Savory Shepherd's Pie...

It's Monday morning again; why does the weekend go by so quickly? We had perfect weather (mid-60s and overcast) on Saturday to get some gardening done as well as to do some cleanup around the property. Lord willing, I'll share a homestead update later this week. After church on Sunday, we enjoyed a delicious baptismal feast (smoked brisket!) with our church family to celebrate the baptism of yet another covenant child and then spent the afternoon relaxing in the home of dear friends. Life is good. :)

Today's delicious recipe is one I've had in my draft folder for a while since I kept forgetting to take pictures. Finally, I remembered, and so, I present to you:



This has been a family favorite for some time. It does very well if made a day or two ahead and is an excellent choice if providing a meal for someone in need (like a family who just had a baby!!). Adjust cooking time since it will be chilled.

Savory Shepherd's Pie
serves up to 8

meat mixture:
1.5 pounds ground beef (grass fed is best)
1 medium onion, diced (or 2 T. minced, dried)
1 c. chopped carrots
1 stalk celery, diced
1.5 T. flour (we use w/w pastry flour)
rosemary - 1.5 t. fresh or 3/4 t. dried
thyme - 1.5 t. fresh or 3/4 t. dried
1/2 - 1 t. sea salt
1/4 - 1/2  t. black pepper
1 c. beef broth

mashed potatoes:
2.5 pounds organic russet potatoes
1 - 2 cloves minced garlic (or 1 t. garlic powder)
1/4 c. butter
1/3 - 1/2 c. milk or cream (use more if needed)
salt & pepper to taste

optional toppings:
shredded Parmesan, sharp cheddar, or other cheese
freshly ground black pepper
paprika

Prepare mashed potatoes using your preferred method; this can be done beforehand or while preparing the meat if you like to multitask. :)

Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet along with the onion; add carrots and celery and cook over medium heat about 5 - 10 minutes or until veggies are beginning to soften (check with a fork).

Sprinkle flour over the top and stir to combine; stir in seasonings then add broth.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes or so allowing broth to thicken and veggies to soften further; transfer meat to prepared casserole dish.

Spread mashed potatoes over meat/veggie mixture; sprinkle on toppings of choice.

Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned -- this one could have browned a bit more, but everyone was hungry!



Visit our Homemade Pantry page for more "healthier version" ideas -- save money and avoid all those nasty artificial ingredients by cooking from scratch. :)

Bon appetit!

~Lisa

Thanks for visiting Happy in Dole Valley! To join us on our journey, look to the upper right to follow or subscribe. :)

Sharing with some of our favorite places...

The Nourishing Gourmet, Tasty Traditions, Make, Bake, Create, Sarah's Homemaking Party , Frugal Days Sustainable Ways &

mother's day happenings... {saturday morning latte}

Saturday morning over coffee is the perfect time to ponder, reflect, and record the week's blessings.

If you care to join me, write a post of your own and leave a link in the comments. 

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Last weekend...

They know me so very well... red wine from my beloved, flower seeds (from around Europe!!) from Jess & Zack, vanilla body butter, herb seeds, and a charming planter from Jeff & Christina, something to read from Daniel and AnnaLynn, and a place in which to enjoy each...

...a new wicker bench for the front porch from Dan and the kids (it even has a cushion so it's super comfy). :)

How blessed am I?

Yes, the gifts and cards are all wonderful, but more so is the love that was poured out upon me last Sunday. No, I'm obviously not the world's most perfect mom, but having my children rise up and call me blessed is enough.

"Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her"

~Proverbs 31:28

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I am thrilled that for the first time since we moved to Dole Valley, my bearded iris was in bloom for Mother's Day! The warm weather we enjoyed in late April and early May did the trick! So gorgeous!

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Two weekends ago...

It takes a lot of time and planning to pull off a big church event. Have you ever taken one on? My dear friend Leslie and I have done quite a few of them over the years, and I thank God for the joy and pleasure it is to work with this woman. When you know someone well, you get to know one another's strengths and can trust that they'll come through and do what they say they will. If it were up to me, Miss Square Corners/Less-is-More, all would be neat, tidy, and simplistic. Thankfully, we're called to community, so our church's Mother-Daughter Tea was not only simply done, but lovely, too. Our theme this year was "hospitality" as you might have guessed. I was too busy running the tea to take any photos of my own, but thankfully, one of my favorite photographers did! If you click on the photo below, you can see how much fun we had. :)

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And while this cute candle wasn't a mother's day gift, it was a recent gift nonetheless from the same sweet young lady who took the tea pictures I hope you took a moment to look at. :)

Thank you, Jess! Love it!

And you, dear readers, if you've made it this far, thank you for indulging me! Wishing you all a blessed weekend,

~Lisa

Thanks for visiting Happy in Dole Valley! To join us on our journey, look to the upper right to follow or subscribe. :)

The Snow Child, baby washcloths & more cabled mitts... {tending my yarn garden}

After seeing The Snow Child on several yarn along posts over the past couple of weeks, I decided to check it out from our local library. How excited was I to pick it up Tuesday afternoon in time to read a few pages and capture a photo with my knitting for today's post! The opening line is simply delicious: "Mabel had known there would be silence." I'm hooked -- thanks ladies for the recommendation. :)

I mentioned last week that I needed to knit up some baby washcloths for several upcoming baby showers. The yarn I like to use for these is Bernat's CottonTots which is super soft. I'll be wrapping each washcloth with a miniature bar of mildly-scented homemade soap and will have several baby gifts ready for giving. (I'm thinking of listing some of these on my Etsy market; if you're interested, please leave a comment.)

In other knitting, I worked up a pink pair of my cabled mitts to check my pattern before sending it off to be tested this week. So exciting! Thanks for all the encouraging comments last week. :)  I'm still trying to decide what to cast on next... maybe this or this or this???  I know, I know. I've got baby knitting on the brain. What can I say? My first grandbaby is due in FIVE weeks!!!

How about you? What books are you reading? What's growing in your yarn garden? Please share in the comments and join me at Ginny's.

~Lisa

Thanks for visiting Happy in Dole Valley! To join us on our journey, look to the upper right to follow or subscribe. :)

It's Muffin Monday :)

Good Monday morning! The heat wave we've enjoyed for the past few weeks is finally over, and the spring rains typical here in the Pacific Northwest have returned. With the warm weather and sunshine, we've accomplished lots in the garden (hope to share an update later this week) but not too much in the kitchen.

All of this to say that AnnaLynn and I don't have a new muffin to share with you this week; instead, we browsed through our collection of recipes and decided to highlight several recipes that feature strawberries and blueberries which will be coming on soon in farms and gardens near and far. Enjoy!

Click on the images to open the recipes...




Please don't be shy about leaving a comment to let us know you were here! And while you are, please feel free to visit our Muffin Monday page for more deliciously healthy muffin inspiration!

~Lisa

Thanks for visiting Happy in Dole Valley! To join us on our journey, look to the upper right to follow or subscribe. :)

Sharing with some of our favorite places...

The Nourishing Gourmet, Tasty Traditions, Make, Bake, Create, Sarah's Homemaking Party , Frugal Days Sustainable Ways &

a wow moment & a whoa moment... {Saturday morning latte}

Saturday morning latte is a time to ponder, to reflect, to record the week's blessings. Why? Because time so quickly & easily slips by, and I don't want to forget or neglect to give thanks.

I plan to use this space to record each week's happenings, blessings, and thoughts. If you want to join me, write a post of your own and leave a link in the comments. : )


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The wow moment...

Weather has been unseasonably warm for the past week or two here in Dole Valley. Trying to keep to the tasks at hand is difficult when the sun is shining and the garden is calling, but the kids and I did manage to take advantage of the beautiful weather to venture down our country road to climb an old logging road. The view was gorgeous and the time stolen from responsibility was time well taken.

The "whoa" moment came while making our way back down. Actually, I had several of them. First of all, stepping down from a log, I slipped on a small branch that rolled right out from under my foot (I was moving along so gingerly up to this point...). The result was that I fell hard onto my back side; my back smacking onto said log -- "ouch" is insufficient to describe how it felt. Thankfully, Daniel was right behind me and was able to help me up. Of course AnnaLynn, who was in the lead, ran back to see how she could help. All I could think was how embarrassed I was and how I needed to get up off my behind. :)  Throughout the remainder of our hike, which, by the way, included stops to capture photos of the trillium and wild iris above, my thoughts wandered from how out of shape my almost-50-year-old-body is (whoa) to "I so hope my back isn't really hurt" (thankfully, it's fine) to how much I love spending time like this with my kids (whoa!!). I love being a mom.

Wishing you all a happy mother's day,

~Lisa

Thanks for visiting Happy in Dole Valley! To join us on our journey, look to the upper right to follow or subscribe. :)