Heaven On A Bone and Rice with Pine Nuts…

This might seem like a strange combination, but it is wonderful!

 Many of you might be saying to yourself, “Pine nuts? I have never had those.”  Well if you have eaten Pesto sauce, then you have had pine nuts.

Pine nuts are actually a little sweet and tender. There is a miniscule taste of pine, that if you are not looking for it you will miss it. Where can you buy pine nuts? The baking aisle, in your grocery store or health food store.

I love this recipe it is super simple.  The broth seasoning and butter, mixed with the pine nuts, gives plain rice a warm woody taste. There are golden raisins in this recipe. My family does not care for raisins in their food; I just omit them. If you do omit them, try adding in ¼ teaspoon of crushed red peppers.

I like to pair this with a baked chicken breast recipe called Heaven on a Bone.

The recipe calls for skinless chicken breast.  I personally don’t care for bones in my chicken breast, so I use boneless skinless chicken breasts. When I received this recipe, it was a recipe of ingredients only, no amounts or measurements. I have tinkered with the ingredient amounts. I think I have come up with the correct proportions.

 Feel free though to add or subtract any of the amounts to your own liking… After all, we are not baking pastry we are cooking chicken!

The recipe calls for breadcrumbs mixed with butter. I prefer to use Ritz brand crackers because of their butter taste and omit the extra butter.

So what does this taste like? The honey gives the chicken a hint of sweetness, while also sealing in the juices. This will not be a dried out chicken breast! The crackers add a crunchy, mild saltiness and the cheese makes it a bit sharp; it really is heaven!

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Crock-Pot Shepherd’s Pie…

For this recipe, I took two recipes and combined them. I wanted something simple, quick and tasteful that would be warm and savoring to come home after the kids bowling practice.

A traditional shepherd’s pie is made with ground lamb. I used ground beef, since it was what was in my freezer.

I also cheated a bit, for the gravy; I used a jar Heinz beef gravy. I made instant mashed potatoes. You could cheat there too and use pre-packaged ones, for me it was a cost over convenience.

When I made the mashed potatoes, after pouring in the milk, I added a handful of finely grated cheddar cheese and half a sleeve of crush Ritz crackers. Again, you can use breadcrumbs, I used what I had on hand.

I did not add in any spices besides garlic and dried Rosemary. I was worried about how salty the dish would come out using the canned soup and gravy. My family thought it was missing something and added salt. They said it was missing… I thought it was fine. You could add a 2 tablespoons of red wine (if you have it on hand) to increase the flavor a bit.

1 lbs lean ground beef or lamb

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (I used PicSweet Brand 12-16-ounce bag of frozen carrots, peas, corn and green beans)

Half of a small onion, diced

2 Tablespoons of minced garlic

2 Tablespoons of dried rosemary

2 cups hot cooked mashed potatoes

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers crushed

1 cup of Kraft Cheddar Cheese, finely grated

1 10 ounce can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup

1 12ounce jar of Heinz Beef Gravy

Optional 2 Tablespoons of red wine

Directions:

Brown ground meat, drain

In crock-pot on low heat, combine meat, vegetables, soup, gravy, 1 tablespoon of rosemary, 1 tablespoon of garlic. Wine if you chose

Mix ½ cup of cheese, remaining rosemary and garlic with half of the crushed crackers into the mashed potatoes.

Pour and spread potatoes evenly on top of meat mixture.

Top with remaining cheese, cover cook for 4-6 hours.