Do you ever start making a recipe only to realize you have a lot more work cut out for you than you initially anticipated?
Guess who that happened to this evening?
I had ambitions to make a healthy version of shepherd’s pie using a recipe I tore out of Clean Eating magazine months (years?) ago.
See how the recipe says “Hands-on time: 25 minutes?”
Lies! All lies.
I was chopping, cooking and “hands on-ing” for a good 45 minutes. Fortunately I wasn’t starving as I started to prep this dinner otherwise I would’ve been one angry chef. Twenty extra minutes is a long time when you’re super hungry, after all.
The recipe required a lot of mini steps like making mashed potatoes, sautéing vegetables and browning turkey – all separately.
None of the steps were particularly hard, but all of the chopping coupled with manning several different pots and pans at once was a little more daunting than I figured it would be.
I did manage to successfully make my first batch of mashed potatoes! They were creamy and delicious and got two thumbs up from everyone (okay, from me and Ryan).
All of the time I put into this dinner was worth it in the end, because the shepherd’s pie turned out great!
Ryan and I both filled our bowls and went back for seconds. (Actually, Ryan went back for thirds.)
The recipe serves six and I’m awfully excited about having leftovers on hand. Lunch tomorrow, perhaps?
I’m pretty sure Sadie would’ve given her left ear to dive face-first into that bowl.
Please note her little strand of doggie drool. I’m pretty sure she forced that drool out of her mouth to look desperate.
It worked. She got some turkey because we’re suckers. (<— Some of my favorite Sadie pictures are in that post!)
Off to read Room! I was a reading machine last night and only have a tiny bit left.
I seriously can’t wait to talk about this book. It definitely has me hooked.
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To be honest, I stopped reading your blog because of your new layout. I hate having to click on boxes to read posts, and then have to click backwards to get to the main screen. It’s all very confusing.
I’m sorry you feel that way, Sara. I changed it because readers were saying they were having a hard time keeping up with my posts and didn’t realize when they had missed a post since only the first two posts were displayed. This way, I figured one post would be displayed in full, with the beginning of my other posts underneath.
I really like the new layout. I dont get a chance to read it every day so now I can make sure I dont miss any posts!
Looks delicious but I definitely hate that feeling when you’re beyond hungry and still cooking. I end up sampling way more than I should during the cooking process!
I started the book two weeks ago and haven’t had a second to myself since them. I’m hoping I can finish it this weekend while I’m in Martha’s Vineyard…that’s if no one bothers me….
Yuum!!! That shepherd’s pie looks awesome! I hate it when a recipe says that it takes a lot less time than it actually does, though!
You need a mini chopper. It will definitely cut down on prep time. I always try to make recipes that require all this chopping and stuff. Not on purpose, but the food just looks so damn good. Mini chopper does the trick.
Notice in the ingredient list- how all the veggies are ALREADY chopped, like you have a sous chef available to do this prep work for you? This is how they can cut that darn ‘prep’ time down to 25 minutes. So frustrating! :-). Regardless, it looks DELICIOUS! Glad all your hard work paid off!
ahhhh! i didn’t even THINK of that! i figured the prep time would include chopping. that makes a lot more sense!
I love shepherd’s pie! It’s definitely one of my favorite things to make. 🙂 Speaking of which, I haven’t made it in a while. Maybe I’ll get to that next week!
So I’ve decided I can’t read your blog at work anymore because I keep bursting out in laughter at Sadie’s pictures! She’s so stinkin cute!!
Oh my gosh – first of all, I love Sadie! She has the funniest expressions! I made a vegetarian shepherd’s pie once using instant mashed potatoes and soy crumbles – it wasn’t bad but your homemade mashed taters look delicious!
It looks delicious! I always want to make a chicken pot pie but worry the same thing – that it will just be really time intensive. Hopefully I can do it on a dreary winter weekend!
I LOVE Sheppard’s Pie! I recently made a “heathy” aka Weight Watchers version for my roommates. It was way simpler that this recipe because it calls for frozen veggies and premade mash potatoes. I’m guessing your homemade version is better but if you’re looking for a quicker healthy recipe you should try it!
I always mix up shepherds pie & chicken pot pie… whenever my hubby makes shepherds i inevitably ask “When are you making the crust” lol
Wow that dinner looks great! I NEED mashed potatoes in my life now hahaha!
Hi Julie!
Thanks so much for hosting this book club…I have a 1 hour commute to work (each way!) and recently decided to start renting audiobooks from my library. I picked up The Room late last week and have 1 more disc to go through…I’m so excited to see where it leads.
I have to admit, I also like hearing how they play up the voices in the CD’s…Jake is so darn cute!
Just finished it last night. Wow!
yum!!! Loving on some shepard’s pie =)
It looks just great! Sometimes you can cook for hours and end up eating the plate in a few minutes! But it’s so worth it!
I have had the same thing happen with a recipe from Clean Eating last summer. A recipe for a mussle dish took several hours with all the chopping, mincing, zesting. Was worth it in the end but would have been frusterating if the people eating werent family!
I usually make shepard’s pie when I have leftover mashed potatoes. Takes one step out of the equation. Also when I feel ambitious I brown several pounds of ground turkey and ground beef and freeze them for quick recipes. It can be a real time saver.