Lenten Series: Vegetarian Shepard's Pie

As you know, Ash Wednesday was this past week, and so we are now firmly entrenched in Lent. This year my husband Carl and I decided to give up meat for Lent. Until Easter, I'm going to share some old and new vegetarian recipes, starting with the Shepard's pie we made for dinner tonight. We modified it from this recipe.


Ingredients:

• 5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled half way and sliced thin
• 1 8-oz package cream cheese
• 1 stick butter
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 1 16-oz package of frozen vegetables (we combined frozen peas, carrots, corn, and green beans)
• a couple tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (the original recipe calls for a 19-oz can, but I wasn't able to find one, so we made up the difference with chick peas)
• about 4-oz chick peas
• 1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 14.5-oz can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon pasta sprinkle (this is a blend of dried basil, oregano, thyme, and garlic)
• 1 teaspoon herbes de provence (this is a blend of dried rosemary, fennel, thyme, savory, basil, tarragon, dill weed, oregano, lavender, chervil, and marjoram)
• 1 tablespoon paprika with a little extra to sprinkle on top
  
• 1 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Boil the potatoes until they are tender. In a saucepan saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in the oil. Stir in the kidney beans, chick peas, veggies, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and spices. Mix the potatoes, cream cheese, butter, and garlic powder in stand mixer and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the veggie mixture into a greased 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top of the potatoes and sprinkle paprika on top of the cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes.



This is my recipe for mashed potatoes, and we only used about half of it for this recipe. We wanted to have some extra to munch on throughout the week, but if you didn't want the extra, you could just make half. In the future I also think I would also include a couple tablespoons red wine and some mushrooms to add a little extra umami flavor.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Oh What a Beautiful Day!

In terms of mood, mornings set the stage for how the rest of your day is going to go. Research has shown that eating within two hours of when you wake up helps increase your metabolism and helps you feel more energetic and less lethargic throughout the rest of the day. So what do you eat for breakfast to give your mood the best chance? Foods with protein and complex carbohydrates take longer for your body to digest, and so your blood sugar is less likely to plummet an hour or two after eating. I don't know about you, but when my blood sugar gets low and I get hungry, I become rather irritable and cranky. So, what are some foods with protein and complex carbohydrates that you can have for breakfast?


Protein:

• 1 egg has 6 grams of protein
• an 8oz glass of milk has 8 grams of protein
• 2 medium slices of bacon have about 6 grams of protein
• 6oz of yogurt has about 6 grams of protein (this would be your Yoplait or Dannon yogurt)
• 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt has about 11 grams of protein
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal has 5 grams of protein
• 1 slice of Canadian bacon has about 6 grams of protein
• 1 breakfast sausage patty has about 7 grams of protein
• 1 slice of cheddar cheese has about 5 grams of protein
  

Complex Carbohydrates:

• whole grain or multi-grain breads, bagels, English muffins, etc.
• most fruits (apples, oranges, bananas, plums, pears, grapefruit, cherries, peaches, kiwi, grapes, mangoes, apricots, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, etc.); one exception is watermelon
• oatmeal
• healthy cereals (All-Bran, Shredded Wheat, Museli, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Special K, etc.)
• pretty much anything with a lot of fiber

So what are some ways to have a mood-boosting breakfast? Here are some of my favorite combinations:

• 1 egg fried or scrambled, bowl of cereal with skim milk, and a glass of fruit juice
• 2 slices of bacon cooked in the microwave, whole wheat bagel with cream cheese, and a banana
• breakfast sandwich--1 slice of Canadian bacon, 1 fried egg, and 1 slice of cheddar cheese on a toasted whole wheat English muffin
• fruit smoothie--1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt mixed in the blender with some apple juice and frozen strawberries and blueberries
• a bowl of oatmeal with fruit sliced on top and glass of milk
• a hard boiled egg and a 6oz container of yogurt
  

Since foods made with white flour and sugar are quickly digested by your body, limiting foods made with them at breakfast will help you avoid that mid-morning blood sugar drop. However, I personally love sugary breakfast cereals, like Fruit Loops and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, so on the mornings have these cereals I be sure to pair them with something with more protein, such as an egg.

And on those Saturday mornings when you want to made pancakes or waffles for breakfast, you can make them with whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is ground a little finer than regular whole wheat flour, so your baked goods won't have that gritty texture that often comes with using whole wheat flour.

Another thing to keep in mind is that just because something has a lot of protein, like bacon and sausage, does not mean it is healthy. These meats have a lot of fat and sodium, so as Cookie Monster would say, they are a sometimes-food. If you are just craving meat in the morning, Canadian bacon is a better option since it has less fat.

Stomach Flu and Chicken Noodle Soup

So this past week I have been dealing with the stomach flu, and the doctor told me I should be drinking lots of liquids and eating clear broths. So what's the best comfort food when you're sick? Chicken noodle soup, of course! Today I'm going to share my chicken noodle soup recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 quarts chicken broth (two 32-oz cartons)
• about 1 quart water
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 2 bay leaves
• about 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups (5-oz) medium egg noodles

Place the chicken and chicken broth in a large stockpot and set it over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, parsnip, and onion to the broth. Add the garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and enough water to just cover the chicken. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the chicken is very tender--about 1 1/4 hours--skimming the surface periodically. Remove the chicken and place in a large bowl. Add egg noodles to the broth and cook according to the directions. While the noodles are cooking, cut up the chicken and add it back to the broth.

Tomato Corn Pie

This is one of my favorite recipes, which I modified from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• Unbaked pie crust in a deep pie plate
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 large tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• Optional: other veggies (about 1 summer squash, handful of asparagus, half an onion, etc.), chopped
• Optional: smoked sausage, sliced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk the eggs and milk in a medium bowl. Sprinkle half the cheese over the crust, then layer half the tomatoes over the cheese. If you choose to add the other veggies or sausage, layer over the tomatoes. Sprinkle the corn and thyme over the veggies. Layer the remaining cheese on top. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Bake, covered with aluminum foil, for an hour. Uncover and bake for another twenty minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.