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In honor of St Patrick’s Day, Thursday I made Shepherd’s Pie. I haven’t made it in a while, so I did a Google search for recipes. Of course, there were tons that came up, but I went with one I found on All Recipes. The recipe itself looked ok, but I knew I could make it better! Here’s what I used:

1 lb ground beef
3 cloves of garlic (that’s right! I said 3)
1/2 cup of chopped onions
7 oz can of mushrooms (fresh would be much better!)
15-20 baby carrots, chopped
1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed out
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp ketchup
3/4 cup beef broth
4 servings of instant mashed potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp italian bread crumbs

I started out with the ground beef in one skillet (since it was still kinda frozen). Then in another skillet, I put some olive oil in to heat. I added the 3 cloves of freshly minced garlic and the onions to the skillet. Talk about smelling yummy!

Next I added the mushrooms to the onions and garlic. While the meat finished I started chopping up the baby carrots. I boiled them for about 10 minutes. When the meat was finished, I added the onions, garlic and mushrooms to the meat. I let that cook for a couple of minutes. I then added the flour, ketchup and beef broth to the meat and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

When the meat was done and the carrots were done, I finished making my instant mashed potatoes. (follow directions on box) I added the cheddar cheese to the potatoes. Yum. Next I sprayed my casserole dish (my 2.75 qt Martha Stewart enamel cast iron casserole dish that I got for Christmas!!) with olive oil and started making my layers. First the meat mixture, then the baby carrots and peas, then the mashed potatoes. I added some more cheddar cheese on top and then the bread crumbs. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let me tell you, this was the most flavorful, delicious Shepherd’s Pie I have ever had! I was so impressed with myself! My sister, who hasn’t always been big on Shepherd’s Pie and is a picky eater, LOVED it! She kept looking at me and nodding her head “yes”. It was great!

I hope you try this recipe and let me know! Hopefully the next time I make it, I can use my husband’s made from scratch mashed potatoes. (His are the BEST!) That would make it even better!!