Shepherd’s Pie

Sandra Sells — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 15:38:13 +0000

When growing up, there were three or four favorite recipes that we repeatedly made in my mother’s house, and I bet your family did the same thing. These days, I find myself going through seasons where certain meals in our house are repeated. I think it’s because they’ve become our family favorites, especially for the weeknights. Kodi and I find food to be our creative outlet and something that inspires us as part of living well and loving well. We love to cook and make new creations in the kitchen, but sometimes you just need to make that family favorite you have made so many times before. The kids love it, and you usually have the ingredients in the fridge or freezer. The dishes that were my favorites when I was growing up were definitely chili, taco bowls, barbeque meats, salad and my mother’s famous shepherd’s pie. Today, I thought I would share with you one of our family favorites – our Simply Sells shepherd’s pie. My father is a British man straight out of Yorkshire, England. My mother is a Colombian lady who found herself in England at a very young age. It’s in England where my mother met my father. She picked up a few good recipes along the way that have found their way into our kitchen at the Sells house. I wouldn’t call them generational traditions, just good home cooking inspired by a combination of both the Hispanic and British sides of my parents. Shepherd’s pie is made traditionally with lamb. In our house we tend to use beef. We still call it shepherd’s pie like my mother did, but some might say our version is more like cottage pie since we use beef. Sometimes I lighten it up a bit and use ground turkey for the meat or mashed cauliflower for the potatoes. Whether ground beef or turkey, mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower this recipe is the real deal and full of flavor and deliciousness. Be ready to indulge! A bit of History… Shepherd’s pie was created in the 1800’s in England. It’s a very sneaky dish that may have come about just to cover up leftovers with mashed potatoes, and then served to the family as a new meal. Genius if you ask me! I love it since I am always trying to make sure I use everything in the fridge, to limit waste. We could learn from those mommas that may have lived through lean times. Even though we may not live in lean times at the moment, one thing we have learned is that it’s important to stretch out meals and, when needed, feed a neighbor or someone in need. Making Shepherd’s Pie To make our Simply Sells shepherd’s pie, I start by melting the oil and butter in a Dutch oven pot. I like using a Dutch oven because I can make the whole recipe right in the same pot – anything to save a dish in my opinion (who likes doing the dishes). This also makes it easy to store the leftovers because you can just cover the pot with the lid. After the butter and oil melts, add your onions and carrots, and then sauté them until softened and the color begins to brown. Next, stir in the tomato paste and let it begin to deepen in color for a couple minutes without burning. Toss in the garlic – take a minute to inhale the aroma coming from the pan. Wow! Add the lean beef, Worcestershire sauce, broth, salt and seasonings. Let it all start to combine and bubble up on the stove, and then stir in the peas. Top it with your favorite mashed potatoes. I have the recipe and ingredients listed for how we make ours, which has a coarse texture as I prefer hand mashing, which tends to leave some lumps. When I top the dish, I like to create peaks in the mashed potatoes like my mother always did. I then sprinkle the top with a most delicious cheese, to create a beautiful masterpiece. This shepherd’s pie is great to make ahead and freeze for another day. Along with being delicious, I love it because the leftovers are just as good as on the first day. I hope you enjoy our Simply Sells shepherd’s pie. It really packs a hearty punch and sneaks in yummy veggies.

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It’s The Holiday Season

Sandra Sells — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 14:59:40 +0000

Fall has come and my most favorite time of the year is starting. I love when you get that first cold front, the fire pit lights up, and out come the smores. Pumpkin spice and everything nice, is my motto. Family time is a must and the boots are coming out! I am not one to be swayed so easily but in this season I volunteer to be swayed by all this coziness as December approaches. I usually start to plan my Thanksgiving menu via Pinterest because I try to lean-up my feast to lessen the guilt. It’s just what I do. My favorite dessert that I make is a guiltless and crustless pumpkin pie. Essentially, it is pumpkin custard with a sugar free sweetener, but I really enjoy it. I serve a big slice with whipped cream of choice (usually sugar free) with a cup of coffee alongside. I am not an advocate for sugar free sweeteners because they are not that healthy for you and your gut but it’s a choice on my weightless journey. To make the crustless pumpkin pie, you need four large eggs, one 15 oz. can of pumpkin, 1/4 cup of Swerve sweetener, two teaspoons of vanilla, 1/2 cup of almond milk, two teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice, and ½ teaspoons of salt. Mix it all together, and then pour it into a lightly greased (Pam or alternative) 8 x 8 glass Pyrex pie plate or other deep pie plate, and then bake it for 1 hour at 350oF. It’s done when the pie doesn’t jiggle too much in the middle. Allow time for it to cool before serving so that it sets up nicely, and then serve it with your favorite whipped topping. This dessert has all the indulgence but a limited impact on the figure. Family time is one of the most important parts of the holiday season. I find that holiday planning and meals are great but quality time with our parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews is priceless. We spend all year being so busy that I just treasure this time. It’s amazing how much our families lives can change in a year and how mature the kids become so fast. When Christmas approaches, I love shopping for my loved ones. We’ve had years where the number of presents were so numerous due to the growing families that your gift was just one of many. I struggled with this because I always tried to make gifts very personalized to the person and place a lot of thought into what I make or purchase for them. I think that in different years we had more money than others but the thought was always a personal one. I’ve made changes to how I’ve given gifts to all the kids over the past few years. I’ve now started a tradition where I give the gifts privately, and most of the time not on Christmas day. It suits my desire of giving to the family and it spreads out the receipt of presents for them throughout the season. I want to see their faces as they open the gifts and be able to give them a hug with love in the moment. Maybe it’s me just not wanting to give stuff but to give love. I said that family time is the most important thing for me and it is true. What can I say, my kids are my greatest gifts and if I just had them and their giggles I would have it all. Being a parent is not easy; it is selfless and it is hard work. I have two very smart and beautiful young children who fight like siblings should and they do it well. They are getting to an age where they have their own opinions and they test boundaries. Thank the Lord that I can see beyond the moment, forgive easily, and know that putting in the hard work now will pay off in the future. They are our first ministry in life and our biggest investment. They can be exhausting but also they can melt my heart faster than you can blink an eye. Motherhood has been the most wonderful thing and has filled my life more than I expected. God is so good. I look forward to giving my kids memories and having family traditions for them to remember and pass on to their kids. I look forward to making them smile and teaching them to be grateful for the blessings they have. Christmas time for a Christian is an especially important time. It is a time of teaching them a balance of the joy of the season and also making sure they know the true meaning of Christmas. We strive to show them that the reason for the season is Jesus Christ our Savior! I know that with human history and pagan influences Christmas seems to have become more about Santa Clause, consumerism, retail sales, and a greedy spirit. But, I want my kids to know that we set this time aside to share the biggest gift of all – the celebration of a miracle – a baby named Jesus, who is the Son of God, born in a manger, the Savior of the world. God sent an angel to tell a young girl she was going to have a baby that would carry a mission to die on a cross to rid us of sin so we could live and not die. The truth is none of us are worthy of eternity in heaven but through the acceptance of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made, we carry His status of a child of God. We gather this season to remember this truth and let faith in this be our reason for everything. If I could give you, the reader, a Christmas gift it would be a prayer that you would come to know the story of Jesus and let it become real in your life. There are some that can’t look beyond the physical and can’t fathom a miracle like this. But, existence is a miracle! Life is not logical. Science does its best but you must even believe in something beyond yourself to even believe in science. My recommendation is that it is better to believe in something that gives you hope than something that ends in nothing. I pray that you and your families have reconciliation where there needs to be and that your holiday season is filled with wonderful memories and love. I pray that you are blessed today and in the days to come. I pray that you find what you are looking for in life and you live life well. Enjoy this time, even through the circumstances that we are living through in 2020. Stop and remember to be grateful for God’s goodness. He is always good! Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

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Shepherd’s Pie

It’s The Holiday Season