Sheperd's Pie???

Nick and Paulina wanted me to make Sheperd's Pie.  I have never made it before and I really did not like any recipe I found so I did what I do best......I went in the kitchen and threw some stuff together!

I finely chopped up some zucchini, chopped baby carrots and took out some frozen peas and frozen corn.  Paulina peeled the potatoes for me, we used about 5 pounds worth of russets.  While the potatoes were boiling I put my extra lean ground beef in the skillet with a little bit of olive oil and some finely minced onion.  After the ground beef was completely done, I drained off the excess oil and threw in all of the vegetables.  I added about 1 cup of hot water, put a lid on the pan and let it steam while the potatoes finished boiling.

After draining the potatoes, I mased them with one stick of REAL butter, about 1/2 cup of sour cream and enough milk to help smooth it all out.  They were delish!  I checked on my ground beef and veggies to see if the zucchini and carrots had softenend up.  I added a fairly healthy sprinkle of dry brown gravy  mix, added about a half of cup more hot water and let it steam some more.

I then dumped my hamburger/veggie mix into a 9x13 glass pan and topped it with my mashed potatoes.  It went into the oven (350 degrees) for almost 30 minutes.  It tasted pretty good! The whole family liked it, well, almost everyone.  My oldest daughter is in bed sick so I did not make her try it.  I did, however, take her a huge bowl of mashed potatoes.  She loved that.

Anyway, it reminded me more of the old dish "succatash" more than anything else.  I never did like that stuff.  This was not too bad but I am not sure if I will make it again?  I don't think I am a very big fan of plopping mashed taters on top of stuff? It must be my OCD coming out in me!!  If you guys have a recipe for Sheperd's Pie, let me know! This one was okay, but needs some improvement!!