Shepherds Pie

If I had to list my favorite "comfort foods" Shepherds Pie would be in the top five. It conjures up flavor memories and family memories. The first time I had Shepherds Pie was at my Aunt Marie's house. When I got home and told my Mom about this amazing dinner my Aunt had made. My  Mom proceeded to replicate the dish and it was put in her dinner rotation.

Mashed potatoes on top of sauteed onion and beef. Mix in some thawed frozen vegetables and play with the seasonings. I go for oregano, salt, pepper and bit of horseradish. I made this on Saturday and just reheated it when I got home tonight. Pure comfort.

Cheesy Frankfurters, Potatoes and Peppers

When I little and I would spend the night at my Aunt Marie's house she would make fried potatoes and onions as a side dish. I loved them. The other day I was checking out some of my favorite blogs and I stopped in my tracks. Cheesy Frankfurters, Potatoes and Peppers on What's Cooking Italian Style Cuisine. It looked just like my Aunt's dish but it was baked! I knew Chris would like this. So easy you have to love it.

Grease a 13x 9 baking pan. I used 2 potatoes, 4 hot dogs, and 1 red pepper. Cube the potatoes, cut up the hot dogs, chop the bell pepper and add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. I added some chopped onion. Arrange all ingredients in your greased baking pan. Drizzle the top with olive oil and sprinkle with chili powder. Bake at 400˚ until the potatoes are browned on top and hot dogs begin to brown, stirring once or twice. The time will depend on the size of you potato cubes. You want the potatoes to get a little crisp. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top and return to the oven until it melts, about 10 minutes. I had this in the oven for almost an hour. The result was perfectly crisp potatoes. The crispy bits on the bottom of the pan were the best. As Chris said, it was delicious!

Fried Chickpeas and Sausage and Ice Cube Tray Cookies

This is my new favorite Sunday night dinners. I love fried chickpeas. Tonight instead of spinach I used escarole and kale... I think I liked it better than the spinach. Need to see the recipe? Click Here.


So these Ice Cube Tray Cookies... My Aunt Marie use to make these all the time. While  I was making these cookies I was thinking about how fortunate I was to grow up in a family were there were always amazing baked goods.

To start off you take an Ice Cube Tray... Yeah I found these in my Dad's basement... Mom use to make these cookies too!

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup nuts
3/4 vegetable oil
1/1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder

Method

Preheat oven to 350.
Beat eggs, add sugar, oil, flour, vanilla and nuts. Grease ice cube trays. Fill 1/2 full, bake for 30 mins. Slice on an angle when cooled.

Now I added chocolate shots, coconut and Rice Krispies. I also put them back in the oven after slicing them, like a biscotti. They tasted exactly as I remember my Aunt Marie's. Amazing how a simple cookie and bring back such happy memories.

Oh and one more thing... for lunch this week I made Greens with Carrots, Feta Cheese and Brown Rice.

 

It was Saturday's recipe of the day from Whole Foods. I am planning on adding some chicken to it tomorrow, and perhaps some tofu later in the week.