Shepherd's Pie

I just made the Simply Recipes version of Shepherd's Pie and it's blowing both of us out of the water. WOW. This is going into regular rotation for its ease of preparation and absolute deliciousness.

I  modified by making it with those Morningstar Crumbles instead of meat. The veggies I added to the mix of meat and onions were chopped carrots, corn, and Le Sueur Early Peas (straight from the can, rinsed, to keep things easy). I also added just a tiny bit of garlic powder to the browning meat, and used kosher salt for my salt.

I put J on mashed potato duty. To make the mashed potatoes, he used the recommended amount of butter, a tiny dash of powdered onion, a tiny dash of garlic powder, and a tiny dash of milk.

Don't skimp on the butter, this stuff is amazing. I always love her recipes anyway, but WOW. Easy, and mind-blowingly delicious. And totally vegetarian if you want it to be. Bookmark her site!

Working Lunch

What to do when you have an abundance of potatoes and you're busy trying to make deadlines on various and sundry over the weekend? Amazing baked potatoes, of course.

1. Take baking (or otherwise) potatoes, clean and scrub. Stab a few times with your fork so you don't get any 'sploded potatoes.
   
2. Douse with olive oil (nice and wet), generously coat with lemon pepper (Lawry's and Trader Joe's have a great one with salt, garlic, onion, lemon, and pepper).
3. Bake in oven at 400F for about an hour (until they're pretty squishy with the fork and the skin seems kinda crusty). Flip them over in the middle of baking if you're concerned about evenness, and add extra time if you have a monster potato.
   
4. Tear up in a bowl, douse with butter, sour cream, and any leftover pieces of bacon/smart bacon (fake'n) from breakfast. Douse with a very generous helping of salsa (I used Muir Glen cilantro salsa).
5. Groan with delight.

Easy, super yum, lets you attend to other stuff with very minimal involvement. Way, way better than microwave.

EBChiladas

Ok, Jason loved these so much he calls them EBChiladas now. I'll take it ;-) Super easy, and can be meaty or vegetarian. Sorry, no picture. It's just not the prettiest. But things that taste awesome often aren't. It's not really low-fat, but it's not designed to be. Use your brain to make modifications to cut fat/calories. And hey, go for a smaller serving size.

I used the Easy Chicken Enchiladas recipe from Allrecipes (my usual M.O.) with some modifications (my other usual M.O.):

Core Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese or American Neufchâtel cheese: lower fat! but don't go fat free! doesn't melt right! And don't do the French version of Neufchâtel...very different product
  
• 1 cup salsa: think about what's going to taste best "flavour wise" since there are so many salsa choices these days; I used Pace "3 Peppers" salsa found on the clearance rack at Target; a chipotle salsa would be amazing with this.
  
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast meat or tofu: I used Adobo, dried parsley, chili powder, and olive oil to cook it on the stove top.
  
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans, drained: I used half red beans and half black beans
  
• 6 (6 inch) corn tortillas: corn tortillas have lower calories; I used more like 8-10. DO NOT buy the TraderJoe's corn tortillas. Big disaster. Get the "cheap Mexican" ones at the grocery store.
  
• 2 cups shredded "Mexican blend" cheese (Monterey jack, cheddar, asadero, & quesadilla cheeses)

Topping

• One small can black olives, sliced
• One small can sliced green chiles (or slice them yourself)
• One more cup of salsa; I used Muir Glen organic cilantro salsa for this part
  
• Shredded lettuce, sour cream
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream cheese and 1 cup salsa. Cook, stirring until melted and well blended. Stir in chicken/tofu and beans. Fill tortillas with the mixture, roll and place into the prepared baking dish. Spread cilantro salsa then cheese over top. Top with black olives and green chiles. Cover with aluminum foil.
3. Bake for 30 minutes, or until heated through. Garnish with your favorite toppings such as lettuce and tomatoes, or sour cream. 
4. Prepare to moan. No, seriously. 
   

Apple & Kraut Pork Chops

My dear friend Rhonda made pork chops for dinner. Sounds pretty darned delicious, so check it out!

If you're doubtful about the sauerkraut part of this equation, go here to see that sauerkraut is quite wonderful for you. It bolsters the immune system much like kefir and yoghurt do.

Of special note from that site:  
Flu Fighter
With the spread of Avian Flu spreading across the globe, one enterprising Korean scientist, Kang Sa-Ouk of Seoul National University, took 13 chickens infected with avian flu virus and a couple of other diseases, fed them Kim chi extract and found that 11 of the birds recovered. Experts think the vital bacteria are created during the fermenting process and this gives the dish its health-boosting qualities.

Pile it on!