Gardening For Dummies

Now that Spring has sprung (officially by Calendar...unofficially by Mother Nature) my mind has set it's gears to Gardening and being a new HOMEOWNER with a large backyard that I don't have to ask permission to use, I fully intend on making use of it's bounty to sow the various seeds I will be planting!

Unfortunately... I wouldn't describe myself as much of a green thumb... plants that come to live in my house... well they tend to die... even the "easiest plant to take care of" (as professed by my Mother) came to live with me and ended up living in a landfill. Then there was the time I tried to plant flowers at our old place, I bought some nice lively potted plants from the store and some fertilizer... dug up some dirt and stuck those suckers in... they died within a week. I don't know where I went wrong... so this time I am enlisting the help of my Mom as well as Auntie to come and help me with my gardening and fix my apparent Faux Pas ...

Oh and one more thing I fully intend on learning/trying is growing my own Indoor Herb Garden, since I love cooking and there is truly nothing better to add to your dish than FRESH Herbs I want to give this a shot too!

Some day I envision I will have a back yard & garden to be envied by all! A vegetable patch, raspberry bushes, lilac bushes, tulips, sunflowers, rhubarb... it will be a thing of beauty and once my dream comes true I will be learning something else that is completely new to me... Canning, which I will be enlisting the help of D's Grandmother to mentor me in.

Wish me luck or Green Thumbs Up!
I will keep you all posted on my progress, what I learn and how it turns out.

Cowboy Pie

Tonight's dinner started out as a panic as I searched my nearly bare fridge and pantry for something to pair with the ground beef I'd thawed; however with some genius (if I do say so myself) alterations to a tried and true favorite it ended up a masterpiece so I thought I would share the recipe... I'm calling it Cowboy Pie - it's my version of Shepherd's Pie but with more kick to it, not knocking Shepherd's Pie because I do love the original version in all it's comfort and glory too!

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef

1 pkg mini potatoes

1/4 cup Budweiser BBQ sauce

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

Seasoning Salt (I like Hy's)

Ground pepper

1 cup corn (frozen)

1 carrot (peeled and grated)

1 tbsp margarine

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp paprika

1 cup grated cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown the beef in a large frying pan, add the seasoning salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, grated carrot, and BBQ sauce. Allow to simmer for a few minutes over low heat then add in corn.

Boil potatoes in a separate pot, when ready drain liquids and mash. Add margarine and milk and mix together.

Transfer beef mixture into a baking dish and top with potatoes. Sprinkle the paprika over the potatoes and bake in oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and top with grated cheese, bake for another 5 minutes.

I've recently started to add ground carrot to many beef recipes; it's a good way to sneak some veggies in there if you have picky eaters but it also adds another dimension of flavour to your dish.

Also, as with any recipe, make it your own and add whatever you have on hand and don't be afraid to try something different... most of my favourite go to's are creations I've made up due to not having something on hand that a recipe called for in the first place!