When I worked as a nanny, one of the moms whom I helped years ago taught me two quick and easy meals using just ground turkey and a taco pack seasoning.  She used this base to create two completely different meals — tacos naturally and Shepherd’s pie. Now that I’m a mom, I love that I can buy the same ingredients and make 2 separate dishes from them that require about the same work.  For both meals I cook the ground turkey and add the taco seasoning pack.  For tacos the meal is done.  We add lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, sour cream and wrap it up in tortillas.  Right now Drake likes his deconstructed — he eats the turkey with sour cream and cheese in a bowl and eats the tortilla separately.

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For Sheperd’s Pie I cook the ground meat the same as I did previously with the taco seasoning. I also make mashed potatoes to go on top.  For mashed potatoes I peel and then boil 4-5 potatoes.  Once they are soft I smash them adding milk, butter, and salt to taste, mixing it all together until it’s nice and creamy.  Then the mashed potatoes go on top of the ground turkey.  Sometimes I will also add in celery and carrots, cooking them separately and then tossing them in with the turkey and seasoning so they absorb the flavors.  This meal is Juliet’s favorite as she loves mashed potatoes.  Drake is hit or miss on mashed potatoes and will sometimes just ask to eat the ground turkey with sour cream and cheese, which is his taco meal so it’s easy to accommodate.