Shepherd's Pie Recipe = Comfort Food!

This was originally posted in 2008, but I'm making two batches of it this morning, so I wanted to share the recipe again!

Kerrie’s Lazy Shepherd’s Pie That Your Kids Might Actually Eat

Ingredients:
Box mashed potatoes (even though this is faster, my husband is not a fan, so I actually peel, boil and mash about 6 medium potatoes)
1/2 stick butter for potatoes
1 Can peas, carrots, whatever
2 lb. ground beef
1 T. garlic, pinch onion salt, pinch thyme, pinch white pepper
2 packages brown gravy mix (yes, I DO know how to make real gravy, thank you very much)
Melt a couple of frozen zucchini cubes into gravy (or not!)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Process:
1. If you use real mashed potatoes, add at least ½ stick of butter and some white pepper. Otherwise, make the boxed variety as directed. Set aside potatoes. This morning I used heavy whipping cream because I needed to use it up. So these aren't lazy potatoes, they are heart-stopping potatoes!

2. Brown 2 pounds of ground beef in 1 T. minced garlic. Drain the fat and put the beef in a 10” x 8” pan, or whatever you have around. Add some onion salt and thyme and mix. You can skip the onion salt, but don’t skip the thyme! You need the thyme/time.

3. Cook one of the brown gravy mixes according to the directions, sneaking in a couple of frozen zucchini cubes, if you had a few baseball bat-size zucchinis over the summer, like I did. Dump the gravy over the ground beef and stir it around.

4. Open up a small can of peas or carrots or corn (or none of the above if your kids hate them all) and add to beef mixture. If your kids hate veggies, puree some and sneak them into the beef mixture.

5. Spoon potatoes over beef mixture.

6. Cook at 350 degrees for ½ hour.

7. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and cook another couple of minutes.

8. Prepare the other brown gravy mix and serve some over each individual piece of “pie”.

9. Smile to yourself that you snuck veggies into dinner!

By the way, I’m usually the anti-Martha Stewart, so if you have problems with this recipe, please contact her because she will know what to do.