cooking

Having backyard-fresh ingredients to work with always makes me a bit more adventuresome in my cooking. One of my favorite dishes as a child was this beef pie my mother made. She would brown hamburger with sauteed onions, stir in a can of campbell's vegetable beef soup, and cook it in a pie shell.

I've added a few things to that simple recipe. I usually add in some fresh vegetables, and if we have leftover steak from another meal, chop that up into it too (which give it a whole different flavor). Yesterday I made it with fresh Garlic, Oregano, Thyme, Carrots and Green Beans from the garden.

 I stir these into the skillet with the browned hamburger, add the can of soup and full can of water, and let it simmer down while I make the pie crust. I usually add in some frozen peas, too, but stir those in just before putting the pie together, or they get too soggy (if I were using fresh garden peas they'd go in with the other veggies). Then pour the mixture into the bottom crust

put a top crust on it and bake. Yum! The pie feeds my small family of three an entire meal, with some leftover for tomorrow's lunch as well.