Wow Your Dad this Father’s Day with Shepherd’s Pie!

My Dad and I both love food, and I want to make him something new and different this Father’s Day.  I am combining his love for food and beer with this Potato, Sausage, and Guinness Shepherd’s Pie! Now, I know what you’re thinking, Shepherd’s pie is really difficult to make, but this recipe has some shortcuts that will save you time and energy in the kitchen. Feel free to add or subtract ingredients based on your Dad’s taste buds, but this recipe has a little something for everyone! I also like the time-saving element of using Reser’s Scalloped Potatoes, because I know I won’t have the time to make my own! Cooking is a passion of mine, but even I can use the extra help of a pre-made item every now and then, especially when it tastes homemade like Reser’s Scalloped Potatoes do.

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Potato, Sausage, and Guinness Shepherd’s Pie

• 4 tbs. butter, unsalted
• 6 oz pork sausage, cooked and diced             *****
• 1/2 yellow onion, peeled and diced
• 1 ea. carrot, parsnip, and turnip, peeled and diced           ****
• 1/2 tsp. thyme leaves, dried
• 1/2 tbs. Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 3/4 cup Guinness stout
• 1/4 cup flour, all purpose
• 1 tbs. brown deli mustard
• 2 tbs. corn starch
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 20 oz. trays of Reser’s Scalloped Potatoes

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Melt butter w/sausage in heavy bottomed saucepan and cook for 2 minutes
3. Add onion and cook 2 more minutes over medium heat until softened
4. Add root vegetables and spices and continue cooking while stirring (without browning)
5. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly
6. Add chicken stock and whisk together completely
7. Cook on low simmer, stirring often for 12-15 minutes, until thickened
8. Whisk Guinness, mustard, and cornstarch together in a small bowl until cornstarch is dissolved, then whisk into vegetable base mixture
9. Cook 5 more minutes on low while stirring
10. Remove from heat and spray a 9X13″ pan with cooking spray
11. Take the scalloped potatoes out of the trays and flatten to the shape of the pan between pieces of wax or parchment paper
12. Fill the pan with stew base, evenly spread out
13. Top with scalloped potatoes and cheese and bake for 30-35 minutes until thoroughly browned and bubbly

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First top with Reser’s Potatoes…. then cover with shredded cheddar and pop into the oven!

Let cool uncovered for 5 minutes before serving

Enjoy! This meal serves 4-6.

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This amazing recipe was created by Sean Dwigans, one of our talented Product Development Chefs!

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Posted by Lacey

8 Tips for Making Dinnertime Easier

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1. Plan…but just enough

We all know that taking time to plan your meals really cuts down on that “oh my gosh it’s 5:00 PM and I have no idea what to make for dinner tonight!” stress. So why don’t more of us do it? I think we tend to get too detailed. We think we have to plan out every single recipe and side dish for the week, at which point meal planning becomes more stressful than that “oh my gosh it’s 5:00 PM” feeling. 

Keeping it simple it the trick to meal planning that really works.  For example, you might try and plan for several dinner “categories” (like a pasta night, a chicken night, a fish night) and then at the same time aim to have several side dishes on-hand that can mix-and-match with your various entrees.

This post over on Simple Mom has lots more great easy meal planning ideas.

2. Make a recipe binder

Having a set of simple, go-to recipes organized and in one place makes it easy to walk into your kitchen and whip something together. Conversely, flipping through cook books after a long day of work, trying to figure out if you think you have the right pans/ exotic ingredients/skills to make certain recipes can be incredibly frustrating.

So take a Sunday afternoon to print our or photocopy all your favorite easy recipes. Then, fill them into a binder, using divider tabs to organize them into different entrée and side dish categories. Make notes about what side dishes and vegetables go well with what entrees.

3. Balance your workload

If cooking an entire meal seems like too much some nights, then try making an entrée from scratch but then serving it with a store-bought refrigerated side dish, like Reser’s Sensational Sides Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Macaroni & Cheese, and more.

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Posted by Lacey

Creative Ways to Serve Thanksgiving Leftovers: 4 Recipes

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For a creative way to serve Thanksgiving leftovers, try one of these easy recipes—each calls for one or more Thanksgiving leftovers like turkey, mashed potatoes, or stuffing:

1) Easy Cheddar Mashed Potato Puffs Recipe

Turn your leftover mashed potatoes into Cheddar Mashed Potato Puffs!

This is a great recipe for times when you have leftover mashed potatoes but no leftover entrée-dish to serve alongside them.                                                   

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Posted by Lacey

10 Holiday Meal Planning Tips

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As I mentioned in my last post, the holidays always seem to sneak up on me. So to save myself some stress this year I’ve been looking for ways to make holiday cooking more fun and easy before the holidays actually hit.

Check out these 10 holiday meal planning tips I’ve put together:

Tip 1) Start planning early: print out or bookmark recipes and create your shopping list 2-3 weeks before the holiday

Tip 2) Try using a free printable grocery shopping list like this one or this one

Tip 3) Figure out what ingredients you can buy 2-3 weeks ahead of time (when they may be on sale) and which ones, like fresh herbs, you’ll need to purchased 2-3 days beforehand

Tip 4) Estimate one pound of turkey and 3/4 pound of ham or roast per person

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Posted by Lacey