Dinner Week Exception

Hello!

As I said in my last post, with the beginning of the week, the chores rotation changes.  So, last week, it was my brother's turn to make dinner for the family. BUTTT. . . . . . On one of the nights, he wasn't going to be home in time to make it. SOOO. . . . . I was recruited to fill in for him. 
I made Shepherds Pie--an excellent meal and pretty easy to make. 

Shepherds Pie usually goes pretty fast in our family. This time, I'm going to share the recipe. The version we use is GAPS diet and Dairy Free friendly, if you use cauli-tatoes (Cauliflower mashed potatoes) instead of regular ones. 

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

*6 tablespoons of your favorite healthy fat, divided use

*1/2 cup of onion, chopped

*1-1/2 pounds ground beef

*3 cloves of garlic, crushed

*1 teaspoon salt

*1/2 teaspoon pepper

*3 green onions, sliced, optional

*4 cups green beans, 1/2" to 1-1/2" in length (2 cans)

*4 cups diced, stewed tomatoes (2 cans)

*6 potatoes or  *1 head of cauliflower 

If you use potatoes you will also need:

* Milk and or cream

* Butter

* Salt 

* Pepper

If you use cauliflower you will also need:

* Two eggs

Usually if we use cauliflower instead of potatoes, we also use the ingredients listed above for mashed potatoes. If you are dairy free, you can use milk alternatives--almond, hemp, rice, or coconut milks--and Earth Balance dairy-free butter or other butter alternatives. 

Insturctions:

1. Begin steaming the head of cauliflower or boiling the potatoes, whichever one you are using. Each will take about 20 minutes.

If using cauliflower: steam until fork tender. Be sure to steam the cauliflower well above the level of the water. This is very important as you do not want the cauliflower to be waterlogged. 

If using potatoes: boil until soft and skins are peeling slightly.

2.  Melt 2 Tablespoons fat in a skillet.

3. Add in onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add in ground beef and crushed garlic.

5. Add in green onions. Cook the ground beef until it is completely done and minced into small pieces.

6. Add salt and pepper.

7. If there is excess fat, drain and reserve for later use.  

8. While ground beef is cooking, cook green beans until tender.

9. If using cauliflower: When done, remove cauliflower from the pan and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

10. While still hot, place in a food processor.

11. Add in four tablespoons of fat--you may use the fat leftover from the hamburger, or other healthy fat--or butter. If using other dairy-related products, also add milk and/or cream, and process until smooth. 

12. Add in two eggs, pepper and salt to taste, and blend thoroughly.

9. If using potatoes: When done, place potatoes in food processor. 

10. Add in butter, milk and/or cream to taste and process until smooth.

11.  Add in salt and pepper to taste and blend thoroughly.

13. Preheat oven to 350*F. 

14. Liberally grease a 9x12 casserole dish.

15. If using cauliflower: Remove one cup of the blended cauliflower and egg mixture, beat the last egg and mix into 1 cup of cauliflower

16. Spread the above one cup of cauliflower or half of the mashed potatoes on the bottom of the casserole dish. Ladle on the hamburger, layer on the diced tomatoes and green beans. Finally drop blobs of the cauliflower and egg mixture or remaining half of the mashed potatoes on top and spread around carefully until the top is completely covered. 

17. Bake for 30 minutes. 

Enjoy!


Sorry that this is kind of a long and confusing recipe. I hope is wasn't TOO much so :) It really is very easy to make and not nearly half as hard as the length of the recipe implies :)

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you had a great one, and may you always remember the love that Christ has for you and His bride. <3 

Blessings,
Julia <3

Dinner week part 2

Hello again!

I hope you've had a spectacular day so far :D

And now it's time for the second post of dinner week.
Thursday night, I made one pot Chicken Alfredo and pasta with broccoli on top. It was really good!

Friday night, I made Chili, with carrots, chips and salsa on the side. 

Since only half the family was home on Friday to eat this meal, we had the leftovers Saturday night, and Sunday we had snack food--chips, salsa, homemade re-fried beans, celery, apples, cheese, crackers and cheese dip--you get the idea. I didn't get any pictures of it. 

So that completes Dinner Week! It is (obviously) a new week, and the chores rotation has changed. Now it's Dishes week for me, and I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in pictures of that :) So, until next month, Dinner Week is signing off.

Does your family do a chores rotation? 

"This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope: it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great it Thy faithfulness."~Lamentations 3:21-23

Blessings,
Julia <3

Dinner Week!

Hello folks!

The four oldest of us six kids switch off making dinner for a week at a time. I thought that maybe when it's my week to make dinner for the family, I should post pictures about what I made each night. Guess what? It's my dinner week! 

Warning: I'm not a very good photographer, and our camera doesn't take very good pictures inside the house. Therefore, the pics probably won't be all that great :) 

Monday night I made Taco Salad. It was scrumptious, but I didn't take any pictures. To bad, so sad :) :)

Yesterday, Tuesday I made a dish called Mongolian Beef. It was the first time we've ever made it and it turned out great! It was super easy, too--always a plus :) We also had spinach salad topped with Craisins, feta cheese (I love feta cheese on salad), sunflower seeds and mandarin oranges.

In these pictures the meat looks like kidney beans. It's not. It really is meat. And the lighter looking chunks look like potatoes. They're not. They are pineapple.

Tonight, Wednesday, I made pancakes with strawberries and bananas on top. We use a very easy pancake recipe that is an awesome go-to on nights when it's late or you don't know what to make. (That was not one of these nights; pancakes just sounded really good to most of us :))

Please let me know in the comments if you think this idea is a good one (Or if it's a boring one or anything else), and if you would like me to post recipes along with the meal posts, too. 

Do you make dinner for your family often? If so, what kind of things do you like to make?

Stay tuned for more posts to come! I have been working on writing a post this week, but it's kind of hard to write. So it's taken a little while. And I have other post-ideas popping up in my brain, too.  I hope you enjoyed this one!

"Oh taste and see that the LORD is good: Blessed is the man that trusts in Him."~Psalm 34:8

Have a wonderful rest of your week! :) :)

Julia :)