*~kAy~*'s Kitchen: Easy Sheperd's Pie

Sheperd's Pie is an English dish that is usually made with lamb or mutton but I used beef. It is basically a casserole that consists of meat (and vegetables) covered with a layer of mashed potatoes.

If this sounds like something you might like to eat, read on further to see how I make it :P

1. Start by boiling peeled and cut potatoes(2 large/3medium sized)  in salt water until they get soft (approx. 20 minutes).

2. While you are waiting for the potatoes to boil, cook your ground beef. I used about 1lb of ground beef. You can start by sauteing onions in butter/oil and if you want to add carrots, this would be a good time to do it as well. I usually like to add carrots but I didn't have any at home (so just pretend there are carrots in mine :P). Add and saute the ground beef into the onions until the meat is no longer pink. You can add peas and corn as well. Season to your liking (with salt, pepper, worcesterchire sauce, etc). You can also add beef broth to keep the meat moist if you like.

3. The potatoes should be done by then. Mash the potato and season to taste. I like to also add a bit of butter and cheddar cheese. :P

4. Line a baking dish with the cooked ground beef and vegetables.

All ready for the potato to be topped on!

5. Spread the mashed potato evenly on top of the meat.

You can use a fork (or the same spoon I used to scoop the potato in my case... I didn't want to dirty a fork) and form peaks in the potato so that it can brown nicely.

6. Cook in oven at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes (until it is brown and bubbling).

This is how mine turned out :P

This serves about 3-4 people.

How did does it look? :)
Do you have your own way of making Sheperd's Pie? Please share!

Hello Kitty Christmas Gifts

Hi! :)
Hope everybody had a fun Christmas! :)
I got to spend my winter holidays eating good food, playing games, and spending quality time with the people I love.
I had to wrap tons of gifts this year but I also got to unwrap some too :)

I just wanted to share a few gifts I got for Christmas. I guess I will start by showing you some Hello Kitty stuff I got :)

(Hello Kitty Key Chain)

(With Nightlight)                   

I also got this Hello Kitty Humidifier (Click here for link) and its so cute! The mist comes out of her ears :P I love it :)  Its very quiet and I like how you can have different levels just by turning the flower knob :) This will make me sleep better at night.

That's it for now. I'll show you more in the next post! :)

What did you guys get for Christmas? :) Please share!

Merry Christmas Everybody! <3

Merry Christmas Glitters

Crafty K: DIY hacky sack (footbag)!

My sister had wanted a hacky sack and since I was making it, I just wanted to share :) Hacky sacks can be great stocking stuffers since Christmas is right around the corner ;)

I started out by printing out a template (rounded triangle) on card-stock paper (I printed different sizes just in case). This will be one of the four sections of your hacky sack.

I cut out my template and traced it four times onto some felt-fabric.

 

Cut it.

 

Then I sewed the four pieces like this :) I love this diagram (got it from here). More details on how to sew this can be found at that same link.

Hacky sacks can be filled up using many things but I used white sand and filled it up through the one side of the triangle I did not sew.

Blind stitch the last section of the hacky sack and voila! You're done! How do you think I did? :P
These were pretty fun to make and I was surprised at how short of a time it took to make each one. These are so addicting I might try making ones with more panels :p