A little twist...

We have been trying to eat a little more healthy lately, so I was trying to make one of our favorite meals a little more healthy.  One of the casseroles that I have made for years is Hamburger Casserole or Shepherd's Pie.  Usually it is made with hamburger meat and green beans.  Last night I made it with the usual hamburger meat, but instead of green beans, I used red and green bell peppers and some yellow crook neck squash.  I also used some sweet potato instead of all regular potatoes.  It turned out pretty good and the colors really made it look much more appetizing.

So here's the recipe I used...

2 lbs. hamburger meat, cooked and drained
¼ onion, diced
4-5 bell peppers or more if you like more, sliced and the seeds discarded
1-2 yellow crook neck squash, quartered then sliced
2 cans condensed tomato soup
4-5 potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
milk, butter and Ranch dressing for the potatoes
½ tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. garlic and parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Shredded Cheese

Directions...
Brown hamburger in a large frying pan and add onions.  Break apart the meat as it cooks.  Cook till done and drain grease.  You can start the potatoes cooking at this point so they are done when the meat is ready for the oven.

Prepare the bell peppers and squash by cutting.  

Set aside until meat is done cooking, then add to the meat, squash first, then peppers. 

Cook till barely done. They should still be a bit crisp.

  

Next, add the tomato soup and seasonings.  Cook until just heated up.

Pour mixture into a baking dish, then sprinkle with shredded cheese if you like. 

I like them cheesy, so I added a little bit here...

I put both potatoes together and mashed them using half a stick of butter, some milk and just a spoon or two of Ranch dressing.  You can make the potatoes any way you like them.

Place potatoes in mounds on top of the meat, then sprinkle with more cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  This serves 8-10 people

Enjoy!

Always Hawaii

We have been lovers of Hawaii ever since the first time we visited way back in 1977.  We recently returned from a trip with several of our children and I wanted to share some of our pictures.  All of these pictures are from our hike of the Diamond Head Crater on the island of Oahu.  We have never hiked the crater before so it was a new experience for us.  It was a little bit hard, but if you pace yourself, you can make it! And the view makes it totally worth the effort!

This is a panoramic view from the top, from one side of the volcano to the other

this is the right side of the volcano...

...and this is the left side.  You can see the parking lot and part of the trail we came up.

this is a view of Waikiki

proof that we made it!

 a cute lighthouse that we saw from the top.  

I would recommend this hike to anyone visiting Oahu.  

how cute is this?

This is something that I saw on Pinterest that I wanted to share with you all.  I thought it was really cute and it looks super easy to make.  You can use any bottle with a lid that you like and have cleaned out really well.  If you have some old drawer knobs lying around, you can use those, but if not, buy some that you like.  Spray the knobs and the lids the same color and attach the knob to the lid.  You now have some really great candy or apothecary jars!

You can see it on Pinterest here...