Shepherd's Pie

First off, I need to thank my buddy Kari for putting this back on my radar. Even though I'm married to an Irishman, I completely forgot that shepherd's pie is delicious, affordable and makes plenty of leftovers.

Before I embarked on my shepherd pie making journey, I asked my husband what he recalled the most about the best shepherd's pie he ever ate. His response was flavorful meat. Six shepherd's pies later, this is the recipe that both boys ate with gusto. Here's what you need:

1 lb. ground beef (you could do any ground meat here)
1 carrot, sliced into rounds
1 large onion
1 packet brown gravy mix
a scant 1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce
2 Tbs. pasta sauce
2 Tbs. flour
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 package instant mashed potatoes (feel free to make your own).
a handful of peas (optional)

Preheat your oven at 325 degrees. I usually go ahead and get the mashed potatoes and carrots going. For the carrots, simply slice them thin and put them in a sauce pan of simmering water. Cook them until soft (about 5-10 minutes). Follow the directions on your instant mashed potatoes (I usually get ones that have butter and herbs already incorporated), but it usually consists of boiling water, adding potatoes and stirring. That's it.

For the meat, you're going to need a large, deep saute pan. Add a little bit of olive oil and throw your onions in there. Give them about a 5 minute headstart and then add in your ground beef.



While your ground beef is browning, add your gravy packet to 1 cup of water and dissolve.



Once the meat is browned, add in the flour...



and your gravy...



and the pasta sauce (whatever you have in the fridge is fine)...



and the Worchestershire sauce. I usually add about a tablespoon or two less than a 1/4 cup.



Ok folks, just mix it all together, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. You will notice it thicken noticeably.



Time to assemble - first add your meat in the bottom of your casserole dish.



Then, drain your carrots and add both them and the peas on top of the meat mixture. The Irishman doesn't care for peas particularly, but he likes the color they add and claims that, "It just isn't shepherd's pie without peas." Who am I to argue with that? So, I just add a handful of frozen peas on top of the carrots.



Next, I spread the mashed potatoes over the top using a spoon and my fingers to get it evenly on there. I'm usually a mashed potato purist, but I have to say that instant potatoes have come quite far in the last 10 years or so (which is when I last had them).



Finally, sprinkle on your 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.



Now, pop it in the oven at 325 and bake for 20 minutes. And that's it! Take it out of the oven and serve.

No Napping Here

Yesterday, Parker was tired. Very tired. He (again!) fell asleep in his highchair before finishing his lunch, yet when the Irishman tried to move him to the bed, Parker insisted that he did not need a nap and asked that he be put in the recliner instead...



...where he promptly passed out. When he woke up two hours later, I asked him if he had a good nap. His response? "Mommy, I was just closing my eyeballs. Parker doesn't nap." And so it is that Parker joins the ranks among the males in my family who pass out in recliners daily.

Meatball Subs

Sometimes, I just don't feel like cooking. It's shocking, but it's true. Some days, I may have something wonderful planned for dinner, but over the course of a long day, I get home and the last thing I want to do is stand in the kitchen.

On days like those, I make meatball subs. They are my saving grace when I have hungry boys who, left to their own devices, would eat either pizza or ramen noodles.

It's super easy. I just put half a jar of spaghetti sauce in a small sauce pan. I drop in 8 or so frozen meatballs (either homemade or store bought) and I let the meatballs simmer in the sauce for 25 minutes.

When the meatballs are done, I toast hoagie rolls in the toaster oven until they're lightly browned. Then, I load the hoagie with meatballs, adding a tablespoon of extra sauce on top. Finally, I grate provolone cheese on top and sprinkle the finished product with parmesan cheese. (I grate the provolone instead of adding slices because the grated cheese melts simply from the heat of the meatballs whereas the slices need additional heat either from a microwave or toaster oven).

And that's it. The boys get a hearty meal and I get to curl up on the couch with cereal and a glass of wine. Pure bliss on long days.

Double Cheesy Bagels

Once of the first things to go when I started our budget was my random runs to coffee shops and bagel shops. When I actually looked at the cost of bagels in the supermarket, I was floored to see that 6 bagels cost less than $2, when a single bagel with cream cheese at the bagel shop was almost $3. Most unfortunate.

So, I decided that I could still get my scrumptious bagel shop creations, but I would have to put in the legwork for it. Fortunately, that consists of 2 minutes of my time. One of my favorite things to order was a bagel with veggie cream cheese on the bottom, topped with a slice of tomato and finally topped with a slice of cheese. Then, it's melted. Yummmmm...

The first step is to toast the bagel first. I usually pop it into the toaster over for about 60 seconds just to firm it up a little bit.



Then, I put a light shmear of low-fat veggie cream cheese. I always use the word "shmear" in reference to spreading cream cheese on bagels. I'm sure there's a reason for it - I just forgot what it was.




Next, I top it with an uber-ripe tomato. Since I'm at home and not at the frugal bagel shop, I use more than a single slice of tomato so that every bite has some tomato-y goodness.



Finally I top it with a slice of cheese. This happens to be colby jack, but provolone and cheddar are excellent as well.



Finally, I put it back into the toaster oven and melt the cheese.



Wait for it...



Oh my melted cheesy goodness. This bagel makes me so happy. The tomato adds a nice, juicy freshness to the mix and the two cheeses blend to perfection. The bagel has a nice crunchy outside from our double-toasting and the inside is warm and soft. This bagel makes me happy and better yet, it makes me full. And that is definitely a good thing.

Arrival

The last two weeks have been completely crazy. I've been attending meetings and receptions back to back and I scarcely had 48 hours of solitude before classes started.

Today was my second day of classes and in between the students rushing in and out, it hit me. I'm here. I finally made it. I'm a tenure-track Assistant Professor at a university that needs me. Holy smokes!

I almost jumped up out of my chair in my office to do a happy dance...but that wouldn't have seemed very professor-like. My office is spacious and lovely and amazingly, is located the same building as my classes. I can find parking right outside of my office at any time of the day and I can make a cup of coffee and saunter upstairs to teach just minutes before class time starts.

I get to interact with college students and work with bright, eccentric, wonderful people. I can wear jeans and flip flops if I feel like it and I can teach from home if I'm sick or the weather is bad.

Most importantly, I get paid to study and teach what I love. Hell, I get paid to travel to conferences to present my research to other like-minded people. Please pinch me because I can't believe that I'm finally here.

And please remind me of this when I want to strangle my students and hide in my spacious and lovely office. Thank you.

Shrimp With Linguini

I love shrimp. I love shrimp cooked a variety of ways. I particularly love restaurant style shrimp scampi. What I don't love is the 1,000 calorie price that goes along with the butter laden dish, so naturally, I made my own version at home that's just as tasty, but much healthier for you. Oh, and it passes the guy test. A buddy of mine called me in a panic because he had to make Valentine's Day dinner and this was the recipe I sent to him. It turned out great and trust me, if he could make it, so can you.

Here are our ingredients:

1 lb. of shrimp
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot chopped (optional - I include this if I have shallots on hand)
1/2-3/4 stick of butter
1 cup white wine
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
fresh parsley

*With regard to the shrimp, if there's a big savings buying them with the shell on, I'll just peel and devein them as soon as I get them home from the store. If the already peeled and deveined shimp is about the same price, I'll buy them instead and save myself the hassle.

I always get my large pot of water going before I even start gather my ingredients since this dish comes together in about the time it takes for the linguini to cook. In a separate large saute pan, melt your butter.



If I have company, I might throw the whole stick of butter in there, but for just us, I usually stick closer to half a stick. (The restaurant version uses about 3 sticks!) Next, add in your garlic and shallots (if you have them).



Cook just a minute or two before adding in the shrimp.



After about 3 minutes, add in the wine and the lemon pepper. I usually toss in a teaspoon of salt as well. It's really important that you don't overcook the shrimp, so if they're cooking fast, add the wine as soon as they're mostly pink, even if only 1 minute has passed.



Cook for an additional minute while stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and drain your pasta. Put the pasta back into the pot and add the shrimp and sauce in with the linguini. Throw in the parmesan cheese and about a 1/2 cup of chopped parsley.



Stir and serve. I usually garnish with another sprinkle of parm and fresh parsley.



This shrimp has the buttery goodness of the restaurant scampi, but it tastes much lighter and you won't feel like you need to be rolled away from the dinner table at the end of the meal. A bonus is that you can always find deals on shrimp (I got this lb. of wild shrimp for $7.99) so the meal comes in at under $10. Bonus!

Mad Scientist

So, ever since I made the switch to instant coffee, the sky is the limit as to what other coffee house drinks I can create at home. My latest creation is my at-home spin on the cafe mocha. Well, technically, it's a cross between a cafe au lait and a mocha since I'm using instant coffee and not instant espresso, but you get the point.

It's simple, just add one packet of hot cocoa mix to a large mug. Add a heaping teaspoon of instant coffee, top it off with hot water (which I usually boil in a kettle) and then add your usual amount of milk or cream. Mix and enjoy.

It's chocolately, it's caffeinated, it's an abomination of a cafe mocha and I love it. For the next round of testing, I'm going to heat up milk to see how that tastes. My guess is that it will be pretty damn good.

Things I Miss

Well, our house is more or less up and running. My syllabi are coming along and I think that I'm basically ready for the first week of classes. I've found the right stores and the right parks, but there's something I really miss that's still in Tallahassee. My friends.

I miss Meg swinging by and playing with Parker while I throw dinner together or calling her up for a last minute happy hour meet up. I miss catching up with Mel and hearing the latest craziness through which I live vicariously. I miss meeting up with my study buddy Kristina on Saturday mornings while munching on bagels and supporting each other through the labyrinth that is academe. I miss my running and cycling confessionals with Kasey like crazy. The hundreds of miles that we logged while training for our marathon were truly some of the most rewarding (and painful) of my life. Man, do I miss those 5:30am runs.

I also miss the cows that we'd see on our runs.



These cows, found on a large pasture at the edge of the huge subdivision that we used to run through, were such a welcome sight.



I remember the first time I saw them. I was so floored that there were actually cows there. Big black and white cows that were our signal that another 5 miles had passed. I remember thinking that they were our cheerleaders helping us struggle through another loop.



Yup, I miss the cows and all of my human friends from back home. I know that I'll eventually make new friends here and one or two of them will become fixtures in my life for years to come and while I'll celebrate those friendships down the road, today, I just want my old buddies back in one place.



I miss you all.

Moving On Up

This sad, pathetic machine is what was installed in the house that we're renting.



It ran, but it was filthy (as in splattered paint and gouges), rusted on the inside and it was also missing an exterior panel that covered the electrical cords. Can you say safety hazard? So, I decided to pretend that it didn't exist and I just went about my business doing dishes by hand. Honestly, doing dishes doesn't bother me. I have to hand wash most of the large pots and pans anyway and the regular dishes only require a swipe of the sponge.

The Irishman, however, is of a different opinion. He wasn't a fan of the "dishes by hand" scenario and when my mother-in-law came to visit and took one look at the eyesore, her internal germophobe took action immediately. My in-laws decided to buy us a new, basic dishwasher. Well, the Irishman certainly didn't want to leave the new dishwasher for the landlord in the even that we moved out, but he knew that we would probably want to match our appliances in whichever house that we bought (the basic dishwasher was white). So, he decided to match the funds from the in-laws and that's how we ended up with this beautiful Bosch.



Who knew a dishwasher could be so sleek! So dashing! So quiet!



It has a time-delay feature, a child safety lock and a ton of other functionality like doing a half load and sanitization. Yup she's a beauty...

Who knew that new kitchen appliances could be so exciting? I think that this is definitely a sign that I'm getting old. The copious amounts of gray hairs didn't phase me, but this total admiration of a dishwasher...uh, yeah, I'm getting old.

Oh and in case you were wondering, the old decrepit machine is sitting in the basement and in the event that we move, we'll take this one with us and replace the old one.

Steamed Mussels

Eating on a budget doesn't have to be boring. If your menu is flexible, you can add in some spectacular dishes that won't cost you an arm and a leg. On Saturday, we went to the organic market in Asheville to stock up on our meat and seafood for the next couple of weeks (we bring a cooler filled with ice so that our purchases stay fresh. While we were there, I saw that they had a 2 lb. bag of mussels on sale for $6.99, so after a quick calculation, I mentally scrapped the halibut that I was going to get and decided to add in steamed mussels instead.

Since I had already planned on making chicken piccata and shrimp with linguine this week (which share a number of ingredients including lemons, parsley and shallots), I decided to make the steamed mussels in a white wine broth so that I would make the most of the ingredients that I was already purchasing. I've eaten this dish all over the world (literally) and this recipe ranks up there with the best of them. It's light, flavorful and frankly, I think it deserves a moment of culinary silence.

Now, a lot of people are afraid to cook mussels at home. Don't be afraid! Just follow a couple of simple rules.

(1) Have them packed on ice at the store and keep them on ice when you get home. Ideally, you want to cook the mussels either the day you get them or the following day.



(2) Right before you begin cooking, rinse the mussels under very cold water. If they're closed tightly, they're still alive. That's a good thing. If you come across one that is gaping slightly, just tap it gently under the cold water and it should close right up. Discard any mussels that remain open. In the two pounds that I brought home, I think I only had to throw three away.



For two pounds of mussels, here are the other ingredients that we're going to need:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup half and half (you could use heavy cream, but I never have it on hand)
  
• 4 tablespoons butter
  
• 1/2 a bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
• salt
  

Here, I've got the white wine, half and half, garlic and shallots ready to go.



Go ahead and add your olive oil into a large, deep skillet.



When the oil is hot, add in the shallots and garlic.



Now, if I had any patience to speak of, I would have melted in the butter next, then I would have added in the wine. After a minute, I would have added in the half and half and finally, I would have stirred in the parsley. But, I was salivating and starving, so I just dumped it all in there at once.



Once the butter had melted, I added in the mussels and liberally seasoned it with salt. Give it a good stir and throw a lid on it.



Keeping the mussels covered, they'll cook in about 10 minutes. As they cook, they open up. Any mussels that are still tightly shut after you're done cooking them need to be discarded. I only had two of those.



Give it another good stir and plate it up in a large bowl. Make sure that you get ample broth so that you can dip the mussels as you remove them from the shells.



I usually serve them with either a large plate of french fries (the traditional serving method in Belgium and France) or with a large, crusty baguette. These mussels are so delicious and nutritious. They're low in fat and packed with protein and iron. Of course, you aren't thinking about that while you're dipping them in the buttery goodness of the broth. Lord help me, I could eat these every day.

Another tip I wanted to give you is that contrary to popular belief, you can indeed reheat leftover shellfish and they'll still taste just as wonderful the next day. When I have leftovers, I store them in a medium size saucepan.



The following day, I simply put the entire saucepan (with the lid on) on the burner and turn the heat to medium-low. The key is not to recook the mussels, but simply to bring them back up to temperature. That usually takes about 5-10 minutes and they're ready to go.

Considering that the entire meal cost me less than $10 to make (and I had an entire meal of leftovers no less), I consider that definitely eating well on a budget.

Dog Love

When I was little, there was nothing that I wanted more than a dog. My first stuffed animal was a German Shepherd and every time I saw a puppy, I swooned. But, for a number of reasons, I couldn't have one. The two primary reasons were as follows: we spent the entire summer in Greece, so finding a dog sitter would have been pricey and more importantly, my parents are not dog people (yeah, a definite deal-breaker).

That's why the following images warm my heart. Parker and the dogs are buddies and they interact almost like siblings.

They annoy each other...



...and play with each other...



...but most importantly, if you mess with Parker...



...expect for Nona to take a chunk our of your ankle.



Heartwarming, isn't it?