Taco Ring

Most of you know that I am a consultant for The Pampered Chef. I just love cooking with stoneware. If you have never tried it before please contact me and I will be happy to send you a link to my website or a catalog.

Everyone loves Pampered Chef recipes and I get a lot of request for the Taco Ring recipe using the large round stone. I decided to share it with you here.

Taco Ring
¾ lb. ground beef cooked 1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 2 TBSP water
2 – 8 oz. pkgs crescent roll dough (keep refrigerated until ready to use)
1 bell pepper
Shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, olives
1 cup salsa

Combine meat, cheese, taco seasoning, & water. Using a
round pizza pan layer the crescent triangles
in a circle with points in middle until you have a ring. Fill
middle of ring with meat mixture and fold over to close the ring.

Bake at 375 for 25 min or until brown. Cut top off pepper & fill with
salsa. Place in middle of ring & garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, &
olives. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Shepherd's Pie

Here is my recipe for Shepherd's Pie. My family does not like the version with canned or frozen corn in the mix so I leave it out and I cook corn on the cob as a side dish.

6-8 medium size potatoes; peeled and boiled until tender
Mash potatoes as desired. I use butter, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp. mayonaise, and milk.
Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 lb ground beef
1 small sweet onion
1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper

Monterey Jack & Cheddar Cheese shredded

Cook ground beef and onion until done adding salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Once cooked, drain beef and place in a baking dish spreading meat evenly on bottom. Spread mashed potatoes over the mix. Cover with desired amount of cheese making sure you cover all the potatoes. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Serve with salad and corn.

Coconut Cake

I made a homemade from scratch coconut cake the other day using all wholesome and organic ingredients. The only thing that isn't organic is the actual coconut that I purchased from Angel Flake. The rest of the cake is made with whole wheat unbleached flour, coconut milk, buttermilk, and organic sugar and eggs. The 7 minute frosting I made using organic sugar too. Being that the sugar and flour are organic and whole wheat the cake came out with a creamy look rather than the normal solid white you see for coconut cakes. That tells me there is a lot of bleach in the original white flour/sugar recipes.

My dear husband loved the taste of this cake. It isn't as sweet as a the normal white coconut cakes but is very moist and refreshing. Overall, it is an excellent coconut cake.

By the way, my hubby brought me home a spring bouquet a few weeks ago. You can see in one of the pictures in the background that my flowers are still holding out.

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Easter!