Author Archives: Diana

A “Little” Dinner Inspiration

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There is something about new ideas, even ideas about such mundane things as cooking supper, that can fire me up for days.  Those of you who really know me will not be surprised to learn that making dinner in a muffin cup made me so excited and proud, that I took pictures to share with family and friends.  Roll your eyes if you like, but this supper is just too fun, too adorable, and much too delicious to not share.  So here it is:

I made teeny tiny meat pies in muffin cups!  And they turned out so well.  I was actually really surprised that they stayed together.  You could simply pop them out of their cups and onto a plate to enjoy.

The filling was made just as you would any pot pie recipe (I’ll give the specifics for mine in a minute for those of you who’d like to try it.)  Then I used crescent rolls from a CAN!  I use the reduced fat ones because of my cholesterol, but I’m sure the full fat one’s wouldn’t hurt the recipe :)  I laid each triangle of the crescent roll dough into the bottom of a muffin cup (sprayed of course), filled it with the filling, wrapped the three corners over the top, brushed with olive oil, parmesan cheese and italian seasoning, and baked (at the temp. on the roll package) for about 15 minutes!  Voila!

Let me tell you, it was delicious!  And easy to boot.  And much more fun that a big old casserole pot pie with never enough crust.  I encourage everyone to give it a whirl.  The recipe for the filling is below, but I am VERY loose with amounts so please do everything to your own taste.  These are just estimates.

About 1/2 lb of ground meat (I use turkey for my diet, but you can use beef if you prefer)
1/2 Small onion, diced
Minced Garlic (to taste)
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, diced
1 Small Bag of Frozen Mixed Veggies
1/2 Bag of Frozen Broccoli Florets
celery Salt, Italian Seasoning Blend, Ground Black Pepper, and additional seasonings as desired (all to taste)
Saute over Med/High heat until meat is fully cooked and veggies are tender.
Add 1-2 cans of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup to desired moisture (Again, I use the Heart Healthy, Reduced Fat kind and you cannot tell a difference.)
Thin with Milk as needed.
Add Mozzarella Cheese and stir till melted.
Fill muffin cups as described above and ENJOY!

The Idea Behind the Blog – Making Our Own Happiness

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I have learned over the course of my increasingly fast-paced years, that happiness is not something that happens to us.  It is not delivered to our doorstep with a nice red bow on top, just waiting to be opened and enjoyed.  Of course life has its surprising moments that utterly grip us and take our breath away.  But for the most part, I believe, happiness is something we make.   Fulfillment is something we enjoy when we learn to stop taking the little things for granted.  If we constantly brush off all of life’s tiny little beauties because they are ordinary, unimportant, or we’re simply too busy to bother, then we will surely see the color fade out of life and happiness will be hard to come by.  Because, let’s face it, if we wait for the eventful, the enormous, the extraordinary to bring us joy, those moments will be few and far between.  My two year old son has been an amazing teacher of this this lesson.  To him, everything is new.  Everything is amazing.  The tiniest things that we as adults have come to see as commonplace,  can make him quiver with excitement and curiosity.  And, as his primary playmate, I too am learning to be excited with him.  To share in his enthusiasm rather than squelch it.  And, in some ways, he has become more of an influence on me than I have on him.  It is my goal in writing this blog to share that influence with any who care to read.  To find little lights of inspiration and beauty in every day life and highlight them for myself and others to take notice.  To help create happiness.  To appreciate now the things that we’ll remember later.

Photo taken by Reeta Allen in May 2010