Meat Pie

It's hard to know what to do with leftover roast. You can eat it in sandwiches or make a stew, but sometimes you need something different. My grandma's method was to make Meat Pie. 

Meat Pie isn't strictly a pie. I'm not sure it's even loosely a pie, but it's a great way to use up leftover roast ingredients. It's essentially a soup on the bottom with biscuits or dumplings floating on the top. My grandma used to just make Bisquick biscuits, but my mom found a homemade dumpling that we use now. It's a simple, hearty dish stemming from the necessity of making a bit of leftover meat stretch into an entire meal. As a pastor's wife, my grandma's grocery budget was not large. 

It's a great recipe because it's flexible, depending on what you have leftover from your pot roast. Bare bones, you only really need leftover meat and gravy to make this, but you can also add in leftover onions, carrots and potatoes. 

The rich broth gets its flavor not only from gravy, but also smashed roasted onions and carrots that were from your pot roast. If you have them, they deeply enhance the flavor profile of the broth. Added to this is leftover roast chunks and bites of carrot and potato. The dumpling batter is dropped onto the top, where it cooks in the steam generated by your simmering "soup." A delicious way to turn boring leftovers into a satisfying meal.

How-To: Whipped Cream

If reading my blog only changed one thing about your cooking, I would be so happy if it was learning to make real whipped cream instead of using fake "whipped topping." 

I have a few recipes, okay two, that I use fake topping for. Jello Cake and Chocolate Eclair Cake. And I understand that sometimes life is crazy and why add just another thing to your list, like whipping cream. 

But, real whipped cream is oh-so-heavenly and oh-so-easy. It's almost just as easy as opening a tub of whipped topping and dumping it out. You measure 4 ingredients (does salt even count? you only use a pinch) and beat for 3 - 4 minutes. Boom. Done. And the results are incredibly better. Sweet and light. And the ingredients are real. 

So the next time you pull up a recipe for Key Lime Pie or Gingerbread, maybe pull up this one too and just give it a chance? You may never want to go back to "whipped topping" again. 

Granola Bars

It is mid-afternoon here. The sun is golden and warm and streaming through my front windows with vibrance. It is quiet. Jack is asleep upstairs and Emma is asleep in her little bouncer in the kitchen. Dreams are flickering across their faces. 

Supper is in the oven and the house is picked up. A rarity these days. It's a moment of peace in the crazy busyness of life. I love these moments when life is calm. 

But it's not always that way. Sometimes there are train tracks all over my floor. And pacifiers tucked in nooks here and there. Sometimes (most of the time) there are dishes all over the counter and oats all over the floor. Sometimes a baby is crying in one room and the toddler is crying in the other. Sometimes these rooms smell of diapers or burnt granola bars. Sometimes there is no sun shining through my windows and it's raining. Not a nice spring rain, but a cold, dreary, unhappy sort of rain. 

But that's life right? A topsy-turvy mix-up of peace and chaos. Storm and serenity. A blog I read once said that "Life is a process of making messes and cleaning them up." And it's oh so true. Learning to smile amidst the mess and say, "Yes, Jack, let's make the granola bars, together."

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Ah, the humble potato. A difficult vegetable for me. I don't hate them, but I don't love them either. Alone they seem bland and rather boring. They need a little dressing up. Something flavorful and rich. Enter chicken broth, cream and cheese. And ham. My husband requires ham.

We had friends over for dinner last night. Our kids are about the same age and they only live a few blocks away. They are one of those families that are easy to have over. Conversation flows, the kids play and the moms fuss over the babies.