Shepherd's Pie Winter Night Dinner

It was my turn to cook dinner and since I was working from home today, it was the perfect time to come up with something fun, different and warming since it's freezing outside this week! Let's be honest though for a second, I don't cook very much. Not because I don't like to, but because Mr. K is just so darn good at it! Seriously though, he loves to cook and he's great at it. Great at coming up with meals on the fly, while I always need to follow a recipe. But that's ok because I enjoy following a recipe and trying new things (to a certain extent).

Anyways, tonight I made Shepherd's Pie. I was going to make a bunch of mini pies, but decided to just make two and then make the rest in a big pan. I followed a couple of different recipes, so I've combined those here. Mr. K is usually the mashed potato maker in the house, but he said that I may have taken over that duty. I was pretty impressed, if I do say so myself ;)

I have to admit though, the only photos I took are over the mini-Shepherds pies I made. I forgot to take a picture of the big one. BUT it looked just like this, only in an 8x8 ceramic dish.

Yields: 4-6 Servings
Temperature: 450 degrees
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Mashed Potatoes: 
3 large potatoes, peel and cubed
1/2 C. Sour Cream
1/4 C. Milk
1 tb butter

Filling:
1 3/4 lb. ground beef
salt and pepper
1 carrot, peeled and chopped (I had a bag of baby carrots in the fridge so I just chopped about 10-15 of those)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 C. chopped mushrooms (about 4 large mushrooms)
1/2 C. Frozen peas
1 tsp paprika
2 tb butter
2 tb flour
1 C. beef broth
2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese (I actually forgot to use this, and it turned out just fine!)
2 tb chopped fresh parsley leaves

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes 
2. While potatoes are boiling, heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef to pan and season with salt and pepper. 
3. Brown meat - toss in carrots, mushrooms, onions and garlic 
4. Cover and cook this mixture for 5 minutes, stirring frequently 
5. Stir in peas, parsley and paprika 
6. In a second, smaller pan, heat butter and flour for about 2 minutes (make sure not to burn the butter!). Add in the Worcestershire and beef broth. Whisk until thick, about 1-2 minutes. Add the gravy to meat pan. 
7. Drain potatoes, put into a bowl (I just put them back into the pot I boiled them in), mix in sour cream, butter and milk, mash until smooth 
8. Pour meat mixture into casserole dish, and top with mashed potatoes. Top potatoes with cheese. 
9. Cook until potatoes are browned on top 
10. Let cool and enjoy! 

Mudroom Makeover

Happy Fall!!! Tis the season for boots, sneakers and winter jackets galore.  We found ourselves having a pile of our shoes in the mudroom (the small area when coming in from the garage), my purse, and our work bags on the island chairs, and our keys strewn about the kitchen. We had this bench in our basement being unused, so we measured it and decided that it would fit perfectly in the mudroom. With this, we have a place to put our shoes and our work bags when we come right in the door.

Here's the transformation!

Before:

Ha! Don't mind Mia, she's taking the opportunity to sneak into the garage. 

After:

The chalkboard frame is also from Home Goods. Our favorite!  

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have completed my DIY cushion for this bench. I had an unproductive trip to G Street Fabrics last weekend for a pattern I like, so hopefully I'll find something on my next trip. I want to continue the blues and yellows into here too, and I'm thinking an indoor/outdoor fabric will be the best because I see this getting a lot of wear and tear over time. I'm thinking something in this realm of patterns:

Credit: Savvy Design

Credit: Seawater Style

Credit: Home Design Handbook

Butler's Pantry Makeover

We wanted to continue the living room color scheme - blues and yellows - into the kitchen and butler's pantry. This was the second piece of wall decor we hung (behind the mudroom chalkboard frame you'll see in another post), so we thought this would be a good spot to try to it out and see if we like the colors and everything. So far, we love it!

The biggest obstacle we came across while hanging this one was that the hole that we were going to be drilling was right over an outlet, which according to my pre-drywall photos was very, very close to electrical wires. We debated just hanging the piece with Command velcro strips I picked up at Home Depot, but there's too much glass underneath,  so if it ever fell, we'd lose a lot of liquor.... I mean, we'd have a lot of glass to clean up ;) And no one wants that.

It's really amazing how wall art can really start making a room feel more homey. And for the record, we love Home Goods, and that's where we got this piece, the chalkboard frame you'll see next week, and a few other things for the powder room. For right now, the price can't be beat until we're ready to settle on something really expensive, which we're not ready for.

Here's the transformation!

Before:

After: