Tex Mex Shepherd's Pie

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I feel like when you successfully put together a piece of Ikea furniture, you deserve an award.

Like, a shiny gold statue or medal. Or even a ribbon!

It would be a badge of honor, you know?

Jason is now working from home and desperately needed a legitimate working space. So we did what any couple-on-a-budget would do. We hit up Ikea on a Saturday night (living the dream, people, living the dream).

Sunday night was build the desk night. Yippee!

The "instructions" were 15 or so pages and included "directions" for 427 different pieces of furniture. None labeled, of course. Matter of fact, there were no words on any of the pages.

{notice the use of quotes...}

I couldn't help but imagine how fun it must be to design the Ikea instruction manuals. It must be hilarious! I'd be like 'dude, we should just throw in an arrow over here just to throw them off' and my colleague would say 'yeah, and let's add directions for a random piece of furniture we don't even sell to see if they notice!'

It'd be a pretty cool job if you have a twisted sense of humor. Like me.

His desk is put together, seems sturdy, and we only had a few leftover pieces that didn't seem to have a place to go. I call that a win.

Where's my medal?

-----

Thank heavens I didn't feel like I deserved a medal after making this dish. It's simple, filling, family friendly, and SO GOOD.

The base is a creamy cheesy taco flavored ground beef mixture that's topped with cheesy hash browns and baked. It reminded me a lot of this Creamy Taco Mac that we also loved!

The ground beef mixture is an easy way to hide additional veggies so feel free to throw them in when you're browning the meat! 

 
Tex Mex Shepherd's Pie
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup corn
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 can (10.75 ounce) tomato soup
6 tablespoons reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups Mexican style shredded cheese, divided
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a 3 quart baking dish and set aside.

Brown the ground beef and onion in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until the meat is broken up and no longer pink. Drain fat from the pan and reduce heat to medium.

Add the canned tomato soup, corn, and cream cheese. Stir until well combined and cream cheese is melted. Stir in the taco seasoning and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the potatoes, salt, pepper, and remaining 1 cup shredded cheese.

Top the ground beef with the potatoes. Spread them out evenly and press down just slightly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the potatoes are browned and crispy on top.

Source: slightly adapted from The Midnight Baker