Ice storm.. so cooking up a storm

bear with me… this is gonna be a long one, cause it’s been a while. I can’t believe we’re already into February of 2019… except January was looooooonnnnggg… So cold, gloomy at the beginning.. but very bright and sunny the last week (thank you God!), which really helped. Bill and I have been sharing colds/flu and sinus infections.. so it made it all drag on longer. He’s still down with it now, tucked safely in bed after working a half day and making his way home thru the ice.

Today I was out scraping my van just before 8am when i heard the Uconnect inside the van announcing an incoming call. it was cousin John telling me to stay home due to the ice storm… whew.. i was done. that was hard work, that just piled right up again.

So i came back inside the house, made coffee & breakfast, did my devotional and then got digging into my new Yum & Yummer cookbook and set up my Island to prep & cook up a storm inside.

First things first... I’ve been attempting to be more intentional and diligent about getting into God’s word daily, there’s so many ways and no excuses. With phone apps, we can take it everywhere with us, set up reminders.. My favourite is Youversion bible app. With my phone, my bible is always with me, in any/all versions. It also has bible reading plans, devotionals, you can have friends follow you so you have accountability.. or not.

I’m currently going through a 5 day devotional this week by Andy Stanley called Enemies of the Heart. It’s based on one of his books that is available on Amazon, or here Today’s was a good one.. that really got me thinking… here’s a snippit. After doing this 5 day Devo, I may get the book and delve deeper.

i wrote the 4 steps down and am meditating on it today.. who am i angry with? what do i feel is owed me? I need to cancel the debt and forgive.. and don’t let it build up again. Thought I would share that in case there’s anyone else reading who struggles with anger at times.

so!! on to COOKING!

all the things i wanted to cook at first I didn’t have the groceries for… but I did a few groceries last night, and had what i needed to make shepherd’s pie.. and I found a super yummy recipe for Roasted Carrot & Curried sweet potato soup in my new Yum & Yummer cookbook.

I know Shep’s pie is basic.. it’s not gourmet.. it’s not the healthiest.. but there are times I just crave it.. and I know Guillermo loves it.. and it’s so easy to make ahead, freeze, and pop in the toaster oven to cook. So when I make it.. I usually make a few. I honestly don’t think it takes any more time to make 4 than it does to make 1.

First I peeled and quartered a 5 lb bag of potatoes.. i mean .. if i’m gonna peel potatoes, I’m doing the whole bag. I boiled these with a couple huge cloves of garlic.. S&P, and then once boiled, add a container of Herb & Garlic cream cheese, then i whipped up the potatoes, garlic * cream cheese with my hand blender. I added a wee bit of cream for good measure as well.

while the potatoes were boiling, I cut up all the other veg.. onion, carrot, celery… then cooked these up with more garlic (oh… the garlic..) Then cooked up minced extra lean turkey (here’s a little known fact about me…. i do NOT love ground beef… i will always use chicken or turkey in any ground meat recipe)

Then when it’s all cooked up.. I took the meat mix out of the pan and started the first layer in the pie dishes. With the pan still on a low heat, I dumped in 2 cans of organic mushroom soup, a package of Knorr 4 pepper sauce mix and a bit of water and mixed it all up together. (I use this same blend of soup & sauce mix on pork tenderloin in the crock pot, it’s amazing)

Now it’s time to layer. I did 2 small pies, and 2 medium ones.. the small ones will be perfect for one meal for Bill & I.

First layer is the meat/veg mix, then the sauce spread out evenly over the meat, then frozen green beans spread out, then cheese (Swiss for William, cheddar for me) then the garlic mashed potatoes. Trust me.. this is the most amazing yummiest, creamiest, sauciest savoury Shepherds Pie… real good winter comfort food. I put W‘s on the Swiss side, and A‘s on the cheddar side.

Next I got going on the Carrot soup. Chopped up carrots, sweet potato, onion and garlic.. drizzled oil, S& P and then mixed up on a stone sheet tray, and in the oven to roast for 40 minutes, stirring every now and then. Once they’re roasted and nice and soft, they went in a big pan, added unsalted Veg broth, and brought to a simmer. Then a cup of coconut milk, and blended with my new immersion blender we got for free with Can Tire points. (woot woot!) Didn’t take too many pics of this process.. but wow, is it every yummy and satisfying!! Lemme say.. i am LOVING this cookbook!