find a bottle of Arabella wine, because that stuff is great, but apparently they don't sell it in Lancaster County. So I knew I had to compensate by making a delicious appetizer. I settled on crab dip because everyone loves crab dip and I literally googled "best crap dip" to ensure that my crab dip was the best. I found a nice recipe on AllRecipes.com (of course) and made some changes. In the end the crab dip did win first place! Hurray! (But it was a tight race between the hot spinach artichoke dip, the cold spinach dip served in a purple cabbage bowl (scroll to bottom of page, and the addicting onion pretzels) 

Shout out to my friend Jessie who made the 2nd half of the recipe for me. I was getting ready for the party while she carved out the bread bowl. So all credit for the presentation goes to her. THANKS! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups crabmeat
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup white Cheddar cheese
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup of pecorino romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 (8 ounce) round loaf of bread
• box of crackers
• 1-2 cucumbers, sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish
3. In a large bowl, combine crabmeat, sour cream, cream cheese, buttermilk, mayonnaise, Monterey Jack cheese, Cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, old bay seasoning, pecorino romano cheese, garlic, & black pepper.
4. Stir until well mixed. Spoon dip into prepared baking pan. 
5. Bake in preheated oven until top is crusty, about 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Cut the top off the loaf of bread. Hollow out the loaf and cube the top and the removed pieces so that they may be used for dipping. Spoon hot dip into hollow bread loaf. Serve immediately with bread pieces, cucumbers, or crackers for dipping.

Here is the Spinach Dip in a Cabbage Head that my friend Jessie made for her appetizer.

Isn't it beautiful!?!?!? I'll have to ask her for the recipe.

Note the mini-pitas in the back. They were so cute!

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!