this was the most fun I've had cooking in a long time. a co-worker gave me this recipe. and by gave, I mean she gave me a list of ingrediants and I had to figure out measurements. LOL my end result didn't taste quite as good as hers, but still...I'm proud of how it turned out. so here's what I came what with, adjust if you wish.
making dinner last night was an adventure, to say the least. I had a terrible case of the dropsies. went to swirl the pan to coat the oil one last time before adding my steaks...and promptly spilled half of the HOT OIL right onto my kitchen floor. and also? I dropped the pan of potatoes and lost a third. methinks I need to mop my poor floor tonight when I get home.
but dispite my mishaps, this turned out delicious. I've always been intimidated by pan gravy, but I done did a good job this time. the only thing I screwed up is I didn't have the oil hot enough when I added my steaks (to sear them...see the point about spillage above) so they came out a tad greasy...but the gravy was HEAVEN.
this is another recipe I snagged from Southern Plate. check out the original for halarious commentary and a much more thorough explanation.
by Americanized, I mean that authentic Sheppard's Pie calls for sausage or mutton or some such. hell, I don't know. I'm not from England. 
I know this looks like a mish mash of ingrediants...because it is. I was a tad leary myself trying it (I despise tomato soup) but I tried it anyway because it seemed like a good, hearty meal. and it was.
the only deviation I made to the recipe was using a tub of mashed potatoes instead of the "4 potatoes"....let's face it, I can be pretty damn lazy. who wants to peel, boil, and mash potatoes if they don't have to? but it worked, and it was good.
this is by far the best thing I have ever cooked, and I am quite proud of the results. not only did it taste like the real thing, but it was super easy. when I first mixed the liquids and tasted them, I wasn't sure I was going to like the outcome. but once I added them to the beef and broccoli, the liquids picked up their flavor and tasted fabulous!
my only complaint was that it coulda used more broccoli. and next time I will try adding carrots and onions as well.