Good Monday Morning All,
Peace and Love,
Veronica
Category: Author’s World
Easy Winter Supper Recipe
Good Monday Morning All!
So winter has hit here in the Pacific Northwest. We were lulled into thinking we’d get by with just some rain but the snow has hit us hard in the past week and there is more on the way.
Growing up in Massachusetts my mom had some good winter comfort recipes. Here is the one I recently made:
I call it three layer casserole.
It’s a delicious combo of seasoned ground turkey, (she used ground beef) corn and mashed potatoes with just the right seasonings and spices. Simple.
You’ll need:
4 med. baking potatoes – washed then baked until soft inside -1-2 hours. Let cool slightly.
1 medium onion chopped
clove of garlic
1 pound ground turkey meat. I used ground turkey breast.
Tablespoon of oil – use whatever oil you like. The turkey is so lean you may even need a bit more.
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
One small bag of frozen corn or one can of corn drained. I use one bag of organic frozen corn. Set aside until layering.
Mix together: 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon adobo dry spice.
I like to use more or less of the spices above- use your own taste meter.
Saute onion and garlic until onions are translucent. Add ground turkey, breaking the turkey up as much as you can. I like small pieces.
Add spice mix and Worcestershire sauce to meat and combine thoroughly. Set aside and prepare potatoes.
Empty potato out of skins and mash adding salt and pepper to taste along with 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, 2 Tablespoons of milk, 2 Tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of water. The water sounds weird but since these are baked and not boiled they will be dryer. They taste richer than boiled and easier to prepare. You can also use more milk and butter- I was trying to make this waistband friendly. Just make sure they are nice and creamy.
In a greased baking dish spread corn on bottom-no need to cook before hand. Then spread the meat mixture and top with mashed potatoes. Dot the top with butter. Or if you want you can add sharp cheddar cheese to the top! Yum!! Then sprinkle with a little dried parsley and Bake!
Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until the crust of the potato topping is nice and brown.
This will serve about six hardy portions or eight medium portions. We ate it for three nights in a row. It was so good! Comfort food for sure 🙂
Stay warm! (and for all of you in Australia – stay cool!!)
Until next time,
Peace and Love,
Veronica
Writer’s World
Good Monday Morning All!
It’s February and I’m trying not to get the winter blues! ~The days are getting longer and soon I will be planting my sweet peas!
The winter white of the snowfall is making my world a picturesque wonderland. Luckily we don’t get much snow and it only lasts a few days on average. A snow day would be nice.
I start back up on rewrites for the second in my book series of American Historical Fiction. I say start back because about ten days ago I was writing along, minding my own business when silver streaks shot out from the side of my vision. Blood splashed across my site. I thought I was having a brain hemorrhage!
Long story short and many tests later, it wasn’t anything to worry about, just a bit of eye tissue coming loose, tearing a vein… and I will heal. Trying to see clearly out of that eye until then is annoying.
I know stress can cause a bunch of weird stuff in that complicated universe we call our bodies. So, I slowed down and changed a few things in my life and fingers crossed I can stick to it. Feels good to push the reset button!
Wishing you all a great week and be carefu
l of that stress!
Love and Peace,
Veronica
~~Ready for a snow day! Don’t forget the flowers 🙂 ~~
Cat World
Good Monday Morning Everyone!
Cats have been in my life since I was a young teen. My two sweeties, Wilson and Tommy have been with me for a long time.
They add so much to my life. Wilson on the red blanket -see below- is nearly 16 years old but he still seems like a young cat to me. He’s so lovable but a little needy. My fault. I carried him around like a baby when he was a kitten … hey, my youngest daughter was leaving for college at the time! Tommy is 12 years old and adopted me when he was, I guess a year old. He’s more well adjusted and is happy to be petted anytime. He loves to sit in any empty flower pot he can find.
The song by Crosby, Stills and Nash comes to mind every so often. It’s goes something like – With two cats in the yard, life use to be so hard, but everything is easy ’cause of you. Before I met Jeff I had the two cats and would sing that song when I saw them lounging in the yard. Wishes do come true!
Wishing you all the happy companionship of another person and fuzzy friends!
Have a great day!
Love and Peace,
Veronica
Gardening in the Winter
Good Monday Morning All!
The weather in my end of the Pacific Northwest had been beautifully sunny and mild for about four days now. The weather focasters warn us to not get use to it- we are not over the rain and winds storms. (By the day this is published we’ll probably be there again). Yet, I get restless to garden. I have planted a four season garden in my yard and it’s so encouraging to see the bright yellow flowers of the witch hazel bush and the cream- colored hellebores in clumps of dark green foliage while other flowers and bulbs are still sleeping. The heather too adds to my spring fever!
We don’t get the harsher cold winters like a lot of the U.S. and it’s stays very green, but winter is winter and I always count the days until the sun will shine again until late into the evening.
Gardening can be very healing. Even if the world outside your window says “not yet” to gardening, a pot of herbs on the windowsill can be very uplifting.
What do you do to get through the winter months? Let me here from you 🙂
Have a great day and week everyone!
Peace and Love,
Veronica
Traveled Hearts Press 