I wish the days were longer, or rather that it would stay daylight for a couple of hours longer. I wish that I was longer, like about 2 inches longer. I wish my house was longer–maybe about 4 feet longer…or 10 feet longer, but then it would also need to be wider in order to match the longer.
So many longer wishes.
We’re always full of wishes, probably; I am, at least. Despite all of my wishing, though, I make an effort to be grateful. It’s best to be more grateful than wishful. When I first started practicing being more grateful, it took some effort to think about the things in my life for which I was grateful. A few years ago when I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life, I would sit down each night and write about my day in my journal. I would include a list of things for which I was grateful…things like being able to hear and see my little grandson, or gratefulness that my washing machine worked, or gratefulness for shopping carts, or gratitude for the random person that smiled at me in the store.
When I am at work, it is easy to see many things for which I am grateful. A nurse is privy to lots of information about other people’s lives; sometimes it is great information and sometimes the information is very sobering.
I walk fast at work and have to remind myself to slow down, especially when I am entering a patient’s room. Sometimes I forget to slow down and I go zipping around my patient’s room. Once in a while a patient will make a wistful remark about how they wished they could walk fast. I tell them that I walk fast right now while I still can and that most likely my turn is coming for a hip or knee replacement and I’ll be just like them, wishing I wasn’t in pain and that I could move like I used to do.
When my daughter, Katie, was three years old she used to get so upset because she was three and not four. She would say, “I can’t wait to change to four.” Then finally one day it was her fourth birthday. I said to her, “Katie! You have finally changed to four!”. She was only happy about that for a few seconds and then she said, “Yea, but some people have already changed to five! Now I have to wait a whole year until I change to five.”
There is a woman with whom I work. She walks fast, too, but she is always smiling. (I am a very serious fast walker, always worried about getting this or that done on time or how I’m going to get 12 things done at once.) One day someone made a comment about their age and situation in life. They were the same age as my co-worker. My co-worker responded with, “Really? I am having the time of my life!” I looked at her and realized that she really was having the time of her life. Her’s is not a perfect life, but her perspective about her life makes her life good.
Among the things for which I am grateful today is shepherd’s pie. It’s a very simple food, about as un-fancy as you can get . It is completely unpretentious, which is great. Sometimes food gets so complicated and pretentious that we feel like we need to dress for dinner in our own homes. Jeans and a tee-shirt are perfect for eating shepherd’s pie. You can feel completely comfortable eating it out of mismatched dishes that are considered “rustic” because they have definitely seen better days. I mean, seriously…take a look at the pics, shepherd’s pie is all about taste, not looks. I even looked around the internet (AFTER I got all of my pics done) and only found a couple of pics that looked any better. Some clever people made their shepherd’s pie in cute little ramekins to add style to this dish. Sigh…sorta, kinda wish I had thought to do that.
I’ve made this version of shepherd’s pie with good ol’ basic ground beef. Traditional shepherd’s pie is often made with lamb. I’m not a fan of lamb. I’ve tried to like it, I really have, but it just isn’t going to happen for me. So, I am delighted to offer hamburger in this dish. John likes shepherd’s pie. He’s going to love this version of it. I didn’t really do much to change it, just enriched the flavors a little bit. I hope that you like it, too.
Despite the fact that the ingredient list looks a bit long, the dish really comes together fairly quick.
Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
For the Mashed Potatoes
- 6 medium russet potatoes
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- salt, to taste
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
For the Ground Beef Filling
- 1½ pounds ground beef
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, medium dice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves
For the Gravy
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
For the Mashed Potatoes
- Peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Put in sauce pot and fill pot with cool water to cover the potatoes. Add salt, to taste. Bring the potatoes to a boil and cook until fork tender. Drain well.
- Mash potatoes well. Blend in the cream cheese. Thin with a little milk, if needed. Taste and correct seasonings, if needed.
For the Hamburger Filling
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the hamburger filling. Over medium heat, heat a large, deep skillet. When hot, add the olive oil to the skillet. Add ground beef and break apart to brown.
- Sprinkle with granulated onion, granulated garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the onions, garlic, carrots. Cook, covered, over medium or medium low heat until carrots are tender. Stir as needed. Stir in peas.
For the Gravy
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Butter a 2-quart casserole, set aside.
- Over medium low heat, melt the butter in the pan with the hamburger and vegetables. Sprinkle the flour over top. Stir to combine well, until the flour cannot be seen. Cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes.
- While stirring, add the beef broth. Be careful because the liquid may spatter and steam will rise.
- Stir in Worcestershire sauce and seasoning salt. Cook and stir until gravy has thickened. Transfer all to the prepared baking dish.
Finishing
- Top with the mashed potatoes; spread potatoes evenly. Note: it is easier to work with a somewhat looser mashed potato. Add more milk, if necessary. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the mashed potatoes.
- Place casserole dish on a lined baking pan to catch any spills from the hamburger filling while baking. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Notes
I love sheppards pie and yours looks quite delish. I will have to try this recipe.
Hi Andrea. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment…and following! Welcome.
Follow-up: I made the wheat bread… YUM!! This is my new go-to wheat bread recipe!! Thanks so much and I love that it rose (then baked) in the oven. Great tips and tutorial! Thanks again!
Oh, and I’ve been thinking about what you said about trials. My husband and I had a discussion too. Thanks for the prompt. 🙂
P.S. I love Shepherd’s Pie but I’ve never made it with beef gravy. Will try!
I love the kind of food you can feel comfortable eating if you’re in jeans and a t-shirt! My kind of food. 🙂 And for the record, I was thinking how beautiful your photos were…before you even mentioned photos. Seriously, the colors pop! And the photos are crisp. I have photo envy…. You rock, Terri!
What a great meal for a cold, January night (in your jeans, of of course)!
Oh my gosh this looks so good and I love the fact it is all homemade. I am trying to get away from using cream soups and prepackaged items. This one is a keeper. Please keep up the good work I love your posts. I am also looking forward to the one about Marcia. We can all learn to be gratefull in life.
Kristin–Wahoo! I’m so glad that the whole wheat bread worked for you.
Carol–Thank you! You always say the nicest things.
Savoring Time in the Kitchen–Jeans: the best thing ever to come out of the 60’s, right?
Anonymous–Thanks so much! I’m thinking about the perfect recipe to use with my Marcia story. I’m pretty sure it will involve chocolate because Marcia LOVED chocolate, especially dark chocolate. She used to share her chocolates with me until I developed my ridiculous chocolate allergy.