Warm the Soul and the Tummy…..

Do you ever get the urge to have a nice, hearty meat and potatoes meal? Something that really sticks with you, satisfies, and comforts? I’m all about comfort foods, and casseroles, or casserole type dishes, fall into that category for me. Anything with meat, potatoes, veggies, and gravy all heated together brings a warm homey feeling to the table. With fall making its way toward us it is definitely casserole season!

Shepard’s pie is an old favorite that is really easy to make. A lot of times I make it as one big casserole, but it can be fun, and dressed up in individual servings. Individual servings are great for portion control, and they give the allure of a little bit of fanciness if you are entertaining guests. If you want to take a little bit of help from the grocery store you can use packaged gravy, instant potatoes, and some shredded cheese, and I have done that, but last night I didn’t have anything pre made so I decided to just make it all from the ground up. Aside from growing the potatoes, and having my own cow, this is from scratch. 🙂

These little casseroles are filling with 28 grams of protein and 26 healthy carbs. They looks small, but you can easily split one in half, unless you are a guy and then they are probably the perfect size to satisfy you. 🙂 Shepards pies are a great way to eat a nice well rounded meal in one dish without a whole lot of muss or fuss, or dishes to do after dinner! Enjoy!

Shepherds Pie

By Angie Gouchenour

4 servings

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef (I used 80/20, but you can use whichever you like or swap it out for ground turkey, ground chicken, or the traditional ground lamb)

1 ½ cups of brown gravy (You can use a package, jar, or make it from scratch. I made bullion gravy)

½ cup frozen peas

½ cup frozen carrots

½ cup frozen corn

2 cups of mashed potatoes (Approximately 3 medium potatoes)

½ cup of shredded cheese or cheese sauce (I made a simple white sauce (1 Tablespoon of flour, 1 Tablespoon of butter and ¼ cup of milk with ½ cup of cheese)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350’ f

Brown meat and drain

Add gravy, peas, carrots, and corn to the meat and heat through

Spoon 2/3 cup of meat and veggie mixture into each dish (I used 10 oz ramekins)

Top each with ½ cup of mashed potatoes

Sprinkle cheese or spoon cheese sauce over the top

Place ramekins on a cookie sheet in case any of the juices bubble out and bake for 40 minutes

Remove from the oven when nicely browned and bubbly and let sit for 30 minutes to allow the filling to set

436 calories per serving