A few recipes for you & a new 'Luke word'

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

1 refrigerated pizza dough
1/2 to 3/4 c pizza sauce
1/2 TBS olive oil
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1 can artichokes, drained and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 c baby spinach leaves torn into small pieces
shredded cheese

Heat olive oil in saute pan over low heat. Add garlic and remove from heat, stirring (I do this to avoid burning the garlic). Stir for a minute and then add the artichokes and place back on low heat; add the pepper flakes. Cook on low, stirring often, for 2- 3 minutes; remove from heat and set aside. Roll out pizza dough and spread sauce on dough. Evenly spread spinach and then artichoke mixture onto pizza. Top with shredded cheese of your choice. Bake per instructions on pizza dough can.


* I used artichokes that weren't marinated. I also added chopped black and green olives to my side of the pizza! I used colby/jack cheese and also some mozzarella cheese. I actually started baking mine without cheese and then added the cheese half way through, I was afraid the cheese would get too crispy. It was so good! Yumm!

Shepard's Pie

3/4 to 1 lb of ground turkey, or beef
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c chicken broth (for turkey, beef broth for beef of course)
1- 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 c carrots, chopped
1/2 c frozen peas
1/2 c corn
Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
3 large white potatoes or the equivalent
2 TBS butter
1/4 c milk
3/4 c shredded cheese

Peel and chop potatoes, put on to boil. Brown ground meat in skillet, drain and set aside. Cook chopped onion and carrots in about 1 tsp olive oil until soft. Add garlic to pan just before adding the meat back to pan; add frozen peas and corn (I used canned corn but frozen would do well too). Stir in broth and tomato sauce; season to taste w/ salt and pepper and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken. In the meantime, drain potatoes. Add butter and milk to potatoes and mash; Season potatoes to taste; set aside. If meat mixture still has too much liquid add a sprinkling of flour to help tighten it up. Pour meat mixture in 2 quart baking dish (or 8x8 square dish); spread potatoes on top and top with cheese. Bake in 350 degree preheated oven covered for 20 minutes and uncovered for 10.

*Of course you can use other veggies in this dish, these are just what I use. And you could also use the potato flakes to make things quicker!

These are both so good! I hope you try them! And surprisingly they are both ones that I 'made' up!

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Cute Luke word from today- "Too Pups"

Meaning- "Push Ups"

R was doing push ups in the den tonight and Luke wanted to try.. and I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Too Pups!" SOO cute!