Adventures of a Seattle Dad

This is a family favorite and it makes leftovers that work great for lunches. This started as a recipe from my college roommate, but I have been updating it over the years, so it no longer bears any resemblance to the original. I don't know how authentic it is, but it sure is yummy. Ingredients Shepherd's Pie: 2 pounds meat (ground beef, lamb, or bison) 2 packs of instant mashed potatoes 1 onion, chopped Minced garlic to taste Black pepper to taste 1/4 cup Spoons Worcestershire Sauce 1lb frozen peas and carrots Gravy: 1/4 cup spoons of flour 1C milk 1 Tbs Herbs de Provenance Preparation Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.   Brown the meat in a big skillet with the onion, garlic, black pepper, and frozen peas and carrots. In a separate pot, make the mashed potatoes according to the directions on the packages. Drain excess grease from browned meat into a new, small pot.   Put Worcestershire Sauce into the meat and stir. Remove from heat.   Mix milk, flo

Also Baked Asparagus, Baked Zucchini, Baked Potatoes, Baked Broccoli, or probably baked any vegetable.  Getting my kids (and my wife) interested in vegetables is an ongoing challenge. The kids are kids, and my wife is from beef country so to her a chicken is a vegetable. This recipe is quick, versatile, dead easy, and if your kids are like mine they will shout at you for not making vegetables this way before now. Ingredients Some vegetables (really, it could be green beans, chopped zucchini, little potatoes that are chopped up, asparagus, broccoli, some combo of all of these, probably carrots, too).  Olive oil Hard, parmesan cheese (the real kind that you grate) Chopped garlic Salt Pepper Preparation Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Set out a baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper. Chop or otherwise prepare enough raw vegetables for your dinner and put them in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle some olive oil on the vegetables. You just need enough to make th

This recipe comes together pretty quickly, and the fact that I am making a Russian dish and pairing it with a beer called Apocolypse IPA during the first week of the new presidential term is a complete coincidence. Also it's very yummy. Ingredients 8 oz uncooked egg noodle 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 (8-oz) pkg fresh whole mushrooms, sliced 1/2 C chopped onions 1 garlic clove, minced 1 lb sirloin steak 1 (10 1/2 oz) can beef consommé 2 Tbsp ketchup 3 Tbsp flour 1 C sour cream (8-oz tub) Parsley (dry or chopped for topping) - optional Preparation Cook noodles to desired doneness as directed on package. Drain. Cover to keep warm.   Pound beef on both sides (see notes, below) and then cut into very thin strips.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add mushrooms, onion, and garlic; cook 2-3 min or until tender. Remove mushroom mixture; set aside.   In the same skillet, add remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Add

This recipe was originally from the Better Homes and Garden site, but of course, I changed it.  My family of four enjoyed it, and we had leftovers for lunches. Ingredients 1 12 oz package dried jumbo shell macaroni 3 3/4 cups chopped large green and/or red sweet peppers (3 large) 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (1 medium) 1 4oz can of diced, green chilies ( or - 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, or 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped) 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups chopped cooked chicken (approx 2 cans of chicken breast, drained and chopped) (or - 2 cups cooked turkey, shredded, or 1 lb ground chicken, browned) 1 16 oz can refried beans 1/2 1 1/4 ounce package taco seasoning mix (3 tablespoons) 2 10 oz can red or green enchilada sauce 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces) 1 cup sliced green onions 1 cups nacho-flavor tortilla chips (Doritos), crushed Preparation Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold

I really like to cook, and now that I am working at home, I make dinner most of the time. My wife and I each have recipes that we brought to the relationship, and we have added a lot more. One thing that we like to do is to adjust the recipes to make them more family friendly. By that I mean, we try to make the recipes more practical for knocking out ofter work, with substitutions for more common ingredients, and I am always trying to sneak more vegetables into the mix. For example, if a recipe calls for a red onion, and I have 3 yellow sweet onions in the fridge, I am not going to the store for one red onion. We also started substituting olive oil for butter, in many cases. I'm going to start posting these recipes as I make them, so others can try them and make their own versions. If we found the recipe on some other site, I'll provide a link so you can check out the original version.