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 :-)

Taco Cups

One of my favorite dishes to make is the Taco Ring. (Pillsbury Dough + Taco Meat = Amazingness) I was asked to bring an appetizer for a dinner party so I decided to make these "mini taco rings". You might see them called taco muffins or taco cups. Either way, they are delicious!

There are lots of different ways to do these. I've seen them with wonton wrappers, pillsbury dough biscuits, or crescent rolls, dough from scratch, and tostito chips. I went with pillsbury dough biscuits. 

I've seen these with black beans, salsa, ground turkey, and ground beef. I went with extra lean ground beef. You can throw in diced onions too. I went with avocados & tomatoes. But you can top with lettuce & sour cream. Endless possibilities, make them your own. 



Ingredients:
3/4 pound lean ground beef or turkey
1 envelope of taco seasoning or 1/4 cup
1/2 cup water
1 can Pillsbury biscuits
1/2 cup tomato, diced

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese or mexican blend
1 avocado diced


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cook ground beef in skillet until brown.
Stir in taco seasoning & water.
Simmer for a few minutes until water is evaporated.
Meanwhile, spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
And place 1 biscuit in each muffin cup and press down on the bottom and partway up the sides forming a cup. (I had 10 biscuits, but used a muffin pan for 12 - see picture).

The trick is to really form a thin muffin cup. It will bubble up when it cooks and you want to make sure they meat & cheese doesn't overflow.
Add meat/onion mixture into center of each cup, but don't add too much.
Bake in oven for about 10 minutes. 
Top with shredded cheese and cook for an additional 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Top avocado & tomato after removed from the oven.

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 :-)

Sweet Potato Pizza

This is an addicting dish. You've been warned! Perfect as an appetizer or an entire meal. I apologize for the sloppy pictures. I was on vacation!

Ingredients:
1 can of pillsbury pizza dough (or other pizza dough will do)
4 sweet potatoes, peeled & sliced into coins
2 tomatoes, cut into slices
1 15 oz. container of fat free ricotta cheese
garlic salt
olive oil or misto spray
3 cups of fresh spinach, arugula, or other type of lettuce (I used a big of spring mix)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (optional)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Spread out pizza dough on pan.
Cover with ricotta cheese. You probably won't need to use the whole container, just enough to cover the whole area with a thin layer.
If you have a misto, skip the next step....
Toss 1 tbsp of olive oil with the sweet potato slices.
Cover ricotta layer with sweet potato and tomato in any combination you want. You can have them overlap or spread them out. See picture.
Spray with misto.
Sprinkle garlic salt over pizza.
Place in oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pizza halfway through.
With one minute left, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Top with lettuce after you remove from oven. Cut & serve.


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 :-)

Mexican Pot Pie

We had friends over putting in our new patio this past spring. (Thanks, guys!) They did an awesome job and we promised them a full meal for their help. So while they were working outside I was working in the kitchen to make this Mexican Pot Pie. It is from the Best of Pillsbury Bake-Off book. Yum! I wound up doubling the recipe and making two whole pies. (I had a lot of hungry men at my house). 


Instead of buying raw chicken and cooking it, I decided to take a short cut (no pun intended) and use the Purdue chicken breast Short Cuts - Southwestern Style. It seemed just too perfect (they were on sale) for me to pass up. 

Ingredients:

1 container of pie crusts (2 crusts per box)

1 package refrigerated southwestern-seasoned chicken breast strips, thawed

1/2 cup uncooked instant rice

1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can kernel corn with red & green peppers, drained

1 can of whole black olives, drained & sliced

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup fat free sour cream

1 cup chunky-style medium salsa

2 cups shredded cheese, mexican-style

1 egg, beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare pie crust as directed in pie plate.
In a large bowl mix chicken, rice (uncooked), beans, corn, olives, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, sour cream, & salsa.
Pour into each crust-lined pie plate.
Top with second crust. 
Seal edges and attempt to make the edges fancy. (I didn't bother).
Cut slits in several places.
Brush top with beaten egg and top with parsley.
Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
Then cover edges of crust with foil and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. (this prevents the edges from burning too much).
Let stand for a few minutes, then serve. 

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 :-)

Broccoli Calzones

This is from Martha Stewart's recipes. She has got a ton on her website and specifically has great freezer ones. I must admit her recipes are great, but usually very time consuming. This broccoli calzone one is fantastic however! It doesn't take that long to prepare and cook. Scroll to the bottom for nutritional information.


Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 packages (10 ounces) frozen chopped broccoli thawed
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 1 package of pillsbury pizza crust or seamless dough, thawed
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Prepared tomato sauce (optional)
• 1 medium red onion finely chopped
Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and cook for a few minutes.  Then add broccoli, garlic, and pepper flakes.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat. If you plan on eating this immediately then form your calzones on a lightly floured surface. If you plan on freezing it for later then form your calzones on a piece of plastic wrap. Use flour if needed, but I did not. Stretch the dough out, you can try to make more of an oval shape for the calzone effect, but once again, i'm not trying to be Martha Stewart here.  Stir parmesan, ricotta, and mozzarella into cooled broccoli mixture Add lots of salt and pepper.  Pour the cheese/broccoli mixture onto one half of the side of the dough. Then fold the other half of the dough over top. Seal and feel free to get fancy with your edges. Cut two slits into the top. Transfer calzones to baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Serve with tomato sauce, if desired. 

OR...if you choose to freeze, wrap up in plastic wrap, then seal in plastic ziplog bag and place in freezer up to 2 months. When you are ready to eat you can take it directly from the freezer, unwrap and bake on baking sheet for 35 to 40 minutes. 

I would normally just recommend NOT using Martha's recipes simply because the picture of how her recipes turn out and how my recipes come out, just don't compare. But I learned a long time ago to stop comparing myself to others. So just don't try to live up to this unrealistic standard. In fact, check out this great blog: http://www.wearenotmartha.com/. 

(Does not include Tomato Sauce for dipping)

Servings: 4      Calories: 402      Fat: 13.5      Points: 8.5      Points Plus: 11

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 :-)

BBQ Pizza Bake

This recipe is from Pillsbury dough. It's delicious and feeds a lot of people for a short amount of work.


Ingredients:
1 pound of extra lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp of onion powder
1/2 cup to 1 cup of barbecue sauce
1 can pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls formed into 1 flat collection of dough or just use pizza crust or seamless dough
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large skillet cook beef and onion over medium heat until cooked through, stirring occasionally.
Add onion powder.
Stir in barbecue sauce. 
Reduce heat, simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, prepare the dough. Place in 13x9 pan.
Press into bottom and 1 inch up the sides.
Spread hot meat mixture over dough. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes until edges of crust are golden brown.

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 :-)

Mexican Pizza

We had a late night at our house on Saturday night. We came back from a birthday party and a bunch of us stayed up eating, talking, and watching EPIC meal videos on You Tube. (You think I should make one of those meals for my blog???)

I knew the boys were starting to get restless (and devouring all of my puppy chow) so I had to make something for everyone to eat for dinner. I had this mexican pizza recipe that I wanted to try out, so I went for it.


Check out Green Lite Bites for other cool recipes. My recipe below is modified from the original recipe, but it turned out great and the boys enjoyed it. 

Ingredients:
1 container of Pillsbury dough pizza crust
1/4 cup of Goya-brand cooking base cilantro (or enough to cover the pizza) or you can use dried cilantro (see picture)
1 can of fat-free refried beans
2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles or salsa, drained
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1.5 to 2 cups of mexican-style cheese, shredded (or whatever other cheese you have)
chili powder and/or taco seasoning



Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Spray a rimmed cookie sheet with olive oil spray
Open and unravel pizza crust, lay on the cookie sheet
Spread refried beans evenly on crust with spatula
Do the same with the cilantro
Top with tomatoes & peppers
Sprinkle with a little bit of chili powder or taco seasoning
Top with cheese
Cook in oven for about 20 minutes, maybe longer. You want to make sure the crust is crispy all the way around and cheese is melted.

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 :-)

Muffin Quiche

These mini quiches in Pillsbury dough are amazing! Do you have a heart-shaped muffin pan? Use those, the final outcome is great!

I made these for our Sunday morning gathering at church. It was a fun change compared to the usual quiches I like to make. Like I said, anything with Pillsbury dough = fabulous. 

Ingredients:

2 cans of grands biscuits or crescent rolls (12 to 18 biscuits)

1 box of frozen spinach, thawed & drained

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray muffin tray with olive-oil spray.

Press each biscuit into regular size muffin cups in tray.

Bake for 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix eggs, milk, salt, and pepper into medium sized mixing bowl.

Whisk & stir in cheese.

Remove biscuits from oven, they will have raised a little bit. (see picture)

Press down centers with a spoon or other kitchen item (I used a 1/4 measure cup, see picture above). Be careful they will be hot.

Spoon in about 1-2 tablespoons of spinach into the center of each muffin/biscuit.

Then pour in egg mixture into each partially baked biscuit pass the spinach amount.

Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Remove & 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 :-)