Cleaner Shepherd's Pie

A traditional shepherd's pie is made with lamb or beef, as well as corn and potatoes, with additional ingredients depending on what recipe you consider a "real" shepherd's pie. When I look over those traditional recipes, they often lack enough veggies and are pumped full of carbohydrates. In order to reach the right sized portion, with the appropriate amount of macronutrients, I took the traditional recipes, limited the carbs, and increased the vegetables. This cleaner shepherd's pie may be quite different from the recipe that your mother made, however I know that once you give this a try you will understand eliminating the extra fat and carbohydrates, doesn't mean you also eliminate the flavor. And, if you're someone who is looking for new recipes to add to your 21-Day Fix meal preparation rotation, I list your servings and macronutrient counts so you can easily track your meal.

Shepherd’s Pie

1 Protein, 1 Veggie, 1 Carb

(Makes 6 servings)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups Sweet Potatoes, peeled, cubed and steamed
• 1 tsp. Garlic, minced
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 tsp. EV Olive Oil
• 1 ½ lbs. Lean Ground Turkey
• 1 medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 1 cup Peas, frozen – defrosted
• ½ Summer Squash, sliced into ¼ slices
• ½ Zucchini, sliced into ¼ inch slices
• ½ cup Mushrooms, sliced
• ½ cup Carrots, sliced
• 1 rib Celery, sliced
• ½ tsp. Garlic Powder
• ½ tsp. Onion Powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Steam sweet potatoes until soft, or a fork pierces through easily and place in food processor. Add garlic powder, onion powder, pepper to taste, and puree until smooth. Put aside. 

2. Heat 1 tsp. EVOO in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey, salt and pepper to taste, and stir often to break up meat. Cook until no pink remains, about 8 minutes. Drain and discard fat; set turkey aside.

3. In same pan, heat remaining 1 tsp. EVOO on medium-high heat. Add onion, summer squash, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, celery, salt and pepper to taste, and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are soft; about 8 minutes.

4. Add turkey back to pan, and stir into vegetables. Add peas. Transfer mixture into a 13 x 9 in. baking dish and cover with whipped sweet potato, spreading out over entire mixture. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

You may find that this is a bit different in texture from your traditional recipes, but the flavor is great.  It's also packed full of veggies, proteins, and the proper amount of carbohydrates per serving.  I hope you enjoy your cleaner version, and always remember that you can substitute different veggies per your preference. If you don't like mushrooms, substitute a veggie you do like.  There's no sense in eating foods that you don't enjoy!

Maria

I NEED CHOCOLATE!!! Clean Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Almond Frosting

We all know that you can still over eat when you're eating clean.  Although I acknowledge this entirely, I also realize that when we have a sweet craving, it's going to need to be satiated, with either something good, or something bad.  So let's discuss here, the something good.  I was inspired by an Instagram post by @drcharo that was a zucchini brownie with frosting, and man did it look delicious.  My versions didn't come out quite as thick as hers, as I chose to use maple syrup as a sweetener rather than a stevia or coconut sugar blend, but they were super delicious all the same.  I will admit here that I certainly licked the spoon more times than I should have, and this probably led to some extra calories I didn't need.  Hey!  At least it was all natural sugars!!!

INGREDIENTS:
Brownies:
- 1/2 cup Almond or Peanut Butter
- 1 whole Egg and 3 Egg Whites
- 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 cups Shredded Zucchini
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup

Frosting:
- 1/4 cup Coconut Oil
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/4 cup Chopped Almonds




DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine peanut butter (or almond if that's what you chose), eggs, cocoa powder, baking powder, zucchini and maple syrup in bowl, and beat on medium speed until well combined.  If you choose to use a powdered sweetener the batter will be on the thick side. If you used maple syrup, it will definitely be thinner in consistency.
3. Place batter into 13 x 9 greased (or parchment lined) pan. Spread the mixture around to make it even throughout the pan.
4. Place in over at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until center is cooked through.  Remove from the oven and let cool.
5. While the brownies are cooling, put coconut oil, almond milk, and cocoa powder in a microwave safe bowl.  Place in microwave and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until coconut oil is melted.  Remove from microwave and add the honey to the bowl.  Whisk well, until all ingredients are combined.  Add chopped almonds and mix well.
6. When brownies have completely cooled, pour frosting over the top and allow to set.
7.  Enjoy!

All of these ingredients are all whole, there is no refined flour and every sweetener is natural.  This is not to say that they do not contain a decent amount of sugar, but as long as you don't overindulge, you're getting your sweets fix and getting awesome super foods like coconut oil, zucchini, peanut butter and cocoa.  Dr. Charo's recipe has a little less sugar than mine, but she claims that her version has 89 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of carbs and 6 g of protein per brownie with 15 total brownies.  I cut mine into 18, and didn't factor in the additional sugar here, but it's certainly not a lot higher than what she posts (as long as you don't eat the whole pan).