Sorry, Jo, I guess I should have a posted a warning with the link!

The first casserole recipe as promised.

Cheeseburger Pie

2 lbs. hamburger
Salt
Pepper
Onion powder
1 onion, chopped
12 oz. cheddar cheese, grated and divided
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used whole milk)

Fry hamburger and onion, season with salt and pepper. Place hamburger in a casserole dish, top with 6 ounces of cheese. Spread tomatoes over hamburger. In bowl mix eggs, mayo, cream, and little bit of salt. Pour over hamburger/tomatoes and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes. Serve with rice, potato chunks, or French bread.

I like to serve cheeseburger pie with potato chunks. This is basically how I make them: LINK remove by SnowAngel December 2014. All measurements for the potato chunks are very approximate, I never measure the spices or oil.

Oh, and the cheeseburger pie can serve as many as 12 people.

SnowAngel

We've never generally observed it beyond wearing something green but the thing I look forward to about St. Patrick's Day is most definitely dinner! Last night we had a classic dish well known here in the US for celebrating this "lucky" day.

Corned Beef & Cabbage

1 x Corned Beef Brisket (with pickling spice packet included)
4-10 Redskin Potatoes, depending upon size
1 x whole head of Cabbage

Every grocery store I've ever been in sells a prepackaged Corned Beef brisket with the pickling spices included. My first time making this on my own...Maternal Unit always made it before. Put the Corned Beef, spices, potatoes, and cabbage (which should be cut into wedges) into a large stew pot. Fill with water until it just covers the top of the food. Bring to a boil, and then let it simmer for 3 hours with the cover on. Some recipes call for carrots as well. When it's done it is absolutely delicious, filling, and actually not that bad for you nutritionally. My personal favorite part is the cabbage, which soaks up the pickling spice and the flavor of the meat, and it is a perfect meal for leftovers. We usually have the corned beef with a side of spicy brown mustard (like Gulden's) but how you eat it is up to you.

SL, you'll be happy to know that my husband got off work early enough that we were able to trek up to my parents house for dinner. So I got my corned beef and cabbage after all! I'm pretty sure my mom's recipe is nearly identical to yours as she also buys the corned beef with the flavor packet. The only differences are she uses Yukon Gold potatoes instead of the traditional red potatoes, and she does add carrots. Yum! (And my kiddo was putting a serious hurt on his plate of food too.)

I really like cabbage, but it's corned beef I have troubles with. Something about the spices in it. It is one food I have ever gagged on (actually, threw up): when I was about 7 or 8, my mom served corned beef for supper. Tried it; didn't care for it At All. My dad, a very gentle and fun soul, decided that since I was always an excellent eater, I needed to sit at the dinner table until I finished every last bite. I worked myself into a state since I couldn't stand the taste that I had to rush to the washroom and, uh, upchuck. Dad has apologized many times for being a bit too hard on me that evening and we have a good laugh about it now. It sure stuck in my mind though. Since then, I have not attempted to try corned beef again. Having said that, I wouldn't mind trying your moms' version, fantasia and Shadowlander. Kudos to the Bubs for liking it too.

Speaking of cabbage, I find brussel sprouts are like mini cabbages. I snack on them raw most days and like them cooked as well. So tasty!

I have really changed my eating habits the past four months and am concentrating much more on fruits and veggies ... and a 'ton' of water, as in 12 - 16 glasses/day. Not that I don't treat myself at times, but, well, everything in moderation, right?

Hmm...corned beef is my second favorite deli meat after Pastrami, which is the king of all deli meats. In my humble opinion. I hate that you didn't like it, Jo...that kinda breaks my ol' heart a little bit. My sister Liz forced liver on us as youths and my memory of that time (which remains the only time I ever ate it) was that no matter how much ketchup one put on it that awful flavor still managed to bleed through. Funny thing is I really like liverwurst/Braunschweiger, especially on pumpernickel or rye with some spicy brown mustard on it. Yeah! Weird, eh?

FK, I am proud of you. And proud of EVAN! He's well on his way to becoming a Man now, having eaten an awesome meat and potato dish like that. I'd expect to see some chest hairs start popping out in a few days.

And I absolutely love a good tender liver smothered with sautéed onions and mushrooms. But, yeah, when something is forced upon you, it does tend to lose its appeal for decades to come.

I'd expect to see some chest hairs start popping out in a few days.

Oh yeah. He may then have to be on display at the World's Fair at 1 & 1/2 years old with chest hair ... and all because of chowing down his St. Paddy's day meal.

Does anybody have any good sweet potato Easter recipes? I'm in charge of sweet potatoes this year and in a pinch I will just bake them, but I'm wondering if anybody does anything super awesome with them?

Fantasia, I've found that baked sweet potatoes with a little bit of salt and with heavy whipping cream poured on top tastes heavenly. It is a bit heavy, but it's very good.

I've had to pack myself lunch more often these days, so I'm always interested in looking for things that can be eaten in a few minutes that don't need to be warmed and that are healthy. Right now, broccoli, raisins, carrots, and wheat thins are my normal fare, which isn't bad, but it can be bland. Suggestions would be great.

oh Bella, I hear you on bland. With the Great Lent and all, variety in food is rather limited for me

I have been coming up with interesting recipies though, since I'm in charge of lunch for my and my older sister at work. Before we just went with bread and cheese, now it's mostly potatoes or buckwheat usually mixed with greenbeans or other such vegetables. (but not cauliflower, my sister can't stand it, though I don't mind very much). Mushrooms have also become a great part of our diet (it's funny to see my older sister, a loud hater of mushrooms, actually enjoy them) cause they add great taste to the food.

Since bread isn't eaten during Lent, (because of the yeast) I make these small little cakes of sorts (not sure what to call them in English) with water, flour, baking soda, vinegar and oil. The only annoying thing is as soon as I make a batch, it's gone the next minute, due to the 10 other hungry people in the house. So yeah, I've either got to make a really large batch, or hide them right away so no one gets them before I do

It's called either unleavened bread or non-yeast bread. We have a lot of quick breads here in the USA that don't use yeast, but as I don't know what other foods are avoided during Lent I don't know how many you could make. One of the more common ones is Banana Bread.

I'm always interested in looking for things that can be eaten in a few minutes that don't need to be warmed and that are healthy.

I eat a lot of cheese sticks and nuts/trail mix.

As for sweet potatoes, I found this recipe online that I think I'm going to try. It got the thumbs-up from my mom and sister.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patr ... ecipe.html

Mmmmm, sweet potatoes. Love them!

I've had to pack myself lunch more often these days, so I'm always interested in looking for things that can be eaten in a few minutes that don't need to be warmed and that are healthy. Right now, broccoli, raisins, carrots, and wheat thins are my normal fare, which isn't bad, but it can be bland. Suggestions would be great.

This may be more of a treat than a snack, but I love having a square or two of very dark chocolate (usually around 80% or 90% cacao) now and then to help quash chocolate cravings without making me want to keep eating the whole chocolate bar.

Besides raisins, there's also dried fruits such as prunes, cranberries, figs, et cetera. I love figs. Olives can be a tasty snack, too.

I know that coconut is often a love-it-or-hate-it food, but I'm in the lovin' it category, and two of my favorite snacks are a spoonful of coconut butter or some toasted coconut chips. Coconut is such a healthy food and the fat content is great for energy and satisfying hunger. I think you can buy both of these in stores or make them at home, though the toasted coconut chips are really easy to make as long as you're careful not to burn them. You can also fiddle with flavorings; there are even recipes that use maple syrup or sugar. Yum.

My mom has been experimenting with a favourite ice cream recipe lately, and a couple people here asked for it. It's a bit jumbled because of the variations we've done (and the fact that I'm writing it out ), but here it is:

Ingredients:
1 pint (2 cups) heavy whipping cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14.7 ounce, I think)
4 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs. water
Whatever else you want to put in*

Prepare an 8"x8" pan by covering the inside with a layer of tinfoil, leaving enough on the edges so that you can fold it back over (essentially create a tinfoil shell in the pan, with enough left to seal it over on itself after you put the ice cream in). Whip the cream until it forms semi-stiff peaks (you don't want butter, but you want it to hold its shape). In a separate bowl, combine the milk, vanilla, and water and stir until mixed*. Fold that mixture into the whipping cream, along with any mixed-in ingredients (the recipe calls for crushed oreos (I think a cup or so? Basically until it looks like a good consistency to you), but we've also done cookie dough and crushed candy a couple of times, I think). Pour into pan, fold tinfoil edges over to cover, and put in the freezer until set (several hours at least, usually overnight).

*NOW, if you want to make chocolate, caramel, or peanut butter, or another flavour of ice cream, you'll need to combine the milk and the chips (chocolate, caramel, or peanut butter ones; 1 cup of chocolate or peanut butter, and about 3/4 of a bag caramel bits), microwave until they're pretty melted, and mix until smooth. Then you'll add the water and vanilla and then fold into the whipping cream.

We just made the chocolate yesterday for church today, and we ate some of the caramel (first attempt at it) tonight, which was delicious. This recipe makes a really creamy and rich ice cream, and it's a great base to experiment and have fun with. Please let me know if you have any questions, or need to clarify anything!

I had some cream cheese to use up today and was looking for something simple to make, and came across a cream cheese coffee cake recipe that looked good. I didn't want to open any yogurt and we're out of sour cream, so I used the recipe for the cream cheese filling and then used another recipe for the batter that a lady at church had given me that I'd been meaning to try (1 c. flour, 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1 c. milk, 1/4 butter; I may or may not have copied it down wrong). We didn't have much in the way of jam open, so I skipped that and went straight to the topping. Buuut, I didn't want to open any more butter, so I just sprinkled some cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar on top of the cream cheese filling and stuck it in the oven where it there proceeded to take 45 minutes to bake instead of the 15-20 I was expecting. I realised 10 minutes in that the cream cheese layer was disappearing and taking the topping with it. XD When it came out, I found the cream cheese layer on the bottom of the cake; the topping remained mostly disappeared. The consistency is weird, but it tastes good (at least to me and Summer; Winter was rather disgusted by it), so I think it's something I'll try to keep improving on.
And pictures are here and here.

My other cooking adventure today was making banana muffins from a different recipe than usual by mistake (I thought it looked too clean of a page) and dumping in a ton of cinnamon instead of the 1/2 tsp called for. So, they were rather different than usual but still tasted good.

Made my first full crockpot dish today. Lasagna. I had to wing it as we didn't have all the ingredients. I used a couple of bags of cheese and some extra sharp cheddar instead of the required cheeses. Turkey meat instead of italian sausage and spaghetti sauce instead of the tomato sauce. Didn't turn out half bad.

It could have used some more cheese, but it just made it more of a meaty lasagna instead of a cheesy lasagna. I did need a wee bit more meat, so I'm thinking next time to double the meat and add a little more sauce whether it be spaghetti or tomato. I added garlic and Tonys to the meat when browning it and added garlic as well to the rest.

Got decent reviews from everyone who tried it.

Today was my first canning experience (aside from watching my parents put away food when I was younger). It was, as per usual with me both in general and lately, quite the adventure. From 1:30 till now, I have been preparing, canning, and processing salsa, pickles, and marinara sauce. The marinara is finishing up, as it takes the longest to process. I'm really hoping that it doesn't require re-processing, as I've had to replace a few lids and re-process about 7 other jars as well. We ended up with 5 pints of pickles (cucumbers from our landlord's garden), 4 pints of marinara (plus a few bags we froze that were probably another 2-2.5 pints, and 15 pints of salsa. The only thing from our garden in the last two were the herbs and a few green onions. Our tomatoes and peppers have yet to come in, so we bought cans of dices tomatoes and made do.