by | March 2, 2011 · 8:40 am

{Haute Pie} Irish Pasties

With St. Patrick’s day right around the corner, I wanted to try my hand at some traditional Irish fare.  These hand pies are commonly eaten in Ireland and are called Irish Pasties (pronounced pass-tees, not pay-stees).  They consist of a tender pastry crust filled with potatoes and meat, usually beef.  I made mine with some left over pot roast, however you could always use a simple ground beef as well.

Irish Pasties

2 cups left over pot roast fully cooked  (cooked ground beef or beef roast can also be used)
2-3 russet or Idaho potatoes, peeled, quartered and sliced thin
2 pre-made pie crusts (usually come in a 2 pack)
olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Milk for brushing on the pastries

Roll out pie crust and cut each in half so you have 4 half circles (each half circle will be 1 pie).  Let them sit out while you prepare the meat and potatoes to allow them to reach room temperature.

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan.  Add potatoes and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally so they do not burn. Covering the pan may help speed up the cooking process.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Heat left over pot roast in the microwave until warm and mix with cooked potatoes.

Spoon mixture onto each of your 4 half circles, only covering one side.

Fold over crust to cover filling completely.  Then,  roll and pinch sides to seal in filling.  Make 4 slits on top of the pie for steam to escape.  Brush each finished pastry with milk and place on a baking sheet.

Bake at 400 for 18 -22 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Serve warm with a side of ketchup.

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by | February 28, 2011 · 8:14 am

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Giveaway Winner!

First off, congrats to HAP reader Stephanie who was our random winner in the Permanent Baggage wristlet giveaway! Stephanie will soon be receiving a wristlet of her choice…perhaps in the Vita Plaid pattern that she mentioned!

BONUS: Permanent Baggage is offering 20% off for anyone who entered the drawing! Just use the coupon code ILUVAPPLEPIE when you check out at the Etsy store.  A big thanks again to everyone who entered and to Kamryn at Permanent Baggage!

Easy Weeknight Enchiladas

This is one of those recipes that isn’t really a recipe at all. In fact, it’s by no means a traditional enchilada recipe but I love it because you can really play with the components based on what you like or what’s in your fridge. It’s versatile, seriously fast for weeknights and makes great lunch leftovers so the concept makes a regular appearance in our menu lineup.

Chicken Enchiladas
3 chicken breasts or 2 package of chicken tenders, cut into small chunks
cumin
garlic powder
chili powder or chipotle powder
dash of cayenne
dash of salt
2/3 can refried beans
3 green onions, diced
1 pkg low-fat ricotta cheese
1 large jar picante sauce, salsa or taco sauce
6-7 large flour tortillas
1 pkg shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 375.  In a large saute pan, cook chicken chunks over medium heat with 1-2 Tbps olive oil.  As chicken begins to cook, season liberally with cumin, garlic and chili powder.  Sprinkle with salt and cayenne and toss chicken well to coat evenly.  Add green onions and 1/3 of the jar of salsa and stir well. Cook for 5-7 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, working one tortilla at a time, paint the center of the tortilla with refried beans and then with ricotta. Spoon a portion of the chicken mixture over the ricotta. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

chicken enchiladas

Roll tortilla around filling, tucking the ends under, and place in a 13×9″ baking pan. Repeat with each tortilla (they’ll fit tightly in the pan). Pour remaining salsa over the enchiladas and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 25-28 minutes until cheese begins to turn a light golden brown.

easy enchilada recipes
Other Tasty Enchilada Combos:
Beef (or Venison) and Black Beans
Shredded Pork with Corn, Rice and Tomatillo Salsa
Roasted Vegetables and White Cheddar

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by | February 25, 2011 · 7:57 am

Little Peanut Party: A First Birthday

I can’t believe our little peanut is already one year old. Time sure flies! To commemorate the anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, we threw our man a Little Peanut Party. As a child, I was obsessed with elephants (and still am). We often refer to Lincoln  as “Peanut,” so the theme just came together. This party was fun and very cost effective, as a large bag of peanuts costs, well…peanuts.

I came across this Debbie Mumm fabric at JoAnn’s and couldn’t resist. With the help of my sister who freehanded the letters on card stock, the cheap and easy Happy Birthday sign was strung on ribbon and pinned to the fabric and table. I designed the invitation (which is available on my Etsy shop, Morning Star Designs).

Guests were treated to an array of themed homemade goodies, from Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes, to Elephant Ears, to Peanut Brittle.

Lincoln tore into a piece of Mommy’s labor of love elephant cake. The cake was baked in a Wilton cake form using the Wilton recipes for butter cake with buttercream frosting.

Guests drank from elephant toe cups, silver cups with cut labels to resemble toenails.

Peanuts were strung from the chandelier in the dining room tagged with pictures of Lincoln throughout his first year. Vases of peanuts and stuffed elephants were placed on the table as centerpieces.

The kids received bubbles as party favors, while the adults each received a bag of roasted peanuts with a special note from Lincoln.

The birthday boy was very excited for his party! Thanks to everyone for making it such a special day!

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by | February 23, 2011 · 8:37 am

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This Sunday, snow was in the forecast which meant my family spent a lazy day snowed in.  I love breaking out my slow cooker on days like these.  It makes the whole house smell wonderful and warm as dinner slowly cooks away all day.

This pot roast recipe couldn’t be any easier and it truly is delicious.  Some people add potatoes and carrots to their slow cooker while the meat cooks, however I never seem to have success with this.  So, I usually make mashed potatoes and roasted carrots on the side.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

4-5 lb Beef Roast, any kind
3/4 cup water
1  (1  1/4 ounce) packet of gravy
1/2 of a ( 1  1/4 ounce) packet of ranch dressing mix
2-4 teaspoons of corn starch, for thickening gravy at the end

Place the meat in your slow cooker and sprinkle with entire packet of gravy mix and half of the packet of ranch mix.  Pour water around the meat.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the roast is fully cooked.  I recommend cooking it on low because that seems to make the meat more tender.

After the roast has finished cooking, remove the meat from the slow cooker and shred.  Tent with foil and set aside.  Next, make the gravy by placing all of the drippings from the roast into a sauce pan. I recommend skimming off the clear layer of fat from the top.  Heat over medium heat until warm.  Add cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon at a time until the gravy has a nice thick consistency.

Poor the gravy over the shredded beef and serve.

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by | February 21, 2011 · 8:02 am

{Giveaway!} Permanent Baggage Wristlet

I am SUPER excited to have local Milwaukee artist, Kamryn Kay Boelk, from Permanent Baggage sharing some amazing stuff with us today.  I stumbled across Kamryn Kay’s handmade bags last summer at a local Gallery Night and have been coveting them ever since.  Besides being stylish and one-of-a-kind, all her bags are made with 98% repurposed or recycled materials.

Today, one lucky winner will snag an Eco Chic wristlet of their choice from her Etsy shop!  Read on for more about what inspires Kamryn Kay and directions on how to enter!

a. Give us your one minute bio.
Born in the small town of Oakfield, WI, I was raised by a hard working farm family who instilled the importance of a good work ethic, value of a job well done, and encouraged my interest in art and learning. After attending the University of Wisconsin Fond du Lac and then graduating from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, I began my business, Permanent Baggage, a line of eco-friendly handbags and accessories.

b. What made you decide to start your own business and how did you get it going?
Permanent Baggage began as a public art project my senior year at MIAD. The intention was to create awareness about overconsumption and its effects on the environment by providing an eco-friendly alternative to plastic grocery bags. The idea was to create a whole bunch of reusable grocery sacks, heap them into a pile in the middle of a public park, and just give them away to people. Sadly, the project never really got off the ground. I quickly realized that creating a ” heaping pile” took a whole heap of time! But there was interest in my bags, and the mission behind it, so I continued to dabble in the venture.

Turning Permanent Baggage into a business has been a slow build. After school I worked a full-time job that wasn’t very fulfilling but paid the bills and allowed me to make my bags on the side. They evolved from reusable grocery sacks to haute eco-friendly handbags and I started getting into art shows and consignment boutiques. When the recession hit, I found myself unemployed so I made more bags, applied to more art shows, and set up an Etsy shop. After months of endless job applications and unsuccessful interviews, I was feeling pretty discouraged about finding “work”. Then one day I decided to give up trying to find a crutch job that would be there just in case I didn’t have the guts to see this through and I took the leap of faith. I met up with Mary Gordon – a fantastic local graphic designer who helped me with my branding, organized my mission statement, legally organized Permanent Baggage into an L.L.C., and set to work. I’m now in seven consignment locations, display at numerous fairs through out the year, have an online shop, and plans to grow!

c. Three things that inspire you:
1. Nature – I’m deeply inspired by and have a great respect for nature. I think because of the bags’ repurposed nature they inherently give props to the earth but I also try to sneak it in through their titles or embellishments.
2. The Artist Lifestyle – I’m driven by the desire to live an artist’s lifestyle – the freedom and joy of being able to do what you love.
3. Repurposed Materials – I’m always working with something new and exciting, whether a fantastic piece of vintage French lace, a gritty gray jumper from the 80’s, or cobalt blue leather scraps. Color, texture, and story are my great loves and the constant change of materials keeps my work fresh and interesting.

d. What’s in your tool kit?
My number one tool is my MacBook! Whether answering emails, listening to music, or editing photos, it’s next to me 90% of the time. I couldn’t live without my favorite coffee mug by Jessie Schroeder-Voss. And also my Omni-Grid and rotary cutter – nothing like a good precise cut.

e. What other DIY/crafty things do you do?
I made handmade paper boxes for Atomic Chocolates, a local chocolate artisan. I made molds to cast the paper pulp into so I could easily fold and assemble the boxes without doing a lot of cutting. The hand-molded dried paper was embellished with sewing stitches, lace, satin, bows, and a card. They were these perfect little packages. I really enjoyed making them and the delicious rewards.

Enter to Win!

To enter, simply check out the Permanent Baggage Etsy shop and then leave a comment here telling us which wristlet is your favorite. We’ll select a winner at random on Friday. Good luck!

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by | February 18, 2011 · 7:46 am

Heart Healthy Beef and Broccoli

February is National Heart Health Month and today we are joining up with Sodium Girl, a fellow Homies nominee, for a recipe rally in the name of healthy tickers. The USDA recently announced new dietary recommendations, cutting the daily average of sodium intake by over 50% to 1,500 mg daily.

Take a look at your labels. Sodium is everywhere, in copious amounts. So the challenge of the day is to recreate a typically sodium-packed meal into a low to no sodium meal. When I think sodium, I think Chinese take-out. Can you really recreate a Chinese meal, like saucy savory Beef and Broccoli, with no sodium and still have it taste like Chinese food?

Challenge accepted.

I’m not going to lie. I made this dish twice. The first dish was okay, but nothing to share. My husband and I both agreed it was missing what I didn’t add – soy sauce. Why not just add a dash of soy sauce?  Even lower sodium soy sauce is packed with a quarter of your daily sodium intake in just one tablespoon! So I embarked on a mission to evade the almighty soy sauce.

Heart Healthy Beef and Broccoli

1 lb. thin sirloin tip steak, cut into strips across the grain
2 C fresh broccoli florets
8 oz water chestnuts
1/2 TBSP minced garlic
1/2 TBSP grated fresh ginger
1 TBSP peanut oil
1/4 tsp Chinese Five Spice
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 TBSP white balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP rice wine vinegar
1 TBSP honey
1/2 TBSP corn starch

Heat peanut oil in a wok or deep skillet on high heat.

Whisk together balsamic vinegar, rice wine, honey, pepper, corn starch and Chinese Five Spice. Set aside.

Toss beef into the oil, searing on both sides, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, saute for 1-2 minutes. Add broccoli and water chestnuts, cooking until broccoli is softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add vinegar mixture and toss until well-coated, about one minute.

Serve over a brown rice.

The second time around, this dish was quite a success! Juicy, flavorful, I hardly missed the soy sauce. I hope you enjoy it too.

Here’s to healthy hearts!

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by | February 16, 2011 · 8:34 am

Corn Salsa

It is the middle of February and I am desperately missing fresh, homegrown produce after this long winter.  During the summer months I love making salsa with things that I grow in my garden and this week I got a craving for some fresh, homemade salsa.  However the fact that my garden is currently under 10 inches of snow means that I need to look elsewhere.


This corn salsa strays from a typical tomato based salsa, but it is full of flavors and tastes fresh from the garden.  Just what I needed!

Corn Salsa

4 cups frozen corn, cooked and cooled
1 green pepper, diced
2-3 jalapeno peppers, diced
1 small red onion, diced
juice of one lemon
juice of one lime
3-4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste.

Toss all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Eat with chips or use to top tacos,  quesadillas or even a crunchy salad with chipotle ranch dressing.

Think Spring!

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by | February 14, 2011 · 8:20 am

{Haute Pie} Berry Mousse Pie

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t resist sharing a sweet red & pink dessert. This Berry Mousse Pie is probably one of the easiest icebox pies you’ll ever make. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to spend more time cuddling than cooking today and a foolproof option for the beginning chef looking to impress their sweetheart.

Also, the mousse (or “Pink Fluff” as my sisters and I called it as kids) works equally well without the pie crust as a sweet side dish.

strawberry mousse pie

Berry Mousse Pie
1 pkg strawberry jello
2/3 C boiling water
2 C ice cubes
1 pint strawberries, diced
1 tub Cool Whip, thawed
1 pre-made graham cracker crust

In a large bowl, whisk jello mix into boiling water until completely dissolved. Add ice cubes and stir for 2-3 minutes until jello thickens. Remove ice cubes and whisk in thawed Cool Whip.

Dice strawberries into bite-sized chunks and gently fold into mousse mixture. Pour mousse mixture into graham cracker crust. Refridgerate for 2-3 hours until mousse is solid, yet fluffy.

valentine's day dessert

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by | February 11, 2011 · 7:58 am

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice: A Baby Shower

My family and I recently hosted a baby shower for my cousin’s wife Christy and their little girl on the way this April. There is no better time of year than Valentine’s time to celebrate all things sugary! With bold colors and sweet treats all around, this Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice shower brought smiles to the hearts and tummies of all the guests, especially the mom-to-be!

Jars filled with bold colored candies and cupcake stands with homemade Red Velvet and Coconut cupcakes sat atop scrapbook paper table runners. Tags with words like baby, girl, pretty, sugar and spice were placed in the cupcakes.

Silverware was rolled in bright pink napkins and tied together with scrapbook paper napkin rings and name tag place cards for each guest.

These little signs, similar to the cupcake tags, hung from the chandelier above the table in the dining room.

Vases were filled with everything from Sweetarts to Gummy Worms to Rock Candy to Chocolate Balls.

Guests were treated to homemade caramels made by a family friend as a favor for attending the shower.

Raspberry Dream cocktails were served as guests entered. To make: take one cookie dough scoop full of raspberry sherbet and top with champagne. For a sweeter taste, use a variety like Asti for a sharper texture and taste, use and Extra Dry Brut.

Guests were asked to bring a one-year or younger photo of themselves. Photos were collected at the door and placed on a poster board. Throughout the party, guests were able to view the board and make their guesses on a worksheet. The winners received candles in the shape of lollipops.

All guests were given baggies at the end of the shower and were able to scoop up and bring home some of the candy from the vase centerpieces.

We had so much fun and we look forward to meeting this little darling in the near future. We are sure she will be as sweet as this shower!

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by | February 10, 2011 · 8:40 am

Picture Perfect Valentines

Every year, we send valentines to family and friends and I was getting a little tired of the same old Valentine’s Day selection. So, I decided to create my own Valentine’s using things I had around the house: my camera, my photogenic 2 year old and a cute pink polka dot sweater. I will admit, I did go out and purchase a red heart shaped pillow from the $2.50 bin at target, but luckily that didn’t break the bank.

I started by creating our very own photo studio by moving some furniture away from the wall and pulling a fluffy white rug into the corner. Then, I just turned on some music and let my daughter be herself – all while snapping loads of pictures on a sunny Saturday morning. I took over 50 pictures in order to get just the right one. Here were some of our outtakes:

Finally I took these pictures and immediately knew I had what I wanted. My daughter played along as I told her to play peek a boo with the pillow.

Stef helped me create some Photoshop magic be erasing the line created by the corner of the wall and adding the wording. This is what we came up with!

Once I had my pictures, I created a double sided postcard by sending the pictures off to an online printer (we used overnightprints.com). We got 25, 5×7 double sided postcards with envelopes for $13.70. That is only $.55 per card!

Inexpensive and personalized Valentine’s your friends and family will love.

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