Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is supposed to use up the leftovers you have in your fridge. Except, I'm not one for leftovers. Normally they get forgotten about and thrown away after two weeks. It's almost always a waste of food to me. So, my shepherd's pie is always premeditated. This was one of my favorite meals before becoming vegetarian so I'm really glad I was able to translate it over for a yummy meal that is comforting and easy to prepare.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
makes 2 cups

• 4 small russet potatoes, about 1 lb.
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 Tb. butter or margarine

Wash, peel, and dice the potatoes.

Place in a large saucepan or small stockpot and cold with COLD water. I know it can be tempting to add hot water to get it to a boil faster but hot water to soon can break apart the potatoes early and then the potatoes will be gummy. Thanks AB. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until fork tender.

Smash cloves of garlic using your palm or the large part of your knife. Do not chop or mince garlic.

Slowly heat milk, butter, and garlic in a small saucepan. I added 1 Tb. cream in my potatoes because I had some extra in the fridge. Honestly? It made no difference from the potatoes I've had before. Definitely not worth the increase in calories and fat. 

Drain potatoes.

Add potatoes back to the saucepan and slowly add liquid while mashing. Add the liquid slowly and in increments. I rarely need all the liquid. Just keep mashing until they are fluffy but do not over-mash. Gummy potatoes are gross.

Season with salt and pepper.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

serves 2-3

• 1 recipe garlic mashed potatoes
• 6 oz vegetarian meat crumbles 
• 1 cup pepper and onion frozen mix 
• 10 oz frozen mixed veggies, cooked
• 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (14 oz)
• 1 cup vegetarian gravy (Imagine makes a great organic carton)
• 1 Tb. chili powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 Tb. Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400° F. Saute the meat crumbles with the peppers & onions until thawed. Turn off heat and stir in mixed veggies.

Add tomatoes, gravy, and spices. Depending on the saltiness of your gravy, you may need to add some salt.

Transfer to a prepared baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes and Parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve!

Nutritional Information (for 1/2 dish): 589 calories, 16g fat (4.5g sat), 90g carbs, 13.5g fiber, 23g protein

Nutritional Information (for 1/3 dish): 393 calories, 11g fat (3g sat), 60g carbs, 9g fiber, 15g protein

It's amazing how much more food you can eat when you put healthy ingredients into meals. Even if you're not vegetarian, I would recommend trying this with the meatless crumbles. In dishes like this, it's hard to tell and it saves you 60 calories and 2.5g fat (2.3g sat!) while only losing 1g protein. And that's using 6 oz extra lean
(95%) ground beef, while most people would use 1/2 pound or 8 oz because it's easier.  

I'm having a really hard time continuing to exercise while it's sooo cold outside. Even though I have a treadmill inside, I have to walk through the cold to get to it. This is my problem during the winter. My body wants to go into hibernation and it's hard to fight it.

Any suggestions? How do you motivate yourself to workout in the winter?