Shepherds Pie...a Quick Meal for Quirky and Me

What do you do when you are planning on having baked potatoes topped with veggies, but you're just a wee bit scatter brained from have spent numerous hours solo with your Quirky autistic kid and unfortunately forgot to buy the potatoes. ( Which was one of the main reasons we had gone to the store that day, yet I still came home without them...sigh.) Going out to eat was not an option...I was not leaving the house again. So after rummaging through our cabinets and contemplating whether it was bad parenting to feed your kid cereal for dinner, it finally clicked with me that we had instant mashed potatoes...Hello. So I decided to go all topsy turvy and instead of having veggies on a baked potato, we instead made Shepard's Pie. It was quick, easy, and delicious. Here is what we did.

Quirky's Quick and Easy Shepherds' Pie

2 cups of instant mashed potatoes mixed according to package directions

1-2 cups of mixed vegetables ( we used a green bean, corn, and carrots mixture)

1 cup of Diced Chicken ( I used leftovers)

1/2 can of cream of chicken soup

Shredded cheddar cheese

Stir the mix vegetables into the cream of chicken, adding just a bit of water if necessary. It should be a thick mixture. Add any seasonings that you desire...I added a little cayenne pepper to mine after taking Quirky's portion out. Spoon into two medium sized individual ramekins. Top with your mashed potatoes and bake at 350° for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until bubbly and the potato edges begin to brown. Pull out of oven and sprinkle generously with shredded cheese. Place back in oven, with broiler on low, cook until cheese just begins to brown and is melted.  

Quirky absolutely loved this...it's like chicken pot pie and baked potatoes all rolled up into one delicious package, and well the cheese was just the "icing" on the pie.