Old Fashioned Home Cookin'

Tonight I made Shepherd's Pie for dinner : D It's one of my favorite home-cooked meals, and quite delicious. I've found that everybody's version of this dish is fairly different, but one thing is for sure, good creamy mashed potatoes on top are a must!!! This dish is pretty simple overall, and I prefer to make one per person in these cute little ramekins my Mom gave me.

My recipe:

Medium Sized Onion
Ground Beef
Beef Stock from Bullion
Salt
Parsley
Garlic Salt
Cumin
Sage
Frozen Vegetables
Cheddar Cheese (optional)
Mashed Potatoes

Sorry in advance for the lack of measurements, I stopped measuring ingredients awhile ago and find that I can get a good feel for the "right amount" most of the time without measuring.

-Dice onions and put in a large frying pan. Add ground beef and beef stock, occasionally stirring and breaking meat down. Saute meat until it is cooked through.
-Add seasonings (I recommend only adding a little bit of sage and cumin, too much is overpowering)
-Add frozen veggies (I recommend anything with peas and carrots, and some beans. The bag I bought had a lot of beans, corn, and carrots). Add a little water if necessary and cook until the vegetables are cooked through. Drain any excess liquid.
-Put the meat/veggie mixture in the bottom of the ramekins or the bottom of a glass pan. Sprinkle with a little cheddar cheese.
-Make mashed potatoes as you normally would. I prefer using Idaho brown potatoes. I also like to put both sour cream and cream cheese in the potatoes to make them rich and creamy. Chives are a great addition if you have them on hand.
-Scoop mashed potatoes on top of meat. Spread so that meat is covered.
-Bake at 325 for 30 min. Turn the heat up to 450 and bake another 10 minutes if you want the pretty golden peaks : )