Easy Shepherd's Pie

Want something that gives the "homecooked" feeling in your apartment AND is easy to make?? Well I've got the recipe for you! Nothing says "home" like creamy mashed potatoes, hearty beef, and good ol' vegetables! Luckily, shepherd's pie does the trick (I always amaze myself at how incredibly cheesy I sound in describing the dishes I make...sorry guys, I'm a dork) My dear friend Mary Rendon suggested this recipe AND it comes with a vegetarian alternative which I thought was absolutely brilliant!! She got it from a blog called Simply Recipes, which I highly recommend! I may try some of their recipes out as well!!

What You'll Need
1 lb ground beef (for the vegetarian option, my friend suggested I get the meat crumbles from the frozen food aisle)
1 onion (yellow) chopped
About 2 cups vegetables, but if you want you can definitely add more! I used frozen vegetables (like corn, beans, peas, and carrots) and they worked just fine!
3-4 good sized potatoes
8 tablespoons of butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, and other seasonings of your choice (I just stuck with salt, pepper, and some garlic!)

Getting Started
Start by washing, peeling, and quartering your potatoes. Boil them in salted water until they are tender (the way I check is I take a fork and stab the potatoes when I think they're done. If the fork goes through easily, they are done! If not, keep boiling! Will take about 15-20ish minutes) While the potatoes are cooking, time to work on the main part of the pie! Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter (1/2 the stick) in a large frying pan (make sure it's a good sized frying pan, or at least that it's deep - trust me, you'll thank me later!) Saute onions in butter until tender over medium heat, then add vegetables. When the onions start becoming transparent, throw in your ground beef or meat crumbles (I didn't get the chance to try it with the meat crumbles, I just did ground beef, so I will assume meat crumbles work the same way). Cook until no longer pink. Add in your salt and pepper (I added about a teaspoon of salt and a couple cracks of fresh ground pepper, but I'm not a huge pepper fan so if you feel like changing up the ratio with that, then go for it! I also added the garlic at this time as well.) Add Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes. Make sure it stays moist. If it's not, add more beef broth (but when I made it, the 1/2 cup called for worked just fine). By this time your potatoes will be done. Strain the water out, put the potatoes in a bowl and throw in the remainder of the butter and pour some milk in it (this keeps the potatoes creamy and delicious! Mash the potatoes and season it according to taste. Grab a baking dish (like 9x13) and place the beef and veggie mix into baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. You can let loose with your creative side and draw on teh top of the potatoes if you want :) have fun with your cooking!! Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (I just baked it for about 30 minutes) Just because I love it, I threw some cheese on top the last five minutes so that is another option! Careful when you eat it - its HOT (my blistered tongue can attest to that - but it was sooo worth it!) Enjoy!