Sheperd's Pie

This week I've been on a clean out mission...well, in some areas of life. I had a giant stack of recipes, magazine cut outs, and other miscellaneous stuff. I decided to go through it, figure out what I really wanted to keep and ditch the rest. I also went through a good portion of our filing cabinet and got rid of stuff that we no longer need. Whew, it was cleansing!

When we first moved to Edmonton we stayed with Ruth and Dave for a few weeks. Ruth had a giant stack of home decorating magazines. She was going to send them to recycling, but before she did I went through them and cut out pics for the "dream home." So it was kind of interesting to go through them, now 3 years later, and see how my design ideas have changed. Not a lot, but some things I couldn't even figure out why I would have cut them out. Amazing!

I decided to try a few of the new recipes this week, including the one below. Now know that I am a yam/sweet potato hater. Yuck, yuck and more yuck. But this recipe has changed me, or at least when cooked like this. So if you invite me over for a yam dinner, I may still have to pass, but at least I'm coming around!
Shepherd's Pie
Heart & Stroke Foundation's 2009 Calendar

1.5 lbs sweet (or white) potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp. margarine
1/4 Tsp. ground pepper
2 Tsp. Canola oil
1 lb. Ground Beef (or 1 pkg. Yves Veggie Original Ground Round)
1 Green Pepper, chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Flour
1 C. Sodium-Reduced veggie stock
1 C. combined, sweet peas, corn and carrots

Directions:
In a pot of boiling water, cook sweet potatoes for about 15 mins. or until tender. Drain well and return to pot. Add margarine and half of the ground pepper and mash until smooth; set aside. In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over med. heat. Cook ground beef, green pepper, and garlic, stirring for 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook, stirring for 1 min. Add vegetable stock to the skillet, bring to a boil. Add peas, corn, and carrots and remaining ground pepper. Spread mixture into 8" square baking dish. Spread mashed sweet potato over top. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until bubbly around edges.

Nutrition Facts per Serving:
Calories 343
Protein 20g
Total Fat 9g
Saturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 0mg
Carbohydrate 48g
Fibre 8g
Sodium 646mg
Potassium 706mg

*Holly additions or changes, because you know there are some ;)

-OK, the sweet potato hater in me couldn't bear the thought of using just sweet potatoes, so I did two fair-sized sweet potatoes, and 4 russet potatoes.
-The original recipe called for "1 pkg. (340g) Yves Veggie Original Ground Round," but I just used plain old ground beef.
-Added two small zucchini squashes.
-Added one cup water, and one vegetable bouillon cube.

So there you have it. A nice easy introduction to sweet potatoes. Healthy. And super yummy. We both devoured it! Enjoy!