Shepherd’s Pies with Garlic Cheddar Smashed Potatoes

My batch meal of the week last week was Shepherd’s Pies.  Generally Shepherd’s pies consist of some combination of ground beef, vegetables and mashed potatoes, this recipe follows the basic formula with a few adjustments.

I doctored up the Shepherd’s Pies and topped off the beef and veggies with Garlic Cheddar Smashers.  I also used TVP to stretch the beef a little bit farther.   This recipe will make two deep dish pie plates or 1-9x13 plate.  I doubled this and made 1 deep dish pie plate and 3-8x8 square pans that and now in the freezer for future meals.

ThrivingMama's Shepherd’s Pie

1 pound Ground Beef

½ medium Onion

1 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)*

1 ½ cups of water

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

4 cups of Vegetables (any combination of carrots, corn, green beans, etc.)

½ batch of Garlic Cheddar Smashed Potatoes

3 Tablespoons of Butter

Directions

1.  Brown ground beef and onion.  Hydrate TVP with water and add to the cooked ground beef.

2. Combine vegetables and soup.  Add beef to vegetable mixtures and put on the bottom of greased pan(s).



3. Spread Garlic Cheddar Smashers on top of meat and veggie mixture.

4. Dot top of potatoes with 3 tablespoons of butter and bake at 375* for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.



Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Garlic Cheddar Smashed Potatoes

Updated 9-23-2010: If you've landed here from LifeAsMom's Ultimate Recipe Swap, welcome!  Fall is all about the comfort foods and there's nothing more comforting in my book than mashed potatoes.  I love to make these in a large quantity and freeze them in "side dish" portions.  They reheat beautifully!

I love mashed potatoes.  The only thing better than some creamy mashed potatoes, are garlic cheddar smashed potatoes.  I was so wrapped up in making these to top Shepherd's Pie with that I forgot to get a picture of the finished product - oops! Shepherd's Pie recipe to come tomorrow :-).  Don't be afraid to make a bunch of these as they freeze beautifully.

Garlic Cheddar Smashed Potatoes

5 quarts chopped and peeled Potatoes

½ cup Butter

1 Tbs minced Garlic

½ teaspoon Black Pepper

1 teaspoon Salt

2 cups small Cheddar Cheese cubes

Directions

1. Cover potatoes in a 6-quart kettle and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are soft.


2. In a small sauce pan, sauté the garlic and butter.  Add milk, salt and pepper and combine thoroughly.


3. Once cooked, drain water off of potatoes and add liquid and spice mixture and mash with masher or mixer to desired consistency.


4. Fold in cheddar cubes and serve.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Mommy-Made-It Monday: Corduroy Jumper & Shoes

My sewing project last week was this super cute jumper for GBaby.  I was chatting about patterns on FaceBook and an old college friend passed along a few patterns that she had.  When they arrived in my mailbox, one pattern was for this really cute jumper or overalls.

I made the jumper and made matching shoes.  I like to selvage fabric from unconventional places so, for this project, I started with this large corduroy skirt that I had found at a thrift store ($3.99). 

After I cut out all the pieces, what was left looked like the shredded skirt that the Ugly Step Sisters left Cinderella with. 

But I pieced it back together and ended up with a super cute dress.





It’s not perfect, and I can’t say that I’m a fan of making the ruffle part but I think that the finished product is pretty darn cute!

For the shoes, I made another pair of the soft baby shoes like I did before.  This time I used scrap fleece, the corduroy and for the soles, I used super soft salvaged leather.  The leather was another of my thrift store finds.  A worn suede shirt was mis-marked at $6.99.  The amount of leather I will be able to use from this shirt is a steal next to the craft store sheets of leather – and this is so much softer.  When I finished the shoes, I was wishing I had made a pair for myself!

Sunday Sunshine

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week.

This has been a weird week.  I enjoyed a  day of work at Made In Chenango - this was a nice break away from the mundane of my home routine, it also gave me six hours of fairly uninterrupted project time.  I started and finished another sewing project - it became fair game when I realized I had put it on my to-do list.

In a week when our local schools are recording up to 1/3 of the student population absent due to illness, I am so thankful that we are healthy and that we've had a couple nights this week of uninterrupted sleep for all three of us.  Gbaby hit another milestone and turned 9 months old.  She is so much fun and such a joy to my days - and yeah, I caught myself sucked in and joining her in a middle of the night giggle the other night when she was up.

It was a particular treat to have Handy-Man home a couple mornings this week and on friday, he cooked me breakfast.

It has been a week filled with reasons to be thankful.  What are you thankful for today?