Saturday, August 14, 2010

Mmm...Potatoes!!

As a newlywed, I'm finding myself becoming a little housewife more and more everyday. From cooking to cleaning, I'm starting to realize I'm becoming quite the adult! It excites me, yet scares me at the same time.

Anyway, I'm always on the lookout for a new recipe to spice up the dinner table. The other day I stumbled upon my favourite website (www.kraftcanada.com) and found a great recipe for Shepherds Pie. Here it is below.  I think my favourite part of this recipe is the new way I figured out to make mashed potatoes!

When you're boiling the potatoes in the water, stick 3 cloves of garlic in the water.  The flavour of the garlic absorbs into the potato and then the cloves soften.  When you're ready to mash, they mash right into the potatoes giving you garlic flavoured mashed potatoes! And then, instead of adding milk and butter, add sour cream.  It gives it this great, smooth consistency. So yummy!

Enjoy some Shepherds Pie tonight!

Updated Shepherd's Pie
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Makes 6 servings, 1-1/2 cups (375 mL) each

What You Need
1-1/4 lb. (565 g) red potatoes, cut into chunks
3 large cloves garlic
3/4 cup light sour cream (or you can use the real stuff - kick the light)
1/2 cup shredded Cracker Barrel Cheddar Cheese Light, divided (I used Cracker Barrel Old Cheddar .. gives a nice kick to it!)
1 lb. (450 g) extra-lean ground beef
2 Tbsp. Flour (I nixed this one ... mainly because I didn't feel it was necessary. Turned out great without it)
3 cups Frozen mixed vegetables (corn, beans, carrots), thawed
3/4 cup 25%-less-sodium beef broth
2 Tbsp. Ketchup

Make It


COOK potatoes and garlic in large saucepan of boiling water 20 min. or until potatoes are very tender. Drain; return to saucepan. Add sour cream. Mash potatoes to desired consistency. Stir in 1/4 cup Cheddar.


HEAT oven to 375°F. Brown meat in large nonstick skillet. Stir in flour; cook and stir 1 min. Add vegetables, broth and ketchup; cook 5 min., stirring occasionally. Spoon into 8-inch square baking dish; cover with potatoes.


BAKE 18 min.; top with remaining Cheddar. Bake 2 min. or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted.

 
Let me know how yours turns out!

Friday, August 13, 2010

193 - The Winning Number

193 was the magic number.

As many of you know, for a month straight I had a social media campaign going: to win the title of the Young & Free Ontario Spokesperson. Last week I found out that it wasn't going to happen. The votes were cast and counted, and a mere 193 votes stood between winning and well ... not winning. 

So what did I take away from this? What did I learn? Well, let me explain.

When I was growing up, I was an avid runner. I trained with a local track club and LOVED my 100 meter sprints. The one thing that you always learn as a beginner is to NEVER SLOW DOWN at the end of your race. When you see the finish line, speed up. You never know who is right behind you, just waiting for you to slow down, ready to pass. If you want to win, push it to the end and never give up.

Well, if I take what I learned from track and applied it to my  time campaigning, I slowed down. I thought I had it made. There was NO REASON why they wouldn't pick me. I was already winning (in my head).  Well, my pride (for lack of a better word) got the better of me, and now here I am standing in the dust.

I could kick and complain, saying people cheated and I should have won, but really...it's time I take ownership of my part in all of this.  I could have (and should have) tried harder. I could have gotten (and should have gotten) more votes . 

But all of this is to say how important it is to never slow down and to always take ownership for your part.

And now that being said, another lesson to be learned is: If you think your vote doesn't count, think again. Your vote (and opinion) always counts. Whether you think so or not.

May the number 193 always be your reminder :)

Cheers.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Starting Fresh - Again

So as many of you know, I had started a blog called My Life as a Wife. I decided to switch it up a bit, because I felt it was a bit too centralized (and the website I was using was tres confusing!)

So here I am. Back on Blogger. Still talking about my life as a new wife, but as well as other thoughts and ideas that come up throughout life that I may feel might help you!

If you want to see some of my old posts to find out where I started, check out http://lifeasawife.weebly.com  I'm excited about using blogger because now people can actually comment! I love to hear feedback. Actually, I kind of thrive on it. So please post away!

That is it for this present moment. But I PROMISE there will be more to come.