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! 

Spider Decorations

We are excited for Halloween tomorrow! Calleigh can't wait to go out in her costume and get some treats!
A couple of weeks ago we spent some time making these super easy spider decorations! Calleigh loved painting and sticking on the eyeballs. Now they are hanging from the ceiling and she likes to hit them with her broom haha.

Home-Made Treasure Chest

One of the programmes Calleigh likes to watch on Disney Junior is Jake and the Neverland Pirates. We recently brought her a Jake Spyglass and she loves going around the house, following her map, searching for the treasure. Only problem was we didn't have any treasure to find. 

So whilst we were out in a craft store I picked up a wooden treasure chest, some paint and some star stencils and decided to make one for her. 

I was really simple to do. Just a couple of coats of paint, I used a light beige colour because I wanted the pink stars to stand out. Then use the stencils to either paint or spray on your chosen design. I wanted to keep it simple so just opted for a few stars.

I'm really impressed with it and now Calleigh has her very own treasure chest which she loves! She dances around it with Jake and crew when they count their gold doubloons. I did want to buy more gold doubloons for her but after the incident on the video below I decided I had enough to pick up off the floor.