shepherd's pie

this is a thursday night recipe, when it's toward the end of the week and you have a bunch of leftover vegetables in tupperware in your fridge that won't be touched over the weekend.  it's also very inexpensive and uses ingredients that are already in your cupboard.

jake glanced at my laptop when i was creating this post and asked why i had pictures of dinner pulled up.  i told him that sometimes i post recipes.  he was all "why?  do people want them?" and i was all "i dunno but it's my blog and i'll post pictures of our dinner if i want to" and he was all "if you're going to post recipes why don't you post them of something good like your spicy roasted vegetables not like something plain that anyone can make" and i was all "that's a backhanded comment i've never heard you complain about my shepherd's pie and i've never seen you make it either" and he was all like "whatever" and i was all like "whatever" and he continued into the kitchen to refill his glass of iced tea and i hit "publish post."

ingredients

1-2 lbs ground hamburger or turkey

1/2 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp. beef bullion granules or 1 beef bullion cube, dissolved in 1/2 cup water

4 cups instant mashed potatoes, prepared according to directions

cheese

paprika

seasoning salt

garlic powder

pepper

vegetables*

*you can use any veggies that you have in the fridge.  really, anything goes.  corn, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, squash, peas, cooked, uncooked, anything.  if you don't have any veggies sitting around, add two cups of frozen mixed vegetables.

directions

brown the ground hamburger or turkey in your largest nonstick skillet, along with the onion and garlic.  drain grease and return to pan.  add beef bullion and a dash each of garlic powder, pepper, and seasoning salt to taste.  add veggies and stir to combine.

here we have corn, carrots, green beans, and zucchini.

while the ground hamburger or turkey are browning, mix up your instant mashed potatoes.  add an extra dash of garlic powder for good measure, and don't skimp on the butter.  you can always boil potatoes and make real mashed potatoes, but this is thursday night and who wants to mess with that on a thursday night not me i have laundry to fold and aislinn just dumped an entire package of bendy straws onto the floor.

oh, i forgot.  pretend i already told you to preheat your oven to 350.

now spread the meat and veggie mixture into a casserole dish:

and spread the mashed potatoes over the top:

then sprinkle a little cheese on the top, and dust with paprika:

throw it in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is melted on top and everything is bubbly.

mmmmmmm.  serve with salad and crusty bread spread with butter and jam.

delicious.