Once again, I have loved finding a Joy Up email in my inbox each morning suggesting that I take life a little slower, be more intentional, and seek happiness in the things I'm already doing.
Sunday, after a day of lounging, napping, and crafting, I moved slowly into the kitchen with my other half and begun to chop and peel, boil and bake. Our soulwork that day was to make a meal full of joy- to cook extra special things, to focus on the food and family.
I cook a lot, we eat dinner together every night. The tv is never on, no one is on the phone or checking anything on the computer. It's our time, and it's sacred.
But, I'm not always as intential as I'd like to be about putting joy into our food. Sometimes, out of necessity, I rush. Sometimes I just make whatever easy meal is on our list, even though I have time, because it's easy.
Sunday it was so nice to cook the onions and ground beef slowly, letting the smell of garlic and oregano saturate the air. It was nice to have someone in the kitchen with me, peeling those potatoes I was not looking forward to peeling. We didn't get in each other's way, we didn't snap at the kid underfoot who wanted something we had declined, we drank coffee and talked about the last news story we'd listened to.
It was joy.
Then, when it was all said and done, we ate
which I'm quite sure might just be a new favorite. It's my version of Shepard's Pie with a twist.
The husband thanked me over and over, the big kid conceded, tried it, and gobbled it up, and the girl, well, she really liked the bread.
The great thing about soulework is it's not just for today or day nine. I can remember to "be" in my kitchen, with our food, and be in JOY at dinner time, anytime.
Shepard's Pie (Sage style)
Ingredients:
Olive Oil for browning onions, garlic, and ground beef
1 Onion
Chopped garlic (I used TB chopped)
1 lb of ground beef
frozen or fresh peas
2 butternut squashes roasted, with pulp scrapped out
2-3 lbs of potatoes (I used red and white- about 8)
milk and butter for mashed potatoes/squash
cheese
salt, pepper, oregano
worcestershire sauce
How to do it:
**I don't measure- so you'll have to eyeball it to follow along
1. Squash was cooked a couple days prior- you could by frozen pureed, bake it before hand, or omit- although it was awesome with it! so I wouldn't omit.
-To cook- slice squash in half, cut out seeds, and bake face up on a cookie sheet at 350 for an hour. Once it's cooked and cools, scoop it out of it's shell.
2. Saute/cook onion and garlic with spices until golden
3. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink
4. Add a couple of swirls of worcestershire sauce (1/2 TB maybe?)
5. Add peas- I did about 1/2 cup
6. While this is cooking, preheat oven to 450 and bring potatoes to a boil. Once cooked, make mashed potatoes like you would normally- I use an immersion blender b/c I don't like lumps. Add squash to potatoes while blending. They turn a beautiful bright orange.
7. Add as much cheese as you desire.
8. Pour meat and onions into a baking dish and top with mashed potatoes/squash. Bake 30 minutes.
9. When done, sprinkle more cheese on top and put back in until melted.
LOVELY!! Let me know if you try it!
