Cheater Shepherd's Pie

I made this the other day, kind of out of the leftover food I had at my house. I wanted something hearty but not overly dramatic. This fit the bill. I've made Shepherd's Pie before, but this was just slightly easier in method, so it worked for me. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
-1 lb ground beef
-3 tablespoons flour
-3/4 cup heavy cream
-1/2 cup milk
-1.5 teaspoons onion powder
-1/2 cup veggies (I used peas and carrots), chopped small
-2 russet potatoes, for mashing
-2 tablespoons butter
-1/4 cup milk

Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Scrub the potatoes, leaving the skin on, then cube them and add them to the boiling water. Cook the potatoes until fork-tender, then drain the water. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes. Add the butter and milk to smooth it out just a bit.

You can also season it with a little salt and pepper if you want. Set the potatoes aside.

While the potatoes are cooking, cook the ground beef over medium high heat in a skillet until no longer pink.

Drain the meat, reserving the fat from cooking (the "grease"). Set the meat aside for later. Return the grease to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium/medium low. Whisk in the flour to make a roux.

Cook the roux for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cream and whisk to combine. The sauce should begin to thicken up a bit.

Add the milk to thin it out slightly, and whisk to incorporate. Add the onion powder and stir to combine. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so, stirring frequently.

It will thicken up a little bit again. Add the veggies to the sauce

and stir to combine. Add the meat to the sauce and stir to coat.

Serve the mashed potatoes on the plate, and top with the beef mixture.

Enjoy the yummy goodness!