I got excited when I found a recipe in my #whole30 book (referenced in other blogs) for Shepherd’s pie. I have never made it before (any version). But before we get started on that, let me go on a small rant!

I recently started a small debate on facebook about yams vs sweet potatoes. The recipe called for sweet potatoes, while the image next to it is orange; the colour of yams. In the store, I picked up “yams” (as the label said) to make it look like the recipe pictured. I completely effed up and didn’t get the orange yams, I got sweet potatoes. It looks like the grocery store is just as confused as I am! This sweet potato/yam issue is not good for someone who is learning to cook and learning about vegetables. I have lost confidence in this area.

Okay, back to my point! The recipe is on page 350 of the cook book. I made mine with lamb (my first twist, which is also quite traditional) and instead of putting this in a 9” X 12” casserole dish, I used a 9.5” X 9.5” dish (my second twist). Interestingly enough, I thought that the recipe would have been a bit too thin in a larger casserole dish.

Finally, I didn’t make the recipe with yams (because it said sweet potatoes!) I used Canadian sweet potatoes instead (the white ones). I also used my hand blender to make the sweet potato into an easy mash.

I got a little cheeky and make a smiley face in my food! This dish made 6 meals and cost about $30 – so about $5/meal (not bad!)

Recipe difficulty (Agata scale) 5 out of 10

Recipe taste (Agata scale) 8 out of 10

Things I would do differently:

• make more meat

• add more veggies, like parsnips and peppers

• use a different shape casserole (would feed a good group of people)