As I write this I am sitting in my office looking out the window waiting for the Snowpocalypse to hit, aka Winter Storm Juno. When did we start naming winter storms? It seems strange to me. It seems like a way for weather people to get excited when it is not hurricane season. I guess they are predicting this storm will be pretty impressive and since I live on the coast of CT…well…it’s gonna be a long night. I suppose we will see how this goes, by tomorrow this post will either be silly because we didn’t get hit with anything, or I will have interesting pictures to share next time!
I’m not sure if you are aware or not but Sara and I both decided to start 2015 off right by doing another Whole 30. Whole 30 is a great way to get your eating back on track after an overindulgent holiday season.
Well my Whole 30 started off great. I was having a much easier time of it it than I did the first time around and was settling in for an easy month. All that changed when I woke up one morning, went downstairs to eat my usual breakfast of a banana with almond butter…but when I tried to eat the banana I discovered my mouth wouldn’t open! Now to say I was a little perplexed was an understatement. I have never had trouble opening my mouth wide (who doesn’t like big sandwiches right?) let alone trying to eat something as small as a banana. Well…one trip to the doctor and some muscle relaxers later I discovered I somehow hurt my TMJ joint. Which means what? Nothing but soft foods for me for the foreseeable future. AKA my Whole 30 was over. Yes I probably could have subsisted on pureed vegetable soups, mashed sweet potatoes and spaghetti squash, but I am opting for just doing the best I can, including eating whole wheat pasta. Maybe I will do Whole 30 next month…
The recipe I am sharing with you today is one I started working on during my last whole 30. It came about because I was thinking it would be cool if you could somehow make mini Shepard’s Pies you could eat with your hands? Well, these are the results of all my experimenting. They aren’t exactly Shepard’s Pie anymore, but believe me, you won’t care…these babies are good! Baking them with the mashed sweet potato on top keeps them juicy, yet they are still portable enough you can eat with your hands. Give them a try, I promise you will love them!
Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 onion, minced
1/4 cup carrots, diced fine
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp thyme
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large sweet potato, baked
1/4 cup chicken stock
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
- Spoon the sauteed vegetables into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the ground turkey, egg, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper to the bowl. Mix the ingredients with your hands until well incorporated.
- Spoon the ingredients into a muffin tin greased with coconut oil. Fill each muffin cup a little over halfway full. Should make 10-12 individual meatloaves. Set the muffin tin aside.
- Spoon out the insides of the baked sweet potato into a small bowl. Add as little bit of the chicken stock to the potatoes and use a handheld mixer to whip the potatoes. Continue to add a little more chicken stock as you go, until the sweet potatoes are whipped. NOTE: It is important that the sweet potatoes do not become too wet, so make sure to only add enough liquid for them to whip without them becoming soggy.
- Spoon the whipped sweet potatoes on top of the turkey mixture, making sure to divide it equally between all the cups.
- Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until they are cooked though.
- Remove the mini meatloaves from the muffin tin and serve.
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