Friday, February 8, 2013

Burger 'n Fries Pot Pie

Hello fellow cooking friends!  I hope everyone has had a productive week (I know I sure have and am EXHAUSTED :) but I will push forward for you all!).  This meal I made a few days ago was quick to prep and immediately became a favorite from all of my guys!  I mean, seriously, do you see the photos?!?  Who wouldn't love their dinner topped with fries?  Best part?  It still fit under my 500 calorie dinner rule.  How is that possible, you say?  Let me show you!
So I originally got this recipe from Betty Crocker but, of course, changed it just a bit to suit my family!
First thing's first, I preheat my oven to 425 degrees and then chopped up 1 cup of onions (the recipe said 1 large onion, but my onion was, apparently, EXTRA large, so I actually didn't need to use all of it in order to get the 1 cup measurement.  I'm pretty sure it was grown in the same area where the beanstalk leads Jack to the giants, because it was GINORMOUS!  Speaking of Jack and the Beanstalk, that new movie looks interesting; I'm kind of psyched to see it!  But, seriously, enough about this onion and my ranting, let's move on!).
Once I diced the onion, I cooked it in a skillet with 1 1/2 pounds of extra-lean ground beef over medium-high heat.  It took around 6-8 minutes for the beef to be cooked thoroughly, and then I drained it.  I put that meat awesomeness back into the skillet and added 2 tablespoons of flour to it, mixing it well and stirring it constantly for about a minute.  Once all of THAT was done, I then added one can of diced tomatoes to the mix and heat it until it was boiling, removing it from the heat immediately after.
Unfortunately for me, here in the recipe it states to put the beef mixture into a casserole dish but I DON'T HAVE A CASSEROLE DISH!  I know, right?  Hey, I work with what I've got!  :)  Anywho, I just ended up using a glass baking dish which, based on the outcome, probably worked just as well.  So as I mentioned, I put the beef mixture on the bottom and then topped it with 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (Veggie Shreds, of course, for our little dairy-allergy fella!), and THEN topped it with, you guessed it, FRENCH FRIES (cue clouds parting and angels singing softly).  Okay, so maybe the angels wouldn't sing for French fries, but my boys certainly did!  It was 2 cups of frozen French fries placed in a single layer on top of all of that meaty, cheesy goodness!
After that, I just popped the pot pie (WHY this meal is called a pot pie, I'm not exactly sure.  Based on my ideas of pot pies, they should have crusts around them entirely, but I digress!) into the preheated oven for only about 20 minutes, to allow the French fries to cook and the cheese to met.  Then?  You guessed it...VOILA!!!!!!  Dinner was served!
This meal was fun for everyone to look at for the few seconds before they ate it.  My boys even had fun getting some ketchup and dipping their fries into it like they normally would.  Sooooooo, like I said, the calories managed to only be 340/serving with this being a 6 serving meal.  What?!?  I know, right?  Plus, I'm sure using the extra-lean ground beef, as opposed to the ground beef it states on the recipe, made the meal even less.  For real!  Also, it was only $1.41/serving.  I don't make these things up people!
Here's the original recipe!!

1 1/2 pounds (at least 80%) ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
2 cups crispy French-friend potatoes (from 20 ounce bag)

Happy cooking everyone!!!!

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