Vegetarian/Vegan Shepard’s Pie

Lentil Shepard’s Pie (Vegan)

1 medium/small yellow onion - chopped

4-5 fresh mushrooms (Baby Bellas) - chopped 

10 oz package frozen veggie

2 cups cooked lentils

1 cup red wine

1 cup veggie stock

1 T Thyme - dry

1 T Rosemary (Pampered Chef rosemary seasoning mix) - dry

Salt & pepper

Mashed Potatoes using 4-5 starchy potatoes w/ skins

Sauté onion until it starts to turn translucent. 

Add chopped mushrooms, salt, pepper, & a splash of red wine. Sauté until mushrooms start to shrink and onions turn brown then 

add veggies, herbs, more salt & pepper. Pour in veggie stock & 1/2 of the wine, reduce just until you can run the spoon through the pan and have the liquid separate for a second

add lentils, and rest of wine, let them all get warm. 

Transfer to oven safe dish and top with mashed potatoes. 

Bake in 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

(1:3 uncooked lentils to cooked lentils)

My Ground Beef Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
4 tablespoons plain Panko bread crumbs
3 cloves of garlic - minced
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1.5 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cut shredded Parmesan cheese

Throw ingredients into a bowl and mix together. I used my hands, mixes better and is just more fun!

Shape into golf ball size meatballs. Mine made about 16 meatballs.

Heat about 4 tablespoons (enough to coat bottom of pan + a little more) of any kind of cooking oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.

Cook in two batches.

Cook about 4 minutes, turning halfway through.

A couple of things: first, make sure oil is hot before adding meatballs so that the balls don't absorb a bunch of oil, also so that the meatballs get an Awesome crust.

I may have noted this before, but I like my meats slightly underdone, so you may want to cook them longer. Cut one open and see how it goes.

I sometimes put these in marinara sauce, which is awesome, but I like to eat them plain too.

Spinach, Strawberry & Shrimp Salad

2 oz baby spinach
1/2 cup sliced & quartered cucumber
1/2 cup bite sized strawberries
1/8 - 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup low fat feta cheese
1 chopped hard boiled egg
1.5 slices of bacon crumbled
2 tablespoons of Champagne Dressing (I use Girard's)
6 oz shrimp

I bake my bacon in the oven. 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 18 minutes. I also take off and throw away the big chunk of fat after it cools before I crumble it; yes, I know that it's probably a sin to do that!

I put together my salad before I cook my shrimp. But don't mix it.

I season my shrimp with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and basil. I saute it over medium-low to medium heat, just until cooked through; only about 2 minutes. I immediately take it to my chopping board and cut the shrimp either in half or into thirds.

Top salad with still warm shrimp and them mix up the salad.

Pinapple Salsa

1 cup packed chopped fresh pinapple
1/2 cup chopped tomato (without seeds)
1/8 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
1 large clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh cilantro

This is super simple & quick! One of those that tastes Amazing after it sits for a day, too! I used an orange tomato (which is a tad sweeter and less tangy than a red one), just because they had some awesome looking ones at the farmers' market that morning. We ate this with pita chips, but I also put some on top of a hamburger and it was Fantastic!

Awesomely Simple Smoothie

This one I dreamed up last night! I don’t really like crazy sweet things especially in the morning, & this is perfect! 

 

1 small container Plain Greek Yogurt (the container I had was 5.3 oz)
1/2 cup Green Tea (I made it last night & stuck it in the fridge to chill, I used the Lipton Orange, Passion Fruit & Jasmine Green tea)
1/2 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1/2 - 1 cup Fresh Strawberries
1 Tablespoon Honey
6 Large Ice Cubes (maybe 9 medium sized ones)

All of these measurements are approximate don’t forget! If you don’t have vanilla protein powder, probably about a tablespoon of vanilla extract would work pretty well I think.

I use all sorts of different fruit in this. In the off season, I just go with the frozen no added sugar fruit and reduce the amount of honey.

Update: When I went on the Paleo Diet for a while, I substituted a banana and probably about 1/2 a cup of unsweetened almond milk for the Greek yogurt.

Give it a try! I Love it!

Pesto Meatballs

Okay, here goes my first attempt at taking a “throw-&-go” recipe of mine (one where I just throw all the ingredients together without really measuring them & hope for the best) and making it usable for others!

I was first going to attempt these when no one was home but me, well then (of course) my mom showed up and then my brother and his girlfriend! So I just crossed my fingers, rolled up my sleeves, and went to work on my meatballs hoping that they would turn out to be edible! Well, they did, and not only were they edible, they were pretty darn good too!

A few things for you to consider while reading & (hopefully) making these meatballs: the first couple of times I used ground chicken but now I use ground turkey, both are good, but the turkey just adds more flavor IMO; I’ve always done my pesto sauce without nuts for some reason, and I think that works for the best in this recipe; I tried my best to write out all the measurements, but if something looks to be too much or too little, go with your instinct (that’s what I always do)!

PESTO

3 – 1/4 oz packages of fresh Basil

3 med. to small cloves of fresh Garlic
3/8 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Dried Parmesan Cheese (the ones in the plastic canister)

Smash & chop garlic, not a lot, just enough so it will spread out when put in food processor (or blender). Put basil and garlic in food processor, using puree setting blend until basil is finely chopped & garlic is combined throughout.

With food processor on, stream in olive oil.

Add Parmesan cheese to food processor mixture, blend until combined throughout.

MEATBALLS
1 lb Ground Turkey (or Chicken)
1 large Egg
1/6 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
Pesto
1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese, plus more to sprinkle on top of meatballs

In a bowl, combine ground meat, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, pesto, & 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese. Mix together with hands until combined throughout.

Shape into 1 inch balls and place in a large casserole dish, totally okay if they are touching. (I always spray my dish with Pam Olive Oil spray first, but I have no idea if this is necessary or not!!) Sprinkle each meatball with a little bit of shredded Parmesan cheese. Makes about 15 balls.

Bake at 350 Degree (F) oven for 20-25 minutes. (NOTE: I usually do 25 minutes, but my oven Always seems to need more time than what recipes call for, so they probably will only take about 15-20 minutes!!)

I like to serve them with a fairly simple salad and some nice crusty bread.
Hope you enjoy!