Shepherd’s Hand Pies
Yes, I love pie! Oddly enough I prefer cherry or meat pies. These Shepherd’s Hand Pies feature shepherd’s pie in a handmade pie crust. The can be made with beef, chicken or just vegetarian. Creativity with this recipe is your friends. The more intricate the ingredients the richer the flavors. I make these with beef and onion as the flavors just fall together. For vegetarians mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, onion, celery, and corn make a pie. For the gravy just use cooked carrots and blend them in a blender with a bit of heavy whipping cream. They make a fantastic gravy that is full of color and nutrients. If your a chicken fan you can do chicken with a chicken gravy and matching vegetables. If you really want to jump out of the box you can use crawfish or crab meat to make a seafood rendition.
Hand pies are delicious fresh or they can be frozen to heat up later on another occasion. This makes them perfect for movie night or for weeknight TV shows you don’t want to miss; such as Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, Haven, Grimm, and Once Upon a Time. Hmm… did I leave one out? Oh! Of course our beloved The Walking Dead. Do have to say I have been waiting for them to kill off the annoying blonde and the governor. Just not a fan of nut jobs.
Speaking of Vampire Diaries, is anyone else tired of the poor Elena thing? I am. Let’s get on with it. Damon and Elena should be together. Let Tyler hook up with the wolf chic from Secret Circle, and the judgmental Stefan and Caroline should end up together. Maybe spin off some weird love relationship with Klaus and Bonnie as they will both soon hate the new professor in town.
Anywho! Back to the pies.
Ingredients
Instructions
Roll out pie crust on a large floured surface. Use biscuit cutter to cut the dough and set aside. Repeat until all dough is cut out. Place round crust cutout on floured surface and roll to spread out the circle. Set aside.
In a large skillet, place diced onion, garlic, olive oil, and beef in skillet. Heat to medium high heat. Add salt and pepper. Add in carrots and potato and cook until meat is done. Drain can of corn and add to skillet. Add in gravy and stir well. You may add the mixture to a bowl if you would like before adding in the gravy.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Fill rolled out crust circles with about a tablespoon and a half with dough and seal around edges with a fork. Continue until all the dough is used. Beat egg in small bowl and coat over crust. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until crust is a golden color.
Serve with mashed potatoes or by themselves as an appetizer.
http://mooshujenne.com/shepherds-hand-pies/Granola Blueberry Muffins & Granola Banana Muffins
The lovely people over at Cascadian Farms were fabulous enough to send me two boxes of their new Ancient Grains Granola cereal and give me two to give away plus a tote! Before we get to the giveaway there is this delicious recipe for granola blueberry muffins and granola banana muffins I want to show you first. After the family sampled Ancient Grains Granola they instantly decided that we needed to make a recipe from it. A short discussion went from granola bars to muffins. Since it is on my food list to make my own muffin recipes, I figured why not!
My son, Chance, quickly stated that these were the BEST blueberry muffins he had ever tasted. Though his idea is he made them. He did all the measuring and mixing while I, of course, directed him with my recipe. Since they are teenagers now my goal is to teach them to cook like me but always keeping a few recipes secret. That way when they move out they have to come home to have their favorites.
These are simple muffins to bake and make a quick healthy breakfast on the way to school. In fact, my son was eating one on the way out the door this morning. However, today is my son Tommy Lee’s 17th birthday. He and I are about to head out to have lunch for just the two of us at the Chinese buffet; that way he will get his fill of sushi.
Bake these yummy muffins this Fall 
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
In large bowl or bowl of stand mixer, add in two cups whole wheat flour, one cup brown sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and granola. Mix on low for about 30 seconds to one minute. Add in one and half cups of buttermilk, vanilla, and olive oil. Mix for about 1 minute until well incorporated; do not over mix. Add in fruit and mix for about 30 seconds until fruit is distributed.
Line cupcake pan with liners and spray with olive oil cooking spray to help the muffins from sticking to the liners. This is optional. Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop in muffin mix which should be level with top of the cupcake liner. Sprinkle extra granola on top of each muffin and bake for 16 to 18 minutes.
Serve with fresh jam or pumpkin butter.
http://mooshujenne.com/granola-blueberry-muffins-granola-banana-muffins/To enter the giveaway fill out the Rafflecopter below.
*Disclosure: I was given two boxes of Cascadian Farms Ancient Grains Granola to review. I was not reimbursed for writing this post and all opinions expressed are my own.
Nanie’s Peppercorn Ranch Salad
Although I made a few changes, this recipe for peppercorn ranch salad my Mom makes for barbecues . It’s a simple salad with very little effort. I put this one together for my son’s 15th birthday. It was interesting because I found most teenage boys do not like canned corn. So strange! Yet they all admitted they like grilled corn on the cob but it has to be only grilled corn on the cob not boiled. Odd! Lesson learned not to make anything with corn in it for teen males.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a trifle bowl (or bowl of your choice) layer in the corn, cucumbers, carrots, red onion, more corn, and top with spring onions. Salt and pepper the top. Drizzle peppercorn ranch dressing over the salad. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
http://mooshujenne.com/nanies-peppercorn-ranch-salad/Vivid Salad in a Jar
Ever since the new revelation of salads in a jar on Pinterest, I have been dead set on making different salads to go in jars and eat through out the week for lunch. Trying to talk the teenage boys in my house into taking them to school for lunch rather then a PB&J. I love to use what is in season. For a cheat sheet to see what is in season before going to the store monthly have a look at Food Network’s Produce Guide. It helps with ideas and what to buy that should be fresh.
What’s great about the jar is it keeps the salad fresh longer. I have many variations of these salads and you can get just as creative. Have a look at my Green Salad for another salad that can go into the jar. Soon I hope to add more salad recipes for healthy lunches. If you come up with one please feel free to put a link in the comments as I would love to try it out!
Ingredients Instructions In a medium bowl, add all your sliced fruits and vegetables. Drizzle with Italian dressing to your preferred amount. Salt and pepper and toss. Add to glass jar and seal tightly. Store in fridge for up to a week.
Looking forward to seeing your combinations! Let me know how you like my vivid salad in a jar.
Red Grapefruit Parmesan Salad
What a heck of day here in North Texas! Pick up the teens early due to tornadic weather reports. Glad I got them home before the schools went on lock down. My daughter’s school thought it would be a bright idea to just leave the kids in the classroom cause their is glass in some of the hallways. Though I agree, I don’t think the classroom is a good place either. Why not the gym? Not to mention it took them over 30 minutes after the sirens went off (and were still going off) to decide to move the kids. The sirens went off after I decided to go get my boys (as I was walking to the car) and I went to their school first, which had them in the hallway, and then headed to my daughter’s school; in which I encounter chaos and mayhem. The secretary had the nerve to tell us that we had to wait while they handled the kids. My first thought, you should have handled the kids thirty minutes ago and there would be no chaos. Wow!
After that we headed home and watched the show outside unfold and the reports on the TV of over 12 tornadoes that touch down around our area. The closest two were Grapevine and Coppell. Both are less then 15 minutes from me. I am glad there is no reports of badly injured people. I feel horrible for those without power. I did manage to take a few shots as the storm died off, in which, they will be on the blog tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday.
This a simple red grapefruit parmesan salad I make when the power goes out or just for a easy, quick lunch at home. I used a bottled vinaigrette salad dressing but I hope soon to have a homemade version up on the site!
Ingredients
Instructions
On a plate, add lettuce and top with grapefruit slices and red onion rounds. Grate Parmesan cheese over the top and drizzle with French Vinaigrette dressing.
http://mooshujenne.com/red-grapefruit-parmesan-salad/Grass Bread – Zucchini Bread
I have heard of Zucchini bread many times but never tried it until a friend of mine from college mentioned it as “Grass” bread. With a quick spin and What? She was laughing. I said do you really put grass in it? She said no of course not and said it is just something her and the kids call it. The next day she brought me a piece. Of course I was hooked. Now, I love any way that I can possibly take an ingredient like zucchini that people generally go “Eww” and turn that into a “Oh wow”! With that being said, I hope you do a “Oh wow” when you try this recipe.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9 by 5-inch loaf pans. Set aside.
Grate the zucchini in to a medium bowl. Toss with 2 tablespoons of sugar and transfer the mixture to a fine-mesh strainer set at least 2 inches over a bowl, press firmly, and allow to drain. In a large bowl; add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and whisk until combined. Set aside.
Whisk together the 2 ½ cups sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon juice, and melted butter until combined. Set aside. Stir in the zucchini and the liquid mixture into the flour mixture. Pour batter, which will be thick, into the loaf pans and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula.
Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a butter knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 5 to 7 minutes and remove to cooling rack. Serve with honey butter.
http://mooshujenne.com/grass-bread-zucchini-bread/Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
Cap’n Crunch Cookies
Everyone in my household simply loves Cap’n Crunch. For a few years now, I have been baking some simple cereal cookies out of cake mix and cereal. The cookies are good but the texture was soft and just not like a traditional cookie. The creativity bug hit me smack dab in the face. Ooh! What if I took a butter cookie (basic) recipe and just tossed in Cap’n Crunch! To my surprise, I manage to have them come out perfect the first time. Pure luck!
I sent these bad boys to a few guy friends of a friend for taste testing. Hopefully, they will comment here and let us all know their opinion on these super dunking cookies.
After completing these cookies and being oh so proud of myself, watching everyone devour them, I headed over to Cap’n Crunch’s website to see that they actually have a different recipe. Yes, folks this is not their recipe. I am in the future planning on trying the Cap’n Crunch French Toast!
The perfect dunking cookie
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until fully combined; to aerate.
Melt butter completely in a microwave safe bowl. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the brown sugar, white sugar, and melted butter. Beat in the vanilla and eggs. Continue beating until batter is light and creamy. In increments, add in flour mixture, mixing after each addition.
In a small bowl, crush 1 cup of the Cap'n Crunch with a potato masher. If you do not have a potato masher, put the Cap'n Crunch into a small zip lock bag and smash. Add crushed Cap'n Crunch to the dough mix, stirring by hand. Then add in the other cup of non-crushed Cap'n Crunch and mix well by hand.
Roll the cookies into 1/2 balls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. These cookies spread a lot. You want to make sure to make the cookie balls small. Place a dozen to a sheet.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the edges are a light golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.
http://mooshujenne.com/capn-crunch-cookies/Apple and Carrot Hearts Salad
This morning I came across a site that gave me the perfect inspiration for a recipe involving carrots for the Fall Fest at FN Dish on Food Network. V’s family is from Prague and they make a wonderful salad involving carrots and apples. The dish is scrumptious but generally not visually appealing. I wanted to put a twist on the dish but I wasn’t sure just what to do till I stumbled upon this interesting carrot art “how to” at Sophistimom. For a tutorial on how to cut the carrots in hearts as featured below please check out her website. This is a simply fresh way to serve up carrots and apples with a cuteness factor. Our family loves this recipe and even eat it at breakfast!
Ingredients
Instructions
Sliced up all of the carrots and apples and place in a medium size bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over apples and carrots. Drizzle sugar over and toss to coat.
http://mooshujenne.com/apple-and-carrot-hearts-salad/
For more Fall Fest Recipes please visit the FN Dish – Fall Fest on Food Network or check out the list below for more recipes from the Fall Fest including carrots.
Thursday Night Dinner: Pickled Carrots
Virtually Homemade: Roasted Red Onions and Carrots With Pomegranate Gremolata
Haute Apple Pie: Carrot, Apple and Radicchio Slaw
What’s Gaby Cooking: Thyme and Honey Roasted Carrots
Glory Foods: Honey-Carrot Bread
Daily*Dishin: Carrot Cake Hawaiian-Style
FN Dish: Quick Carrot Sides for Thanksgiving
Cooking With Elise: Spiced Carrot Marmalade
Dishin and Dishes: Roasted Honey Balsamic Glazed Carrots
Daydreamer Desserts: Carrot Cheesecake
Mooshu Jenne: Apple and Carrot Hearts Salad
The Sensitive Epicure: Maple Bourbon Glazed and Braised Carrots
Daydreamer Desserts: Carrot Martini
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Carrot Slaw
Pumpkin Nutella Bread – Fall Fest FN Dish
This is my contribution to the Fall Fest FN Dish on Food Network this week. Don’t forget to check out the other great recipes below my recipe here.
Chelsea, my best friend and cousin, came in on Sunday to visit me. Monday night we went to see one of our old friends and phenomenal guitarist Jonny Radtke from Kill Hannah (Polar Moon). Although, he was not on tour with Kill Hannah he was playing with the band Filter; which was cool to see. One of the arts we at Muusat enjoy is making treats for our friends in a few bands. Monday night we took them some popcorn balls and pumpkin nutella bread. After a few marriage proposals from Phil ( jokingly of course 
) we were glad to see they enjoyed the food just as much as we enjoyed the show. Can not wait till next time! Lots of hugs to Jonny and Filter!
For pictures and more about the show; check out Muusat.com
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two regular sized glass loaf pans with olive oil cooking spray. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, water,sour cream, pumpkin, eggs, and extracts. Whisk until smooth and combined. Slowly stir in the flour mixture. Mix until ingredients are combined. Pour the batter into the loaf pans, making sure batter is evenly divided. Drop one large spatula full of Nutella onto each loaf pan. Swirl the Nutella into the pumpkin batter with a knife. Place the loaf pans onto a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then carefully remove the loaves. Cool half way before slicing.
http://mooshujenne.com/pumpkin-nutella-bread/
Other great recipes for Pumpkin on the FN Dish Fall Fest this week:
What’s Gaby Cooking: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
The Cultural Dish: Pumpkin Waffles
Cooking With Elise: Pumpkin Chip Scones
And Love It Too: Creamy Pumpkin Fruit Dip
CIA Dropout: Pumpkin Panna Cotta With Gingerbread
Haute Apple Pie Girls: Pumpkin Bread Parfait
I Am Mommy: Pumpkin Pancakes
Dishin and Dishes: Maple Pumpkin Creme Brulee
Virtually Homemade: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins With Pumpkin Seed Streusel
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Pumpkin Pizza
Daydreamer Desserts: Pumpkin Fattigman
From My Corner of Saratoga: Baking Pie In The Pumpkin
FN Dish: The Ultimate Pumpkin Soup
Cooking Channel: Pumpkin Risotto
The Sensitive Epicure: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies With Molasses Marshmallows
Daily*Dishin: Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake
ZaikaZabardast: Pumpkin Jalebi
Big Girls Small Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Loaf
Brown Bag Challenge – Grape Tomato Parmesan Salad
We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #brownbag.
This is a simple lunch recipe that you can use any reusable container. I generally make this and chill the night before allowing the dressing to set in. As a part of the Brown Bag Challenge I am trying to make something healthy and that is also inexpensive. I want people to know that it doesn’t cost or take as much time to bring lunch as it is to buy it premade. This recipe below will cost you less then $8. I can spend that on a sub sandwich at any local sub shop. The $8 for the recipe below will feed you over three days. When I made this at home I used it as a side for dinner then refrigerated the rest and took it for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a medium bowl, slice your cucumbers lengthwise in half and take those pieces and slice lengthwise in half again. Now group together cucumbers and slice into quarters. Put cucumbers in bowl. Add in your halved grape tomatoes. Add in your chopped spring onions. Add in the rounds of red onion. Toss with cheese and dressing. Chill for about an hour.
http://mooshujenne.com/grape-tomato-parmesan-salad/Check out the other posts!
Organic Gardening’s This Imperfect Plot: Day 1 of the Challenge
Between City Limits: Brown Baggin’ It
Virtually Homemade: Mixed Greens and Nectarine Salad
Essentials of Nutrition: What I Bring Everyday
City Life Eats: Brown-Bag Challenge
The Brown Bag Chronicles: Lunch On-the-Go
Cooking Channel: Daily Lunch Box
Diary of a Fat Kid: Refrigerator Salad
Not Your Church Cookbook: Enough With the Urban Chickens (and a recipe for 2-Grain Apple Salad)
I Brown Bag: Brown-Bag Challenge, Days 1 and 2
Eat, Sweat, Smile: Leftovers No More
Healthy Kitschy Vegan: Cheater’s Curry
Healthy Plates: Pesto Penne Primavera
Boys n’ Berry: A Mad Dash for Leftovers
Adventures in my Kitchen: Brown-Bag Challenge, Day 1 (and a really cute Smurfs lunch box)
Nutritious Daily: Brown Bag: A Basic Ensemble
Chick Bike: Brown-Bag Challenge, Days 1 and 2
Brown Girl, Brown Bag: Fishing for Compliments
The Adirondack Chick: Brown-Bag Challenge, Week 1
Adventures in Every Day: Brown-Bagging It
The Undercover Cook: Take It Tuesday, Crispy Halloumi Cheese Salad on Flatbread
