Pillsbury Mini Shepherds Pies

Ingredients:

• Refrigerated pie crusts
• Frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 onion
• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1/3 cup beef broth
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper 
• 24 oz mashed potatoes

Method:

1. Heat oven to 400F. Unroll pie crusts and roll each into 12 inches in diameter. Using a 4 inch round cutter, cut 6 rounds from each crust. Firmly press each round into a regular sized muffin pan, making sure to go up the sides. Bake for 7-10 minutes until lightly brown. Reduce heat to 350F.
2. Microwave frozen vegetables as directed on the package and set aside. 
3. In an 8 Inch nonstick skillet heat butter over medium heat until melted. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes. Add beef to skillet and cook until brown. Drain excess fat. Add broth, salt and pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Stir in vegetables. 
4. Cook potatoes as directed. 
5. Fill each crust with the beef mixture and top with the mashed potatoes. Bake for 25-30 minutes until crusts are golden brown and the mashed potatoes are lightly brown. I like to switch the oven to broil just before I take them add to get them a bit more brown on top. 
6. Serve with peas, mint sauce and gravy- perfect! 

Greek Turkey Burgers

It's been a long time since I posted a recipe post on here. Truth be told I got a bit lazy and haven't prepared many meals from scratch in a while. But the other week I decided to research some recipes and start preparing healthy, fresh meals for us again and I'm hoping to continue this throughout the year! 

One of my favorite recipes from the first week were these Greek Turkey Burgers. So easy to make and so delicious! The cucumber and mint sauce was to die for! 

Ingredients:

• 1lb lean Turkey
• 9oz frozen chopped spinach
• 1/4 cup fat-free plain yoghurt
• Pita bread halves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yoghurt (for sauce)
• 1/2 cup chopped cucumber (for sauce)
• 2 tsp chopped fresh mint leaves (for sauce- I used mint sauce as I couldn't find any fresh leaves)
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice (for sauce)

Method:

1. Set oven to broil. In a medium bowl mix cucumber sauce ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Cook spinach as directed and cool slightly, drain well. In a large bowl mix cooked spinach, turkey, yoghurt, oregano, garlic salt and pepper. Shape into oval patties about 1/2 inch thick. Place patties on a baking tray under the broiler (about 5 inches from heat) for about 10-12 minutes, turning once. Ensure internal temperature is 165F. 
3. Place 2 tomato slices in each pita pocket; place burgers over tomato slices and top with sauce. 
4. Serve with a delicious salad.

And there you have it- simple, easy, healthy and delicious! 

Rock The LunchBox Vox Box Review

I was so excited to be selected to review the Rock The LunchBox Vox Box from Influenster. Having such a picky eater it can be hard to find healthy foods that Calleigh will eat so I was really happy to have the chance to try out some goodies from some awesome brands!

Included in the box were coupons for Annie's pizza bagels, Annie's Bunny Grahams, Rudis, Applegate Half Time lunch packs and Honest Kids juice drinks.

 

Calleigh's favourite were the Annie's Bunny Grahams. I chose the Honey, Chocolate and Chocolate Chip mix and she loves them as a snack in between meals or as a side with some lunch. My favourite product was the mini pizza bagels- Calleigh is not a big pizza fan but I love them and find them great for a little something when you can't decide what to eat!

We used the Applegate Half-Time lunch kit when we went to the zoo. It was a kind of last minute decision as it was such a nice day and I didn't have time to make something before we left. I don't like buying Calleigh a meal when we are out in places as she very rarely eats it and it's not exactly cheap so this was great to grab on the go. She enjoyed the crackers and the cheese but didn't really touch the turkey.
The Honest drinks have been great too- Calleigh likes them and they are really handy for taking out with us when we are out and about.

We haven't yet had chance to use the Rudis English Muffins, they are in our freezer, but I know Calleigh enjoys English muffins for breakfast every now and again so I'm excited to try them on one of those days!

All in all I really, really loved this box! I love it when I can try new things with Calleigh and discovering new products is great!

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Christmas Tree Cupcakes

It's December so it's time for lots of festive baking! I love making cupcakes (and we all love eating them). Most recently I tried my hand at a very festive Christmas Tree Cupcake. The cupcake itself was made using a Christmas packet mix from Pillsbury and the icing was a can of green icing from Betty Crocker. A bit of cheating there but the actual making of this cupcake wasn't important to me, it was all about the decoration.

This was my first attempt and I must say I am quite proud of how they turned out. 

To make the Christmas Tree start with a blob of icing in the center of the cake and then work your way out to the edge of the cupcake in strips (about 4 or five should do). Next start on the upper layers using the same technique and so on until it forms a tree shape.

Calleigh loved them, she didn't care much for the shape she just wanted to dive into eating it.. And she did! 

Picky Eating

Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed Calleigh is becoming a bit of a picky eater. Picky eating is something most toddlers and young children go through so I have been expecting it. I was quite the picky eater myself when I was younger. If I didn't want to eat something because it looked funny, or smelled funny or even just because my friends didn't eat it, then I didn't eat it. In fact it was only this past year that I started eating steak and even then I order it pretty much burnt to a crisp (I don't like blood in my food) and refuse to eat it if it's a little bit pink (I know, that is like the worst think to steak connoisseurs). So I can definitely see where this phase of picky eating has come from. 

Daddy on the other hand will pretty much eat whatever you put in front of him apart from coconut and liver (don't blame him there). So I'm hoping Calleigh will follow in Daddy's footsteps instead of mine, don't think I could handle two of us being so fussy. 

As a baby Calleigh was really good and happy to try new foods and different flavours but I did notice that, while she liked most of what we gave her, she knew straight away if she didn't like something and would refuse to eat it even if offered again and again. 

One of these things was broccoli, she would not eat it, even when I tried to hide it in her mashed potato she knew and checked every spoonful before it went anywhere near her mouth. She loved mashed potato, she would eat it until it was coming out her eyeballs. 

She also loved sandwiches when she was younger, especially with cheese spread and always finished her lunch. 

Now I am beginning to find it hard to put things on her plate that she will eat. She no longer eats mashed potato and no matter how many time I put it on the plate, it is always still there when she has finished. 

She doesn't eat her fish fingers anymore and will only eat chicken nuggets bathed in tomato ketchup. 

And no matter what fillings I put in her sandwich she doesn't eat them. 

It's not all bad though, she still loves her vegetables, especially peas (and even Broccoli) and she adores her bananas. 

I tend to find myself just sticking with the things I know she eats as I get worried she will not eat enough if I try her with new things. Hopefully it will pass soon and I will be able to try out some new and interesting recipes and take her out to restaurants again. 

Eating her peas (I don't know why the play icon won't go away???)