Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

After this past weekend, where almost every meal seemed to be pizza at the bar, we decided we are going back on our health kick. This means back to the Fast Metabolism Diet eating plan. There are 3 different Phases in this plan, and basically it just is a clean eating way of life.

This recipe is husband tested and approved!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry lentils (I substituted this for 1 pound of ground beef. I usually use Grass Fed, but we only had the 85% lean in our freezer)
• 3 large or 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 3/4 inch cubes
• 5 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 4, only because we love garlic)
• 1/4 cup organic vegetable broth
• 2 cups fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (As you can see from the picture above, I used frozen green beans)
• 2 teaspoons tamari (this is basically a gluten free soy sauce)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup unsweetened rice milk

Serving Size: 4

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a medium skillet start to brown your ground beef.
3. Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the sweet potatoes and boil for 10 minutes. , or until tender. Meanwhile, cook the carrots, onions and garlic in a large skillet with the vegetable broth until the carrots begin to soften. Add the green beans and cook for about 5 minutes more. Add the cooked ground beef, tamari, thyme, salt and pepper. Still well to combine.

4. Pour the mixture into a large 10 cup casserole dish. Drain and mash the potatoes with the rice milk. Top the mixture with the mashed sweet potatoes and bake for 30 minutes.

It actually turned out delicious. My husband usually says I try to hard to make to many different kinds of recipes, so this one was right up his alley. I got this recipe from The Fast Metabolism Diet Cookbook by Haylie Pomroy. I am trying a new recipe for each phase this week, so of course I will blog about each one!

From the back of the cookbook about each phase:
"In Phase 1 you will cook to unwind stress and support your adrenals with hearty, nourishing breakdests"
"During Phase 2, you'll be cooking to unlock stored fat and feed the liver with huge, leafy salads"
"Then in Phase 3, it is time to use your kitchen to unleash the burn and ingite the Fast Metabolism hormones with a savory, high- healthy fat dishes"

Also, because we could actually be outside, without freezing, we decided last night was a perfect night for a family walk! The air was so fresh! I don't know about you, but I am ready to open the windows in my house and get some fresh air circulating!