a beautiful Sunday afternoon

Brown and drain meat.Add veggies-I had corn,green beans,and celery.I added a can of tomato paste and a can of tomato sauce plus a little veggie juice and mixed well.Pour into casserole dish and top with shredded cheddar cheese.Top that with mashed potatoes and bake until the cheese is melted. I used instant potatoes because I had some on hand.

It's been really chilly the past few days here in East Central Mississippi.The kind of weather that makes you want soup.I picked up a cute little butter nut squash at the store the other day with the intent to make soup-didn't get around to it until today though.It turned out very good.I peeled it,seeded it and cut it into cubes as best I could.It was a small squash so it was easier to cut than the bigger ones.I pulled a handful of chopped onion into a few tbs of olive oil and grated a little ginger in.I cooked that while I chopped the squash.I added all of a small container of chicken stock (forgot I had some homemade stashed in the freezer LOL).I added the squash and added a little salt and let it bubble until the squash was tender.Then I pulled the pot off the heat and pulled out the "stick" blender.I buzzed it until the squash was a smooth as I wanted and then added the last of the shredded rotisserie chicken I had left in the fridge.I made my son ramen noodles for lunch and had a handful leftover so I tossed those in too.It was delish,but next time I'll just stick to the chicken.The noodles were a bit much. For the guys,I made authentic shephard's pie.I call it "authentic" becasue I made it the traditional way using tomato paste/tomato sauce instead of a can of creamy soup.Usually,I eat it too so I have to omit the tomato but today I knew I wasn't in the mood for that so I made it the regular way.I don't think I've ever made it that way for my husband before.I had enough to make two large casserole pans of it.I plan on sticking one pan plus any leftovers in the freezer for quickie meals or take to work meals for the hubby.After lunch I let the kid and puppy play out in the red dirt in the back yard again.They are hilarious.One day I'm going to remember to take the video camera with me.Today was a beautiful,slightly crisp fall day.