Shepherd's Pie

3 cups chopped potatoes
1 cup chopped carrots
1 lbs. ground beef
½ cup chopped small onion
1 can chopped green beans
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 ½ cups cold water
Salt and pepper
Grated Cheese

1. Cook potatoes until tender and mash with butter and milk. (Regular mashed potatoes.)
2. Cook carrots until tender.
3. Brown ground beef and onion. Rinse with water and then put them back into the pan.
4. Add cornstarch to water in a bowl and stir. (It has to be cold water or the cornstarch won’t mix in.)
5. Add the water, cornstarch mixture to the hamburger mixture. Simmer over low heat until the mixture thickens like a gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add the carrots and beans to the hamburger mixture and cook until beans are heated.
7. Pour the above mixture into a casserole dish.
8. Cover the hamburger mixture with the mashed potatoes and sprinkle with cheese.
9. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted. I turn on the broiler the last couple minutes to make the cheese crusty on top.

This requires you to do a lot of steps at once, but it is worth it. This is the best vegetable dish for kids – my boys love it!

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pie crust: see below
2 chicken breasts chopped
½ small onion chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups chopped carrots
1 ½ cups chopped potatoes
1 cup frozen peas;
2 packages turkey gravy mix
1 egg beaten

1. Cook chicken and onion in butter until the chicken is cooked and onions are tender. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Boil carrots, potatoes and peas until tender.
3. In chicken pan, mix up the 2 gravy mixes.
4. Combine the chicken mix with the vegetables and the gravy and pour into an uncooked pie shell made in a casserole dish.
5. Cover the pie with the top of the pie crust (I use a cookie cutter to cut a shape out of the top so that it can boil over if needed) and brush with the beaten egg.
6. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes
7. Remove foil and bake until the crust is golden brown.

Lemon Chicken Piccata

6 chicken cutlets (I get the thin-sliced breasts)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 c chicken broth
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. capers, drained
2 Tbsp. butter
Fresh lemon slices

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour. Saute for 2/3 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan. Drain grease and deglaze pan with 1/4 cup broth. Add garlic and cook until most of the liquid is gone. Add remaining broth, lemon juice, and capers. Return chicken to pan and cook on each side for one minute. Remove chicken and add butter and fresh lemon. Once butter melts, pour sauce over chicken. 4 servings.