Clean out the fridge and pantry week

So this week was "clean out the fridge and pantry" week. One day was Shephard's Pie and another day was Steak Enchiladas. Both of these meals were made 100% from items from the fridge/freezer or using leftovers! And they were both so delicious!! I threw both of them together and they were both very good. Here's what I did...

Shepherd's Pie

1 - 1.5 lbs ground beef
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
Butter for saute...a couple T. (I used a spoonful of yogurt butter)
1 onion, diced
A big handful of baby carrots, diced
1-2 C. frozen peas (or corn or both...)
1/2 - 1 C. of beef broth (or more if necessary)
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Mashed potatoes (however you make them...we just had some leftover in the fridge)

Saute the onion and carrots over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add meat and beans and cook until meat is no longer pink. Drain fat if necessary, then add peas, salt and pepper, Worcestershire and beef broth. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add more beef broth if you need to to keep it moist.

Place mixture in baking dish and top with mashed potatoes. If you're really fancy you can make marks/peaks in it with a fork so they will brown pretty. I didn't do that....I guess I'm not fancy. ;)

Cook at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until bubbly and brown. If you're really, REALLY fancy you can broil for the last 5 minutes so your peaks will be nice and brown. DELISH!!



Although this looks like something Sixer may have thrown up, I assure you it doesn't taste like it. I really do love this. It is comfort food to the max. My kids seriously gobbled it up and Jacob said it was his "new favorite dinner". ENJOY!!


The very next night, I decided I needed to do something with all the steak that was left over from Mikes birthday dinner. I also had a bunch of cilantro left from when I made the teachers at P&E's school Deer Valley Turkey Chili that was about to go bad. And I had several packs of corn tortillas, because if you've ever looked in my meat drawer you know that on any given day I have 287534 packs of cheese, and even more packs of tortillas.

So, Steak "Enchiladas" it was! (Put in quotes because I made it in casserole form. I didn't feel like rolling enchiladas! But you could if you wanted.) Here's how I put them together....

Steak Enchiladas

About 2 lbs steak (I used sirloin, but you can use flank steak or any steak for that matter), cut into a 1/2 inch dice
1 small onion, diced
about 1/2 C. chopped cilantro
2 C. Monterrey jack cheese, shredded & divided
1/2 C. green salsa
16 corn tortillas
1 C. light sour cream
splash of milk
1 bunch cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded..(I roasted mine in the oven before seeding)
1 T. cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Saute steak in a small amount of oil until just heated. Add onion and cilantro and cook until onions begin to soften (about 5-10 mins). Remove from heat and add salsa and 1 C. cheese. Stir well and set aside.

Make cilantro sour cream sauce by adding the roasted, seeded jalapeno and the entire bunch of cilantro to a food processor. Pulse until combined and shredded. Add sour cream and splash of milk (to thin it) to a saucepan over medium low heat. Heat until it stars to smoke and then add cilantro/jalapeno mixture and cumin. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Spray a 9X13 pan with no stick cooking spray and then line with 8 tortillas. Pour steak mixture over the tortillas and top with remaining 8 tortillas. Pour sour cream sauce over the top and the top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and the edges have started to bubble.

Seriously yummy! Mike said "I cant wait for you to make this again!" And the children devoured it as well.