Gluten Free Fireside Pie is the perfect comfort food for March weather. March Break is fast approaching and I don’t know about you but we are likely to be close to home. My older girl is traveling with a youth group, so my younger daughter and I will be hanging out together. Lucky for me, my youngest LOVES to cook and bake with me. I try to encourage that as often as possible. Cooking is a skill for life.
This week we made a Gluten Free Fireside Pie together and it was the perfect comfort food for a Friday evening family dinner. March, might be the start of spring, but the weather is rarely warm. On a typical March Break we might do a day trip, cook or bake a couple of recipes together at home, and then squeeze in some skiing and maybe a movie too. If she’s lucky her friends might be around for a sleepover too.
If there is snow this March break my daughter and I will go skiing. But I don’t think we will travel too far. I adore travel and have done a lot of press trips and personal trips already this year. I don’t adore getting gauged during March Break with flights that are twice the price just because kids and teachers are on spring break. So baking and cooking and skiing sound just right. And Gluten Free Fireside Pie is perfect food for after skiing.
My girls are 15 and 12, almost 13, and they have been great helpers in the kitchen ever since they were small. We started having them wash potatoes, or add things to soups or crockpot meals. Then we slowly evolved over time. Cracking eggs, as long as they wash their hands afterwards, can be fun for any age. Mixing dough is also a treat for children. Flipping pancakes and baking cookies are always fun for toddlers and young children.
If you give kids the responsibility of helping with meals early on they tend to take ownership and enjoy what they make. There can be less fighting over what’s for dinner and, as they grow, it’s nice to see them bake or cook for the family too. My oldest can make meals on her own and sometimes she will if I ask her to do dinner. She has a small but growing list of dishes she enjoys cooking and feels comfortable with making in the kitchen. We are working on my younger daughter too.
My youngest has a few favourite meals she loves to make. One is salmon patties, because they are hands on sensory fun. She has sensory processing disorder, which I have written about here before. Another of her favourites is a tuna casserole. But I am slowly winning her over to a wider range of dishes and recipes. Last year we made salmon a few times together and sautéed asparagus and meals that she LOVED. It doesn’t hurt that she adores shows like MasterChef Canada.
For those of you who don’t know, Fireside Pie is essentially like Shepherd’s Pie, but with cheese and a couple more spices. With this meal, I was able to ask my daughter to help chop the carrots and also make the mashed potatoes that go on top. That is another of her all time favourite side dishes – mashed potatoes. For a bit of a creamier texture we thought we’d add Gay Lea Low Fat Sour Cream to the mashed potatoes. I think it worked. My teen really enjoyed the Gluten Free Fireside Pie.
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We are not exclusively gluten free but I have been for lengthy periods in the past. Now I try to only have gluten in moderation and I am still working hard on making low sodium foods here for all of us. This fits both those categories. This Gluten Free Fireside Pie recipe is one your kids will be able to help with if you are planning to cook together this spring break.
Gluten Free Fireside Pie and Kids In the Kitchen - #BornOnTheFarm #ad
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds to 2 pounds Lean Ground Beef
- 1/2 cup of Low sodium Beef Broth
- 1 teaspoon of tarragon
- 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
- 5 Potatoes - peeled
- 12 mini carrots diced
- 1 teaspoon of thickener - corn starch or potato starch we used cornstarch
- 1 diced Onion
- 2 cloves of Garlic
- 1/2 cup of green peas
- 2 Tablespoons of Gay Lea Light Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
- Optional - add parsnips diced to the vegetables.
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees
- Brown the ground beef in a frying pan.
- Add the diced onion and 2 cloves of diced garlic too.
- Drain any excess fat.
- Add the beef broth
- Add tarragon and pepper.
- Reduce heat and stir.
- Add a bit of the thickener and stir until broth looks more like gravy
- Boil the peeled potatoes and the carrots together.
- Remove the carrots from the water and chop into small pieces.
- Add the peas to beef and onion mixture
- Add the carrots to the browned beef, onion mixture.
- Drain the potatoes and mash them
- Add the sour cream and keep mashing until smooth.
- In a long rectangular casserole dish, scoop and place all the beef and vegetables mixture.
- Spoon mashed potatoes on top and spread them out across the length of the dish. You can make them smooth or leave little peaks on the top to brown.
- Sprinkle shredded cheddar on top.
- Put the dish in the oven with foil over it.
- Cook for about 35 minutes, remove foil and serve.
This year I am a Gay Lea ambassador and so you will be seeing recipes monthly created with Gay Lea ingredients. I am a fan of Gay Lea products because they are Canadian. Gay Lea is a dairy products cooperative that started in 1958 and is owned by dairy farmers. Their products are born on the farm and that’s what sets them apart.
We use Gay Lea sour cream for a lot of meals and we like this product specifically because it is smooth and fresh. It is also nut free, kosher and only available in Ontario. There are numerous varieties of this Gay Lea sour cream product. I opted for the low fat version here. You can also buy or use Original, Lactose Free, Fat Free, and Gold Premium. Gay Lea sour cream is a staple for baking, for dips and tacos and potatoes too.
Do your kids help in the kitchen? What are you doing for March Break?
I created this post as a paid ambassador with Gay Lea Foods and PTPA for 2017. My opinion is all my own and it is truthful. I only work with brands I love and use.