Shepherd's Pie, crockpot style

One of my favorite cooking blogs revolves around crockpots, which is great because I am a faithful user of mine. Stephanie O'dea decided to make a new year's resolution to use her crockpot EVERY DAY for the year of 2008. And she did it! Now she has a cookbook out and has made several TV appearances. You can check out her blog here, and this is where I found this recipe.

Well we had a very cold and windy Sunday morning, so when I asked the hubby what he wantes for dinner (I was smart and only gave him a few choices) he quickly chose the Sheperd's Pie because it felt so wintery. I totally agreed, and after our monstrous breakfast at Cracker Barrel this morning, I set up the crockpot and let it cook until we we were finally hungry again, late into the evening. I probably should have used my large crockpot, but I still haven't ever taken it out of the box yet. I definitely will the next time I cook, as you can see how filled this one is. Use at least a 4 Quart crockpot for this recipe (mine was 3.5 Quart, no wonder it was so stuffed!)

Ingredients:

--3 cups leftover mashed potatoes (I made fresh ones in my Kitchenaid Mixer with real potatoes) --1 lb ground turkey or beef
--2 cloves garlic, chopped (I used minced garlic)
--2 cups frozen vegetables (I used 2 cans of veggies)
--1 medium onion, chopped finely, or 1 T onion flakes
--1/2 tsp seasoned salt
--1/2 tsp onion powder
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/4 tsp paprika (then a bit more for garnish)
--1 cup water (DO NOT add water if using canned veggies.)
--2 cups shredded cheese

Directions:

Brown the meat and onion on the stove, and drain any fat. Add in the garlic and spices and then remove from the stove.

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. Put the meat in the crockpot and stir in the frozen vegetables, and a cup of water. Add two cups of cheese on top. Press the mashed potatoes down on top of the cheese and meat. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for about 3, then remove the lid and cook on high for 30 minutes to release the condensation and allow the potatoes to brown a bit on top. Everything is cooked already, so you're really just allowing the flavors to meld and the potatoes to get crusty.

The hubby really loved how this came out, he ate two huge plates and then ate the rest for lunch the next day.