Primal Shepherd's Pie + Long distance date night tip

In a long distance relationship, you have to come up with little things to keep the romance alive.  Our little "thing" that we came up with is Skype cooking date nights!  Every Friday (unless one of us has something scheduled), we choose a recipe (we usually try to pick something primal or paleo), and we Skype with each other while we both make the same dish.  It's the best of all worlds, really - we get to spend quality time with each other, and at the end of it all, we get a great meal!

On Thursday, Tommy decided that we should make primal shepherd's pie, with sweet potato mash.  I looked around everywhere and couldn't find a recipe.  I called my mom and asked for her regular mashed potato recipe, and then continued from there.  My recipe is listed below - I think Tom added a few extra spices to his (rosemary & cinnamon)

For the sweet potato mash:
2 sweet potatoes
1-2 tbsp butter
salt & pepper
1/4 cup (or less) of milk of your choosing (unsweetened/unflavoured almond or coconut, or regular milk)

For the meat:
1 lb. ground beef
olive oil
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 cup peas & carrots (I just use frozen, but if you prefer fresh, go for it)
Spices to taste (I used salt, pepper & garlic powder)

Optional:
shredded cheddar cheese (about 1/4-1/2 cup)

Method:
1. Begin by washing, peeling and cubing your sweet potatoes.  Add them to a sauce pot filled with water. Bring the water to a boil, and boil until sweet potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes ought to do the trick).

2. While the potatoes are boiling, stir fry your meat.  Cook until it's done, then drain it & set aside in a dish.  At this point, you can probably set your oven to preheat to 350.

3. Strain the sweet potatoes and add to either a large bowl & hand mash, or a kitchenaid mixer bowl.  Add 1-2 TBSP butter, salt & pepper to taste.  Mix on low.  Add milk a drop at a time until you get the right consistency - be careful not to add too much at once, like I did!  Continue mixing until the consistency looks right.

4. Clean the frying pan.  Add olive oil, and your chopped onion.  Stir fry until soft.  Add your peas & carrots until cooked.  Add the meat back to the pan.  Add spices of your choosing (I went with salt, pepper & a bit of garlic powder).

5. In an oven-safe dish, add a layer of the meat-veggie mixture.  Then (Tommy's secret ingredient time!) add a thin layer of cheese.  Add the rest of your mixture.  Then top with the sweet potatoes, and add more cheese on top if desired.

6. Add the dish to a preheated oven, and cook for about 15-20 minutes (cheese should be melted, and the top a little browned)

Serve & enjoy!

Zucchini Sweet Potato Fritters

I LOVE Pinterest! I'm pretty sure I use Pinterest nearly every night to inspire my dinner creations... and I'm glad to know that I've in turn inspired lots of other people's dinners through my Primal Living board!
This recipe is a riff on something I found on Pinterest - Zucchini Fritters by AlexandraCooks.com. As soon as I saw these, I knew I wanted to try them... but I thought I'd make them a little more primal friendly, and see if I could make them using only ingredients in the house.  I cut the amounts too, because it was only me eating dinner, and I didn't think they would reheat very well at work, where we only have a microwave.

Fritters:
- 1 zucchini, grated
- 1/4 of a sweet potato, grated
- sea salt
- pinch of almond flour
- 1 egg
- sage, oregano, (or your choice of spices) salt & pepper to taste
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup red onion
- 1 tbsp butter

Tzaziki:
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp finely chopped red onion
- salt to taste
- squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

1. Grate your zucchini and sweet potato (I used a mandoline) and place in a colander.  Add salt to draw out the moisture.  The original recipe asks you to allow the vegetables to drain for 30 minutes, but I found that even after that time, they were still retaining A LOT of moisture.  What I did was grabbed the vegetables in my hands and squeezed them out, repeatedly.  After most of the liquid was squeezed out, I pressed it between sheets of paper towels 3-4 times, to draw out additional liquid.  I added the almond flour (seriously, just a little sprinkle) and let the veggies sit in the colander while I mixed the tzaziki.

2. To make the tzaziki, add all the items to a bowl and mix well.  Taste to make sure the salt is okay, then chill in the refrigerator until the fritters are done.

3.  Add the egg, spices and lemon zest to a bowl and whisk.  Once incorporated, add the vegetable mixture, plus the red onion.  Stir it all together.

4. In a large frying pan, melt the butter and form three (if you followed my measurements) circles from the batter.  Flatten them with a spoon, because they won't spread very much naturally.
I had it set to medium-high heat (around 6 on the dial) and wait for them to brown.  It may take a little longer than you expect, but check them every couple of minutes.  I think mine ended up taking at least 7-10 minutes on each side.

5. Once they're cooked, serve with a side of the tzaziki, and enjoy!

Sweet Fauxtato Skins!

So, I found this recipe floating around Pinterest, so I used it as a base, and decided to run with it!  Here's my somewhat primalized, but totally delicious version of the "Cheese and Bacon Potato Rounds"

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• sea salt to taste
• 3 slices bacon
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded cheese
• green onions (optional)
• Greek Yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Slice your sweet potato into 1/2 inch slices (this is ONE large sweet potato on the tray - it was huge.  Adjust measurements accordingly if your sweet potato wasn't quite this big.  I also sliced up a few wedge/fry shapes).  Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with olive oil or add add additional melted butter to the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking (not sure if this is necessary, but I did it, and they didn't stick, so I'll recommend it!).  Brush both sides of the sweet potatoes with butter, and pop in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes begin to soften/brown.

3. While the potatoes are cooking, take three slices of bacon and slice into small pieces.  Fry up your bacon, and then set it aside.  You can shred your cheese now too.

4. Flip your potatoes over and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes.  They should be browned and slightly crispy.  If you have variances in thickness, some potatoes may be softer or crisper than others, but they're all good - just make sure if they're really thinly sliced, that you don't bake them TOO long.

5. When the potatoes are done, top with your shreded cheese, and then bacon.  (I actually did a little bit of cheese, then bacon, then the rest of the cheese, so that the bacon melted right in).  If you have onions (I didn't!), add them now too.  Pop them back into the oven for about 2 minutes, just for the cheese to melt. 

6. Serve! 
I liked mine with plain Greek yogurt for dipping.

The entire recipe took about 45 min from start to finish... but that may just be because I suck at slicing sweet potatoes!
Let me know if you try it!

P.S. The ones that were sliced like fries and brushed with butter came out PERFECT as sweet potato fries too!  Not mushy and full of flavour.