Shepherd's Pie

It's cold. The internet was down last night. My car is notorious for not starting if the wind chill gets too low. I'm starting to go stir crazy and itching for a run outside! How many more months of winter?!?!?! At least the sun is shining, so it doesn't look as bad as it is through my front window (not that I'm going to test it by going outside if I can help it! So much for my to-do list!) And the gym is great, but it's not the same thing as fresh air! 

Last night, I made a comfort-food shepherd's pie based on a Civilized Caveman recipe to warm us up. I liked it much better than the previous version I made (because it was sweeter, and I don't think sweet potatoes go with savory) although I think Steve liked the mushrooms in the second one. Also, we didn't have an onion, or mushrooms, or or peas! 

So, I baked three sweet potatoes (easier than peeling them to boil!), and then mashed them with 1/4 C coconut milk (vanilla flavor, because that's what we have - it worked fine!) and 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I don't like nutmeg. I think its overpowering)

Then I browned 1 pound of ground turkey, and cut up the rest of a bag of carrots (maybe 5 small ones). Steve says onion would have been good with the recipe, but he only bought one, which we used for the soup the other day! I added the carrots to the ground beef to soften them, then added the rest of the container of white balsamic vinegar (about 2 Tablespoons) and 2 Tablespoons honey, plus 2 Tablespoons cinnamon. Then I mixed in 1/2 C dried cranberries, and put the whole thing in a small 2 quart baking dish (it wouldn't fill up the 9 X 13 pan). 

Then I smoothed the potato mixture over top, and we baked for 20 minutes, added 1/2 C pecans and baked another 15 minutes. It was so good! And easy! And we have leftovers for tonight! It almost tastes like Thanksgiving in a casserole (I think the onions would help with that, to give it a little "stuffing" flavor). the tang of the vinegar goes well with the sweetness of the honey and the cranberries. I wish I could figure out what other veggies might  go well with it. 

I took a brilliant picture to tantalize your taste buds! I swear, itt looked good on my phone! I was like, ooh, look at those delicious cranberries! And the pecans! Trust me, it's good!