Shepherd's Pie - Make-Ahead, Freeze Ahead, OAMC

Chef Two Hearts's Note:

This recipe is the merge of two Zaar recipes. The base is close to Dana's Sloppy Joes # 32576 and well, any basic recipe for mashed potatoes will do. You might try Basic Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes Basic Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes for an overnight jump on your Shepherd's Pie. For mothers this recipe will be a joy to have on hand in the freezer. Adjust seasonings and ingredients to suit your family and share your ideas please!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-6

Yield: 3.0 dinners

Base

• 6 lbs ground beef (comes in this quantity at most wholesale clubs)
• 2 medium onions , chopped
• 3 cups catsup
• 4 tablespoons mustard
• 6 tablespoons wine vinegar
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 6 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Middle

• 3 cups frozen green beans
• 3 cups frozen corn

Top

• 7 -10 lbs potatoes , cooked and mashed according to preferred method, try crockpot recipe suggested in notes above

Directions:

1. In large pot, brown beef with onions (I boil my beef, drain to reduce fat content, then add onions I've already sauteed).
2. Mix remaining BASE ingredients in large bowl.
3. Add beef and onions.
4. At this point I placed 1/3 of meat mixture in a cassarole dish, added 1 cup of each frozen veggie and layered on 1/3 of mashed potatoes.
5. Bake at 350F for an hour, or until heated through.
6. While dinner is baking up, I pack up the cooled remaining meat mixture dividing meat mixture left into 2 labeled gallon ziplock bags.
7. Divide remaining veggies into labled 2 qt freezer bags.
8. Divide remaining mashed potatoes into 2 labeled gallon freezer bags.
9. For convenience, I actually staple the bag of meat mixture, veggies and mashed potatoes together into 2 dinner groups to make it all easier to find in my freezer. Obviously, staple above the zip on the bag when stapling together. :-).