I'm excited to share a truly Irish recipe with you today! This Shepherd's Pie was a HUGE hit with my kids (and my husband, too). Enjoy!
Popular Recipes
Potato and Cauliflower Chowder
I've got a yummy and hearty new soup recipe for you that's SO easy to make! And the best part is that this Potato and Cauliflower Chowder recipe makes enough for leftovers (unless you're cooking for an extra big family, of course).
The Best Oven Baked Chicken Wings!
So, I was working on a recipe for chicken wings when not long after I started, my husband basically took over. Just for the record my husband CAN cook, and I love it when he does - it just doesn't happen all that often anymore!
Video: How to Make Homemade Gravy in 3 Easy Steps!
Whether it's for the upcoming holidays or just Sunday dinner...it's SO super easy to make your own homemade gravy from scratch.
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Video: How to Make a Perfect Grilled Cheese!
I bet you didn't know you've been making grilled cheese wrong all this time. There are two tricks - First, is a key ingredient that I bet you aren't using nearly enough of and the second is a secret ingredient that takes this classic sandwich from good to amazing!
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Pumpkin Pie Green Smoothie!
If you (or your kids) are getting tired of the same old snacks I've got the perfect solution to switch things up ...A Pumpkin Pie Green Smoothie!
Southern Potato Salad (without mayo!)
I am on yet another quest to replace mayonnaise in a classic recipe. As I've explained before, store bought mayo isn't exactly real food (and making mayo from scratch isn't exactly my cup of tea). Plus not everyone is a mayonnaise lover anyway, so just in time for your 4th of July BBQ, here is my (non-mayo) Southern Potato Salad recipe that is just…
How To Make Real Food Snow Cones!
Making a Real Food Snow Cone honestly couldn't be any easier... I host a little backyard end-of-school year party for our neighbors every year, and I always whip out my little snow cone machine for the kids!
Whole-Wheat Banana (Nut) Muffins
I've always had a thing for banana nut muffins, but not until I cut out all highly processed food did I realize that the standard muffin is kind of like a cupcake minus the icing. If you look up muffin recipes online they typically call for white (refined) all-purpose flour and sugar - lots of it.
Deviled Eggs
Both my kids like hard boiled eggs, but it never fails—they just won't eat the yolk (and it's kind of hard to blame them). That is, unless I make egg salad or deviled eggs with them. Then magically, nothing goes to waste! Here’s a real food version of deviled eggs (i.e. sans highly processed store bought mayo) that would be perfect for school lunches…
Lemon Roasted Chicken and Cauliflower
This is another dish that's easy enough to throw together for a busy weeknight meal, yet pretty enough to make for dinner guests as well! I recently made this recipe when my parents were in town (with a big salad on the side), and the serving platter was completely empty by the end of dinner. I absolutely love meals that are so much easier…
White Chicken Lasagna
This dish was inspired by my Great-Great Aunt Olive’s "Stuffed Shells" recipe. I never met her, but I used to make her stuffed shells all the time. Then when we switched to whole foods I quickly learned that it’s nearly impossible to find whole-wheat jumbo pasta shells for some reason. So here is her recipe, re-invented into an even quicker and easier lasagna version.…
How to Make a Perfect Green Smoothie
Guest post by Jen Hansard, co-founder of Simple Green Smoothies. We have a super simple and healthy recipe we’ve been itchin’ to share with you!!! As a crazy-busy passionate mom, I’ve been known to fuel my body with processed junk. Like those days when we found ourselves at Starbucks twice in one day…or driving through Taco …
Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole (like Cracker Barrel’s!)
Welcome to the world of Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole goodness! I used to LOVE the Hash Brown Casserole at Cracker Barrel. That's before I started asking questions about how they make their food (did you know almost all of their vegetable side dishes are made with sugar?). Then if you look at the copy cat recipes online, most of them call for a can…
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The Best Pulled Pork in a Crock Pot!
This is some of the best pulled pork I've had in a long time (I've been working on perfecting this recipe for months!), and it also doesn't include any highly processed ingredients like refined sugar, corn syrup, or ketchup. My husband says it is so good that no BBQ sauce is necessary. Now, you know it’s good pulled pork when that happens. He would…
Kale and Apple Salad
I've got another holiday recipe for you today! This kale and apple salad may be just for the adult table though, if I am being honest. I don't know about your kids, but my girls have never been big blue cheese fans (they've dubbed it "stinky cheese" for obvious reasons), and no matter how hard I try, I can't get them into raw kale…
Pumpkin Fluff Dessert Dip
A friend of mine recently asked me if I could make over her Pumpkin Fluff dip recipe. It was a big hit at her book club gathering, but she knew there had to be a better way than using highly processed Cool Whip and vanilla pudding mix (No comment! LOL). So after a fun afternoon of experimenting, I present to you this real food,…
Green Bean Casserole (with French Fried Onions!)
It's totally possible to have a real food Thanksgiving dinner, and this recipe is here to help. I took the standard Green Bean Casserole recipe and "real foodinized" it for you, and the outcome is just delicious! I am not going to promise it will taste exactly like the original you've made in years past, because I think this one will actually be even…
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Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs
For the first time ever I decided to experiment with 5-spice powder in this Asian short ribs recipe. And what better way to incorporate this flavor than in the crock pot! In case you haven't heard me say it before - I LOVE making everything from soups to stocks to beans to dinners in my crock pot. Preparing a delicious and nutritious meal in…
Recipe: How to Roast Vegetables (4 Ways)
One of the easiest most versatile ways of cooking is roasting vegetables. You'd be amazed at what 20-40 minutes in the good ol' oven can do to vegetables. We're talking crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, warm, comforting, and nourishing real foods. What could be better?! I almost always have a mixture of roasted veggies in our fridge, either prepared to roast…
Make Ahead Smoothies (2 Ways)
Sure throwing a few ingredients in a blender to make a smoothie doesn't take long, but on a busy weekday morning we all know...every minute counts! And after trying out this make ahead method of bagging (or bottling) up smoothie ingredients myself, I can attest that it really does make a difference. Even in the afternoons when the girls get home from school, I…
Simple Mustard Vinaigrette
Making your own homemade salad dressings can actually be fairly simple, and the taste is far superior to the store bought stuff. Plus most packaged salad dressings are full of unnecessary additives (including refined sweeteners) that you would never cook with at home...so this is a great place to start when it comes to making the switch to real food. Below is a super…
Using Spelt Pasta (Plus a recipe and $500 Giveaway!)
Thanks to one of our sponsors, Nature's Legacy, I recently discovered how much I like spelt! The spelt grain is part of the wheat family and available in both whole and white form (just like wheat). Spelt is more mild than wheat though and in my opinion, especially when it's used in baked goods, the outcome is lighter and more cake like - yes,…
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Guest Recipe: Overnight Oats From Kath Eats
Today's recipe is a guest post from Kath Eats Real Food... One of my favorite oat-based breakfasts happens to be overnight oats. Overnight oats are rolled oats soaked in milk and yogurt for a substantial period of time so they become plump enough to eat. Although you can eat oats plain, they are a bit more appealing when “cooked” or soaked one way or…
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Slow Cooker Baked Beans
These baked beans would be the perfect addition to any summer BBQ, cookout, or picnic, AND they are just as delicious leftover.
Easy Homemade Frosting
Both of my daughters typically request yellow birthday cake over chocolate, which consistently leaves me wondering if there was a mix up at birth.
Grilled Meat and Veggie Foil Packets…Yum!
I sense a new obsession coming on...and it's food grilled in foil packets! What could be more perfect for outdoor cookouts, camping trips, and upcoming long holiday weekends? I just love the unique presentation and tasty goodness of this cooking technique and can't wait to make them again and again and again this summer. Think of this dish as "deconstructed kabobs" that basically marinate…
How to Roast a Whole Chicken (and safely defrost meat)
Cooking a whole chicken is economical, easy, and delicious. Once you decide to give up conventional, factory-farmed meat (that's oftentimes laced with antibiotics and synthetic hormones) and switch to the humanely-raised, organic variety instead, it's no secret that the price goes up. To offset this increase in cost you can do two things - select cuts of meat that are less expensive per pound…
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Super Quick and Easy Fried Rice
I may be late to the party, but I am just now discovering how incredibly convenient frozen vegetables are. My default has always been fresh veggies, but, according to Michael Pollan in his book In Defense of Food, “Freezing does not significantly diminish the nutritional value of produce” [like canning does] because the crops are picked and frozen at the peak of freshness. So…
Filled Pancakes (a.k.a. Whole-Wheat Ebelskivers)
I recently saw a recipe for Ebelskivers in Parade Magazine that called for an unbelievable amount of sugar followed by even more sugar to be sprinkled on top of the finished product. Sure, these donut-like, filled Danish fritters might remind you of dessert, but they by no means need all that sugar (and white flour) …
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Homemade Larabars (4 ways including nut-free!)
Well, I stand corrected. All this time readers have been telling me I should make my own Larabars at home, and I proudly stood my ground saying I already make too many things from scratch so I would continue to buy them from the store. But that was until I figured out homemade Larabars taste SO much better than the packaged ones!
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No Sugar Green Tomato Relish (Can or Freeze)
I’ve been waiting all year to have fresh red tomatoes in my backyard, but this green tomato relish recipe is SO incredibly delicious that I didn’t even think twice about plucking some off the vines before they could even ripen. I occasionally get obsessed with certain recipes, and my friends – this is one of …
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Grilled Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin
We love teriyaki sauce at our house and find that it’s great in stir-fry, on fish like sea bass and salmon, and on meat like chicken or pork tenderloin. This particular teriyaki sauce was inspired by a sea bass recipe my mother-n-law emailed to my husband back in 1998…and I still have a copy of …
Egg Soufflé
Eggs for breakfast, eggs for dinner, eggs for lunch…we definitely eat our fair share of eggs around here. And how can you blame us when eggs can so easily be reinvented a hundred times over whether you’re frying, boiling, scrambling, baking or poaching them. So here’s yet another way to make eggs and if you …
Green Eggs {and Ham}
Until I had kids in school I never realized how many holidays and special occasions could be celebrated. Aside from the standard ones like Halloween and Valentine’s Day there’s also the 100th Day of School, President’s Day, and Football Fridays. And apparently tomorrow is Dr. Seuss’s birthday, which means it’s yet another day filled with …
Brown Rice Risotto
My great-grandparents were born in Italy so for as long as I can remember risotto has been a staple dish in our family. When my dad is the one cooking, which is the norm in my family, we have risotto at almost every gathering including holiday dinners. I even remember my dad making the Italian …