Tag Archives: shepherds pie

Autumn, A Fall Menu + Shepherd’s Pie

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Autumn (or Fall) has definitely arrived here in North Carolina. After one windy night our deck is completely covered in leaves. I love the yellows, reds and browns at this time of year. IMG_0992

My favorite thing about the photo above is the splash of green against all those warm colors. I had to take a close up to capture the contrast.IMG_0995

It is the perfect time to pull out those winter recipes as the nights get colder. One of our family favorites, a recipe I grew up with, Shepherd’s Pie.

Ingredients (serves 4-6 people)

Tbsp Oil
1 onion, diced
250 g ground beef/ mince or 1/2 pound of ground beef (I use 96/4 ground beef)
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp Ketchup/ Tomato Sauce
3/4 Vegetable or Beef Stock
1 Tbsp Marmite (or worcestershire sauce)
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 Potatoes, chopped, cooked
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 low-fat milk
1/2 cup grated cheese

Pre-Heat Oven to 375 degrees F (or 190 C).

In a sauce pan, heat oil. Add onion and cook until glassy. Add the ground beef and brown the meat. Once meat is brown, sprinkle 2 Tbsp over the top. Mix the flour into the meat sauce. Over medium heat, add the carrots, peas, ketchup, stock, and marmite (or worcestershire sauce). Stir until blended, turn heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Place the meat mixture in a baking dish. NOTE: I like my carrots a little crunchy, if you would like them soft – cook carrots or use chopped frozen carrots.

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After draining your cooked potatoes, add butter and milk. Mash potatoes, butter and milk to make smooth mashed potatoes. Spread the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the potatoes. IMG_1001

Place the baking dish in the oven for 20 minutes. The cheese should start to brown. Remove the dish from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

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Serve with a side of vegetables (e.g. Broccoli or Cabbage).

Here is the rest of our dinner plan for the week on our $70 budget.

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER
Sunday Ham + Egg + Hash Brown  Asparagus + Mushroom Spaghetti (GF)
Monday Oatmeal + Banana + Soy Milk  Shepherd’s Pie
Tuesday Oatmeal + Banana +
Almond Butter + Soy Milk		  Split Pea and Ham Soup (Slow Cooked)
Wednesday Toast + Banana + Peanut Butter  Beef Curry + Cauliflower + Brown Rice
Thursday Pumpkin Bread  Vegetable Frittata
Friday Oatmeal + Dried Fruit  Take Out

Week Recap and Meal Plan {31.03.2013}

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This week, for me, was mostly about work. I had a day trip on Tuesday to Washington DC….there is nothing like leaving at 5:30 am and getting home at 8:00pm ;-). I was very thankful there is a Starbucks, right as you get past security at the airport, for a much needed morning coffee. The other thing is, my team is growing at work, to be ~10 people, so I spent most of the end of the week trying to put a plan together to help our group be successful.

While embarking on this exercise, I realized I needed a little more structure and realistic expectations in my life, as a whole. I need to gain more balance. How else can I (as a working mum) remain engaged with family, work, look after myself, an etsy store and have some fun ;-).

To start, I came up with a rough schedule for my blog. I say rough, as I might not have anything to share or I might be running a little behind:

DAY Blog Activity
Saturday Weekly Recap + Meal Plan
Monday Weekend of Small Finishes + Fabric Stash
linking up with Plum and June for “Lets get Acquainted”
Tuesday Recipe of the week
Wednesday WiP (Work in Progress) Wednesday
linking up with Lee @ “Freshly Pieced” 
Friday Finish it up Friday
linking up with Amanda Jean @ “Crazy Mom Quilts“

Now, on to the other planning piece the family uses,  our meal plan. We have decided that the important thing here is to make it sustainable. We are going with 4 vegetarian appropriate meals a week to see if we can stick with the plain a little better. This is our plan for week 12:

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Sunday Egg + Fruit + Soy Latte Creamy Vegetable Shepherds Pie (Hopefully 4th time the charm) 20 mins. HIT
Monday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Split Pea and Ham Soup
Tuesday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Gluten Free Pasta Bake 3-4 Mile Walk
Wednesday Oatmeal + Banana and Almond butter Zpizza (Pizza with whole wheat crust and organic ingredients) 20 mins. HIT
Thursday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Meatloaf + Potatoes + Steamed Vegetables
(Meatloaf is made with zucchini and carrots)
Friday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Vegetable Biryani (adding broccoli and left over vegetables from Sunday) 20 mins. HIT

As mentioned last week, I thought I could share how we are spending $70 a week only, for our meals, by providing a shopping list. So, here was this weeks grocery list:

Grocery list (New Stock) In the cupboard/fridge
  • Pineapple (TT)
  • Watermelon (LF)*
  • Strawberries (TT)
  • Bananas (TT)
  • Broccoli (TJ)
  • Cauliflower (TJ)
  • Green Beans (TJ)
  • Mushrooms (TJ)
  • Carrots (TJ)
  • Zucchini (TJ)
  • Soy Milk (TJ)
  • Soy Yoghurt (WF)
  • Ground Beef 96/4 (TJ)
  • Ham hocks (TT)
  • Juice (TJ, TT)
  • Split Peas (TT)
  • Brown Rice (TJ)
  • Gluten Free Pasta (TT)
  • Vegetable Stock (TT)
  • Onions (TJ)
  • Potatoes (TJ)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Flour/ WW and GF (TT)
  • Granola (TT or BJ)
  • Oats (BJ)
  • Marinara Sauce (BJ or TT)
  • Eggs (TJ)
  • Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.

Well – that is it for this long post today. Thanks for going through my thoughts with me. Hope everyone has a good week. I would love to see what you are doing for meal planning or trying to balance your life – leave a link to your post in the comments below 🙂