Pasties

If my family could eat these everyday, I think they would! The are relatively easy to make... BUT they are very time consuming. There is a LOT of chopping and dicing involved. You can use a Pampered Chef food chopper for the onion and carrot, but you will want to chop the potato and rutabaga yourself.  Chopping the veggies up to a day in advance and storing them in tupperware until ready to bake may help.
This is something we make in a big batch and freeze individually. The recipe below makes 16. So for my family of 4, that will give us 4 meals.  My mom gets together with a friend once a year and they go halves on the ingredients and they quadruple the recipe. They each take about 30 home. My mom used to give me 4 or 5 per batch, but I love them so much I decided to make them on my own.  They are great for a last minute meal since all you do is take them out of the freezer and cook them for 30 mins! I serve them along side a green veggie or salad, but they really could be a meal in themselves! My mom's friend makes her own pie crust, I don't. I think Pillsbury's crust works wonderfully and saves a TON of time:)
Sorry if the recipe is a bit confusing. It's hard to explain, but the pictures I think explain the directions better. Email me if you have any further questions!

Thank you Carrie and Mom for this awesome recipe!

Ingredients:
*5 lbs russett potatoes- cubed (we used yukon gold this time) (don't cut these as small as the other veggies)
*1 lb carrots- peeled and finely chopped
*1 LARGE or 2 medium sweet onions- diced
*1 medium rutabaga (or half a large one)- peeled and FINELY chopped into cubes
*2 lbs LEAN ground chuck (93% or leaner)
*salt/pepper (I used Nature Seasoning and pepper)
*butter (aprox half sick cut into 16 slabs of butter- (1/4 T slabs))
*4 boxes Pillsbury Pie Crust (found in fridge section). Each box has two pie crusts. You will cut each crust down the center. This will make 16 pieces of crust. (See picture below)

1) Preheat oven to 375. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper

2) Mix all the veggies, the meat and the seasoning together in a large bowl. Make sure it's mixed really well (using your hands works best) and make sure the meat breaks apart and is not left in large clumps. I used aprox 1 T Nature Seasonings and 1 T (or a little more) of black pepper.

3) Take your crust and place about 1 cup full of the mixture in the center of the lower half (See picture) Then top each mound of mixture with a slap of butter.

4) Fold crust over and pinch sides together. Cut one inch slit at top of each (just over the butter slab).

5) Place 5-6 pasties on each cookie sheet. (You will have to bake these in two batches. Put second batch in fridge until you are ready to bake them.) The first batch, I did two cookie sheets of 6 and par-baked them for only 30 mintues since these were the ones I was going to freeze)

6) Fully bake the ones you will eat that night for about 45-50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

7) If you are having some for dinner that night, serve while hot and serve with ketchup!

8) The ones that you will freeze... let cool until completely cool (at least an hour) Place a towel over them while cooling. Then wrap each individually first in press and seal and then in tinfoil. Freeze for up to 3 months!

9) To make them once frozen- take directly from freezer. Unwrap tinfoil and press and seal. Wrap each with a paper towel and microwave for 3 mintues. Then bake them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Dice rutabaga in SMALL cubes 

add diced onion and carrot and cubed potatoes (Make sure carrots and rutabaga are chopped smaller than the potato since they take longer to cook)

notice potato is larger chopped. Add your meat and mix well

Once it is completely mixed (use your hands) add your seasonings and mix some more

Two round pie crusts come per box (if you get the pillsbury ones) Cut each down center. (So each box will make 4)

Take one cup of the mixture...

And place in center of bottom half of the crust.

Place slab of butter on top and fold top half of crust over. Pinch sides together (Kind of like if you were making ravioli- roll over sides and pinch)

Cut one inch slits on each (above butter slab)

Bake until golden brown.

Serve with LOTS of ketchup!!

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chicken Mug Pie (Pot Pie Soup)

Thank you Rachael Ray for this awesome recipe! I wasn't sure we'd like this, but it looked quick and easy and I had half a rotisserie chicken I had to use up along with some veggies that needed to be used soon. So I googled recipes and came across this one that had excellent reviews. Here is Rachael's recipe for Chicken Mug Pie. Below I will post her ingredients and I will also show you what I changed about it to make it my own. It is SO hard to get my kids to eat veggies, but they literally picked up their bowls at the end to drink every remaining drop! I was a proud mom!!  




*1 tube Pillsbury Grands biscuits
*sweet paprika for sprinkling (on biscuits)
*1 lb chicken breast pieces, diced  (I shredded half a rotisserie chicken)
*3 T butter
*2 ribs celery and greens from heart, chopped
*1 medium yellow onion, chopped
*1 large carrot, peeled and diced
(I also added 2 garlic cloves, minced)
*salt and pepper to taste (I used a little kosher salt, a little sea salt, some black pepper and some Nature 
     Seasonings as well as a pinch of ground cayenne red pepper and a pinch more of sweet paprika)
*2 tsp poultry seasoning (I used Montreal Chicken seasoning)
*3 T all-purpose flour
*1 cup shredded potatoes, ready to cook hash browns, available in sacks in dairy isle (I used aprox 2 cups
        because we like potatoes)
*1 pint half and half or cream (I used about 7/8 of the pint... next time I may try it with a low fat cream. I 
           wonder if it would taste as good?)
*1 quarter chicken stock, available in boxes on soup aisle
*1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
*1 cup frozen green peas (I used frozen corn instead of peas and put them in the pot the same time as 
        the potatoes)




1. Preheat oven according to package directions on biscuits and arrange them on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle biscuits with a little sweet paprika and bake for 10-12 minutes.


2. In medium pot over medium to medium high heat, cook chicken in butter 2 minutes and then add veggies and season with salt and pepper and poultry seasonings. Cook 5 minutes more. (Since I used rotisserie chicken that was already cooked, I sauteed the carrot, celery, onion and garlic in the butter until it was tender. Then I added the shredded chicken and cooked another minute till chicken was warm.)


3. Add flour and cook another minute while stirring. Add potatoes (and if you use frozen corn). Then wisk in half and half (cream) and chicken stock. Add nutmeg. Bring soup to a boil by raising heat. Once boiling, cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Add peas. Stir in to warm them through for a minute.


4. Serve mugs of soup with biscuits on top to cap the mug. (or you can serve in a bowl and use your biscuit for dipping)  :)

After everything is added, heat to a boil and then simmer.

Baked biscuits with sweet paprika on top

Fill your mugs almost to the top

Serve with a biscuit on top

Full of flavor! 

Mini Meatloaves in Really Good Brown Gravy

A friend gave me this recipe... it's a recipe that has been in his girlfriends family for a while and they really enjoy it and he told me everyone they've had over for it has asked for the recipe. So, I decided to give it a try. We loved it! Even though my husband does not like mustard, he liked this and had seconds. I did change one thing, however. My husband doesn't care for veal, and veal is a bit hard to find... so here is the break down of the meat I used:
1/2 lb lean ground beef, 1/2 lb ground pork, 1/3 lb lean ground turkey. I served mine with a side of mash potatoes, steamed broccoli and fresh baked french bread! YUM. Oh, and the best part is the leftovers made into a meatloaf and mash potato sandwich the next day! Just add warmed up mash potatoes and meatloaf to toasted bread. Add some extra ketchup and lettuce... YUM


Ingredients:
*1 1/3 lbs meat loaf mix (beef, pork, and veal)
*1/3 cup plus 2 T ketchup, divided
*1/3 cup dried bread crumbs
*1 large egg, beaten
*1 T dijon mustard
*2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
*1 tsp salt
*1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
Gravy:
*3 T unsalted butter
*1/4 cup all-purpose flour
*2cups canned reduced-sodium beef broth
*salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


 Instructions:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly oil 9x13 baking dish. 


Combine the meat loaf mix plus accompanying ingredients (minus the 2T of extra ketchup) in a large bowl (your hands work best). 


In the baking dish, shape the meat mixture into six 3" wide mounds. Poke your finger into the middle of each mound to make a hole. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in meat loaf reads 165F, about 40 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of baking, spread the remaining 2 T ketchup over the mini loaves. Transfer them to a platter with aluminum foil to keep them warm. 


Tilt the baking dish and spoon out the clear fat, leaving 1 T juice in the pan, place over 2 burners on medium heat. Add the butter and melt it. Sprinkle with the flour and whisk well. Whisk in the broth and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, whisking often, until the gravy is smooth and thick, about 3 min. Season with salt and pepper. 


Serve the meat loaves hot with the gravy passed on the side.

Mixing 3 meats and rest of ingredients

poke thumb in top of each mound

after baking and adding additional ketchup

melting butter in juices from the meatloaf

add flour, whisk. Add broth, whisk.

Dinner is served!

Thanks Adam and Michelle for this recipe! :) Keep them coming!!  I love easy to make comfort food!

*** 6/8/11- I made this dish again today and did it a little different. I used more turkey than the other 2 meats this time. I also only used half the amount of the mustard it called for and I did a half cup of ketchup instead of 1/3. I used Italian seasoned bread crumbs instead of the plain ones this time since that is what I had on hand. I think it added extra flavor. I also finely chopped up some frozen spinach I had on hand into the mixture. We served with mash potatoes, the gravy and corn. It was awesome!!

added the spinach to the mixture

Excellent! One of our favorite new meals. My 14 month old ate a whole one along with  the potatoes and corn!!

I love it the next day as a meatloaf sandwich!!

Homemade Sloppy, Sloppy Joes

I HATE Manwich. Always have... I was given this recipe about 7 years ago and make it often. About 90% of people who try it get the recipe and can't go back to the canned version of Sloppy Joes. I've even been told by people that they didn't like sloppy joes before trying these!

*2 lbs lean ground beef
*Small sweet onion chopped
*1/4 Cup distilled white vinegar
*1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
*1/4 Cup white sugar
* 1.5 Cups of Ketchup

When I make this recipe I never even measure anymore... you can add more vinegar to make it extra tangy or extra sugar to make it sweeter, or extra ketchup to make it sloppier... it's your call

1. I first start by sauteing the onions in a little bit of EVOO and some nature seasonings (or just salt and pepper will do)
2. Add meat and brown till done.
3. Add all the other ingredients, stir well, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Taste and add more of what ever you'd like depending on the taste you are going for.
4. Serve on hamburger buns. Some like with cheese on them. I like served along side chips and a pickle.


**One friend adds a little less ketchup and about 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce. Another friend adds a few stalks of chopped celery at the end to give it a little crunch as well as a few dashes of lawry's salt.  Make it your own and enjoy!! Let me know how you like yours!!

chop onions finely

saute onion with a little olive oil and seasonings (Nature seasonings or salt and pepper)

Add Ground beef once onions are sauted. Brown till done. Add any other seasonings you wish (Lawry's season salt, garlic powder...). Then add your vinegar, sugars and ketchup. Simmer. Taste and add anything else you think it needs!

Served on a bun (with or without cheese). Also shown here is my parmesan crusted zucchini. http://realmomsrealdinners.blogspot.com/2011/06/parmesan-crusted-zucchini.html