Shepherd's Pie

Cheap, easy and lots of variations on stuff.

We have a child who is allergic to wheat. I used to put "cream of something" soup over my meat. I was even known to mix a packet of brown gravy mix in with the cream soup. I can't cook like that anymore. I'll put them in here as variants. So far Wal-Mart (the Evil Empire) has the cheapest gravy mix that I've been able to find. It's less than 50c per packet.

Shepherd's Pie

2# Ground Beef
Mashed Potato Flakes for 12 servings
Butter
Milk (or Evaporated Milk)
*Garlic Powder
Salt
*Can of Cream of XXXX Soup - Mushroom, Asparagus, Celery... the one you like
4 cans of Vegetables - Choose 1 each of 4 different ones from the list
Peas, Corn, Green beans, lima beans, great northern beans, carrots, squash, tomatoes...
Onion Powder
Seasoning Salt
*Cheese - Sliced american, shredded anything, velveeta...
* 1 or 2 packets of Brown or Mushroom Gravy mix


Cook 12 servings of Mashed potatoes according to the directions. Add garlic powder to the mashies if you'd like. Season to taste.

Brown and drain ground beef. Season to taste with onion powder, garlic powder and seasoning salt.

In 9x13 pan, add ground beef. Add meat wetter: cream soup, gravy mix packet + 1/4c water or cheese. The cream soup and/or the gravy mix get stirred into the meat until well combined and spread across the bottom of the pan. The cheese is placed on top of the meat layer.

Open and drain cans of veggies. If using raw onion, dice and add on top of meat. Layer veggies on top of meat. Sprinkle onion powder and a touch of seasoning salt after every other addition.

Cover with Mashed potatoes. Spread to seal the pan with your mashies.

You can add shredded cheese once it's out of the oven. It will melt as the dish cools enough to eat.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until the edges of the potatoes are starting to brown.