Author: wyranchwife

Mandy’s Shepard’s Pie!

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As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I have this great friend Mandy who can do everything. I swear if it amazes me sometimes. I am beginning to wonder if she is human. No normal person can know or have knowledge of that much criteria. I mean really. What is up with that!

Anyway I was never a fan of the Shepard’s Pie meal until I tried her recipe. Actually I was not even aware of her recipe until my husband wanted to it made for dinner one night and remembered when Mandy cooked for hunters one year and made her version. So I texted her right away and got the recipe.

Yes, it is good. Okay it’s not good it is amazing. The can of tomato soup adds a sweetness to it and it is just fabulous. I would love to take credit for it, but alas I can not. It’s hers. But I make it often and the kids insist on taking it in their lunches to school and then all the other kids tell my kids how they have the best mom who makes all the best meals and I feel awesome.

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Here is the recipe. The picture above was right before I put it in the oven to do its magic and heat up wonderfully. I was going to take a picture afterwards, but after everyone dug in, it wasn’t as pretty, plus i didn’t get it sealed on one side with the mashed potatoes and it kind of sprang a leak which wasn’t as pretty anymore. So you only get the pretty half cooked picture!

I also doubled the meat because our packages come in 2 pounds or 2.5 pounds. So I just cooked it all, added 2 bags of frozen mixed veggies, and 3 cans of tomato soup. Maybe 2 would have been plenty, but I love to just make things bigger and bigger. It is what I do. Not sure how or why, but I always end up with my pans filled to the top with whatever I am making. They just always seem to grow.

Mandy's Amazing Shepard's Pie

  • Servings: 12-14
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Print

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
  • 1 can tomato soup
  • 5-8 potatoes, cooked and mashed
  • milk or cream
  • butter
  • 1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown the ground beef and onion.  Season with salt and pepper. Add the mixed vegetables and the can of tomato soup.  Pour into a casserole dish.

Mash the potatoes. Add milk, cream, or butter to taste. Season with salt and butter.  Drop by large spoonfuls across the top of the casserole. Then spread to cover completely. Make sure edges are sealed with mashed potatoes. Top with the cheddar cheese.

Bake uncovered for 25 minutes at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Chores? Why yes my dear child, you do chores!

wyranchwife3 Comments

Chores. That word alone will send every kid in any house across the world running for their room. Amazingly my kids find homework, they eat longer, they need baths, anything to get out of chores.

I don’t have small children. I have a ten year old and a fourteen year old. Yes, plenty old enough to start pulling some weight. Especially since it is their own messes that I am having to clean up. Moms, you know what I mean. There is a process to our cleaning.

  •  You have to day and you clean till your house is shiny. (well mine is kind of a sparkle in places.)
  •  Children come home. They remark “Oh, Mom it’s clean.”
  •  They sit and I swear decide how to destroy it the fastest.  The eat in front of the tv. Which means dishes and wrappers gather themselves right on the floor. Backpacks, lunch boxes, jackets, gloves, hats and shoes clutter the mudroom. Dropped right as they walked through the door.  The floor being clean means it’s time to drag out toys that I swear have not seen the light of day in months, but now must be played with and because we will play tomorrow must linger on the floor scattered in a battlefield position for the remainder of the week.
  • Mom goes into complete psycho mode, cleaning and ranting about being a slave to her family and no one appreciating or helping.  (Does this sound familiar to anyone? Anyone? I know your out there!)

Well this past week I met my end of the line. I was done. I am either going to get the kids to help or I am going to move to the hunting house and live in a very quiet, very clean, very peaceful home that only sees my mess. Yes, it will be lonely, but I can walk over to visit the pigsty they will be living in.

Okay I can’t move. It will be too hard to walk back and forth to do laundry and to make meals.  But it is a thought. I decided to get serious and I created a wonderful chore chart. It is not overwhelming, but it is a list of what they must each accomplish everyday when they get home from school or after breakfast on the weekends.  I decided that I would make the list easy to get done and easy to finish.

Here is the bargaining point!! They get no electronics, no wi-fi, NO NOTHING!! (I know very improper english and a double negative which I hate, but I had to use it here. Don’t tell my English teachers!)  That’s right, they either do what is on their list or they can go get ready for bed and get a book.  Well the book thing doesn’t bother my kids, they will read for hours, but I can’t take books away. They would die and so would I. We have that connection to our books. Plus if they do get the entire week finished, they get their allowance of $5.00.  I think that is pretty fair.

Well So far it is working. I am holding my ground. I am making them clean up after themselves. I mean what kind of husband is my son going to be if he makes messes and expects his wife to pick up everything and wait on him hand and foot! Oh, dear. I should have started this long ago.

Loganne’s Weekly and Weekend Chores

John’s Weekly and Weekend Chores

The Best Breakfast Casserole! Did I mention the BEST!!

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Okay here is the deal. I am a very picky eater. I know comes as a surprise huh?  I would never guess that as much as I like to cook that I am actually very picky. I like things just right and I like things to cook just right. Well when it comes to breakfast casseroles I have a great dislike for them.

I have had my fair share of having to cook them for different reasons. One is that it is an easy dish for serving to lots of people at once. It is a one dish meal, which means less mess and less clean up.  However I hate some of the ingredients when they cook together in a 13×9 inch pan. I know, I’m weird.

My first big pet peeve is that with the usual casserole it is eggs, cheese, bacon or sausage, and shredded potatoes or hash browns. Well I can never get it right. They eggs are either still runny and the edges are brown, or the eggs are done and the potatoes are not finished. You get my drift it is just such a variance in cooking.  Plus here is the biggie, I hate eggs! I know it is almost un-country of me. I grew up raising chickens and gathering eggs. However after my son was born. I can’t stand them. So runny eggs in a casserole almost makes me loose last nights ice cream and cookies.

One of my dear friends gave me this recipe and I must say it is my FAVORITE!! Not only is it good, but it comes out perfect every time. It also tastes awesome heated up for leftovers. You simply, No you MUST try this ASAP. You will be amazed at how easy and how good it is.

For the record I use Swaggerty’s Sausage because: 1. it is amazing, and 2. it is made near my home town. So I have to use it and I enjoy using it. Ever since they brought it to Sam’s Club in Casper, Oh my I buy like 8 boxes when I go up. Love this stuff.

I have also made this with bacon. I added cheddar and Monterey cheese  it was divine.

So hurry. Start cooking it. Make it for lunch, or supper, Just make it!

Flawless Breakfast Casserole

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

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  • 1 lb sausage
  • 1 container of Grands biscuits, cut into pieces
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 small can of chilled or jalapeños
  • 6 eggs
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • 1/4 cup milk

Cook and crumble the sausage until no longer pink.  Spray a 13×9 inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Arrange the biscuit pieces over the bottom. Mix up the eggs and milk.  Add the salt and pepper to the eggs and stir.

Layer the sausage and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese over the biscuits. Sprinkle the chilled or jalapeños next. (These can be left out.)  Pour the egg mixture over the casserole.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

Cook for casserole at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy! You will trust me!

We Wait!!

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As I have shared many times, my dog Jipsey is amazing!! Well it depends on who you ask, but I think she is amazing.  She strives to work and then is a great people dog. Being a people dog is one of the qualities I really like in a dog and some border collies, just don’t really care for people. They have the let me work and then leave me alone mentality. This is what my husband looks for in his dogs.

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Since Jipsey started working cows, I have had a few people interested in pups out of her and our male Joe. I feel that they will balance each other so well. After attending a working dog clinic in Kearney, Nebraska in February, I feel that I have a better understanding of these amazing dogs and I am ready to get her working harder. So with that I decided that with her next heat I would breed her and Joe. Then I could begin working her and my friends would have their pups. 

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January 19, Jipsey came into heat.  Not long afterwards we found out we are having puppies!! We are totally crazy!! Today is approximately day 56 and we are on pins and needles. I think it is worse than when I was pregnant. I wake up all hours checking on her. She is so miserable and I know ready to be done.

I will keep you informed. . . .

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Joe

Isn’t he just the prettiest red/white border you have ever seen. Well maybe not the prettiest, but he is pretty awesome.

Sometimes I need a little taste of Summer.

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Here in Wyoming we are still in the dead of winter. I know that the first day of spring is just around the corner, but I am not sure Mother Nature has gotten the memo.  I am one of the few who enjoys the continuous snow, the cold mornings, the frost on the car windows. I will stop now. It is getting close to calving and we need a little warm weather. So I will appreciate a little rise on the thermometer.

Every now and then, when the wind is howling and the snow is still blowing,  I get a craving for a little piece of summer. You know that dish that will remind you that warm weather is not so far away. Well last week I was browsing through my recipe program and came across an all time favorite. I couldn’t resist. I had to make it. My husband had been complaining that I we did not have any lettuce or fresh veggies. So the next time I  was in town I purchased all the ingredients to whip up this summer time salad.  It is so fun to put together and even prettier to look at. But the taste, is amazing. Everything just mixed together to make a fabulous dish.  Let me say that my husband and I devoured this salad.   So run to the store and whip this baby up. You won’t regret it.

You can almost feel summer when you bite into this salad.

Southern Layered Salad

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup salad dressing
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 head lettuce, chopped
  • 2 cups swiss cheese, shredded, 8 oz
  • 1 package frozen peas, thawed, 10 oz
  • 1 medium purple onion, diced
  • 6 hard cooked eggs, chopped
  • 1 ½ cups turkey, bacon, or ham, chopped or crumbled
  • 1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped

Mix together mayo, salad dressing, milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper. In a large bowl or 13×9 inch pan layer 1/2 lettuce, and 1/2 of the cheese, peas, eggs, turkey or bacon. Spread 1/2 of the mayo mixture. Repeat layers. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Enjoy!

Two of My Favorite Must Haves!!

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Around 2005 I was introduced to this amazing company. It is Thrive foods out of Utah. Let me just say it has changed my life. Well it changed my fridge and grocery bill. It also changed my cooking. I guess that does encompass my entire life.  I am not sure what else I do someday besides cook, clean, cook again, clean, and repeat.  Do you see a pattern? I think most wives experience this pattern. It’s awful, but it’s wonderful at the same time. I mean would I rather have my husband in the kitchen all the time? Ummm.  No, probably not. I enjoy cooking too much.

I am not a one of those disaster nuts and I think that some see these foods as disaster planning. However I do have quite the stock of Thrive foods and I keep replacing what I use. Does that make me a stock nut? Maybe? There is quite a bit I have downstairs in storage for emergency use. But others I use on an almost daily basis.

I was skeptical at first. However after the party. (There is a sales rep, and you can do a home party just like Pamered Chef, tupperware, Mary Kay, etc. ) I wanted some things for when the power was out and when I was in desperate need. My Rep. Susan Pillen out of Newcastle, Wyoming, showed us so many recipes and ways to use the items. I was amazed at how good.  Plus here is the BIG WINNER – NO PRESERVATIVES.   If it says carrots, it is just carrots.  DING DING Winner!! I love this. LOVE it!!!! Basically they freeze dry the 

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foods and they are amazing. It is so easy to throw them in recipes to plump back up and cook or you can put them in a little water and they plump back up to use as you wish! What is better than that? I’m not really sure. 

 

Once my shipment arrived I began to use a few more items more than others. However I have used about everything. My kids love the yogurt in their lunches. Little dried yogurt bites.  Why didn’t I know of this stuff when they were little. Ugh. It would have been my best friend. What am I saying, it still is my best friend.

My husband has always been a stickler for using the fresh veggies in our fridge. Let me say I was one that always bought carrots. Constanlty for use in soups and stews, etc. Other than that I didn’t really use them very much and guess what? Yep, they rot. I wish they didn’t, but they would.  That is money thrown away. It was depressing because I like them in things and need occasionally. Now, with the thrive carrots. I use them when I need them. I rarely buy carrots unless I need whole baby carrots, which is maybe 1-2 times a year.  These carrots are perfectly cut little pieces perfect for soups, stews, casseroles, pasta, etc. The list goes on.  I don’t have to chop anything. I just throw them in.

My other is finely diced onions. What a life saver. My son hates onions and these are chopped so finely that you don’t notice them, but the flavor is outstanding.  When he is cooking, he can get a little handful and throw them in. I don’t have to worry about him cutting onions or not putting them in because he doesn’t like them. He just opens the lid and Wham there they are perfect every time.

Check out their website! Host a party, do what you must, but Buy some of their food. You will never be the same. You don’t have to thank me. You will want to, but you don’t have to. Well you can. Just send me an email or better yet send me the recipe that becomes your favorite after you start using these products.

Check it out: http://www.thrivelife.com