My Recipe for a Cheap and Easy Meal: Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie

Hungry? Me too! Lazy? You bet! So am I! You know as well as I do that hungry and lazy don't play nice together, so you eventually get up, go to your kitchen and look around. While pondering what you want to eat you suddenly remember that wonderfully handsome, magnanimous man Donald Pennington and his delicious recipe for Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie. And although the name Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie makes you pause for a bit...it does sound good.

So you set about your cupboards remembering what you were told you'd need to make this Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie feast set for a king. After a while you give up and you come back to your computer and look through your bookmarks...a-ha! There it is: Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie! Good thing you bookmarked http://digg.com/d312NKo?t huh?!

What you'll need to make Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie

1 3-quart saucepan with a lid that fits. I prefer to use a "Corning-Ware" but any oven safe 3-quart sauce pan will do. The lid must fit right for this to work. I bake this Shepherd's Pie recipe right in the saucepan. So make sure the handle can stand the heat. You may need to remove it temporarily.

1 can of beans (any variety will do) or 2 c of cooked beans
½ to 1 lb of ground beef (substitute with turkey, or sausage if you like)
½ raw onion cut into chunks (or whatever size you like)
1 cup dry macaroni
1 can/jar/container of your favorite spaghetti sauce (My favorite is anything cheap and 'four-cheese' flavored)
1 can of cheap biscuits. (The small ones that usually gets offered in the four packs are best but you're certainly welcome to experiment with the jumbo size) or 10 to 12 small, home-made biscuits
Your favorite seasonings (use sparingly if at all if you're using the sausage option)

Well you've looked all over your kitchen, and made a quick trip to the store to get an item, and now everything's together. You glare at the kids to finish up the game they're playing and as they give you back your mouse you realize that at least they didn't close out the page you opened. Now you did it. You yelled at them even though they were being thoughtful.

So as you yell to them "sweetheart...I only need the computer for a minute. You can have it back soon," you continue reading:

What you need to do (The easy part) for my Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie:

In your saucepan, place your beans, spaghetti sauce onion, and raw meat. Bring to boil and let simmer, stirring constantly, until you see the meat is completely done. Now add your dry macaroni. Excess oils from the meat, and quite a bit of the liquids will cook into the macaroni. So don't worry that it doesn't look like cheap and easy anything...never mind chili mac yet.

Place the biscuits in a layer over contents of the pan and cover with the lid for...

The harder part: Don't burn your Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie biscuits!

Place your lidded sauce pan, and it's contents, into your oven that's been pre-heated to 50 degrees lower than the recommended temperature for your biscuits. Bake for approximately ten minutes. Since an oven is much like a woman ( basically all the same parts but each one warms up differently) you might want to watch your Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie closely the first time you make this dish.

When your biscuits look like they're 'almost' ready to start browning, leave the lid on, and pull the dish out of your oven. Let the heat of the pan, lid, and contents of your dish finish cooking the biscuits on their own. This is the safest way to keep from burning your biscuits. Do not chill...yet.

Your dinner should be ready within a mere five more minutes of standing. 1 biscuit usually marks off one serving of my Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie. If you have a recipe of your own for Cheap and Easy Chili Mac that you want to try in a Shepherd's Pie recipe...then by all means try it. Adjust to taste. Always adjust to taste. For variety feel free to throw in any other vegetables you like, into my Cheap and Easy Chili Mac Shepherd's Pie too! Adding a can of mixed vegetables, using different meats (do experiment!)or even your favorite cheese, can add a lot more variety

Source:
Personal Favorite Recipe and the Superpower of cooking like a poor man.

I've a great smoothie for dessert!
And here's another!