A few days in...initial impressions

Ok, it's been a couple of days of BP coffee in the morning followed by this optimised Paleo/Intermittant fasting eating plan, how's it been going?

Well to be honest, I don't know how long my body will take take to adapt to the changes fully but it's been ridiculously easy so far. The Bulletproof Coffee is a stroke of genius. I'd never been a big coffee drinker before...mainly because Nescafe tastes horrible. But I'm actually enjoying that coffee. The butter and coconut oil gives it a richness that's hard to be described but one cup leaves me full throughout the day. And the food I'm actually enjoying. Lamb chops are always delicious, The Sweet Potato Pie (see my recipe on a previous post) will make a nice treat now and again and I'm enjoying the vegetables (I must share my Bulletproof Guacamole recipe with you at some time, it's delicious.).

My supplements have arrived in the post this morning so I'll be taking them from today as well. I'll try and log any improvements I feel from them as well.

Quite frankly, this feels like the easiest dietary plan I've ever been on, everything tastes great (it helps that I'm a decent cook), the food going in is nutritious, I'm not feeling hungry throughout the day and I feel a bit more energetic, so all in all it's a decent start. I've no doubt there'll soon come a time where I miss something daft like toast but for now all systems are go!

Recipe - Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

I made this bulletproofed version of a British classic yesterday and it proved such a success it's even persuaded my Dad (who has type 2 diabetes) to make changes to his diet. It's a great dish at this time of year when the weather is getting colder and makes a far healthier version of comfort food.

This made enough to serve 6 people but you can scale down the amounts if you want to make a smaller one. I've used imperial measurements here for convenience.

Ingredients

2lb Ground (Minced to us Brits!) grassfed Lamb (you can substitute this with Beef if you wish to make the similarly delicious Cottage Pie but keep that meat grassfed)
6 average size sweet potatoes (This was mainly due to the size of the casserole dish, if your dish is a smaller circumference less Sweet Potatoes are needed for the top)
Half tablespoon of Tomato puree
Half Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
Salt
2 dried Bay Leaves
Rosemary
3/4 pint Lamb Stock
1 egg yolk
Tablespoon Butter

The main preparation is done in a slow cooker, you can do this in your casserole dish in the oven on a low heat if you don't have one.

Method

First up I put the Lamb in the slow cooker and place in the Tomato Puree & Worcestershire sauce in with it, give it a good stir and make sure it's well mixed. Add your Lamb Stock and Bay Leaves and leave it to cook in the slow cooker on the low setting.

I did this just after my morning BP coffee and let it slowly cook through the day. Just before you're ready for the final stage and the sweet potatoes are ready add some chopped rosemary (just a small amount, it's quite a strong herb) and season to taste with salt. Place this delicious filling in your casserole dish.

Now onto your sweet potatoes. You're going to make a mashed potato topping to go on top of that lambfilling. You could peel up your sweet potatoes and boil them until soft enough to mash or you could use this method which is easier and probably preserves more of the nutrients.

Put your sweetpotatoes on a baking tray and bake at 300°F (160°C or Gas Mark 2). Bake them until you can poke them with a knife and it easily slides out. With your sweet potatoes now baked remove the tray from the oven but keep it on at the same temperature for the final stage. Now scoop the baked potatoes out of their skins and into a bowl. Grab your favourite mashing implement (fork, traditional masher, ricer, mouli...it doesn't matter) and blitz those tasty buggers up. Now while that potato is still warm add in your butter and egg yolk mix until it's all evenly distributed. Add salt, taste it and some more if necessary.

Now for the final stage. You need to top that Lamb filling with your sweet potato mash. Now you can be as fancy  or rustic as you want, be it making fancy patterns from a piping bag or spreading the mash out and running a fork across the surface to create ridges, it up to you (I'm a ridge man myself). With this done all that's left is to place the dish back in the oven and let it cook until a slight crust has formed.

With that all done, serve it up alongside the vegetables of your choice. I did it with sprouts, blanched then baked on a gentle heat (don't overcook the...al dente is what you want. Then tossed with the finest grassfed butter and a little salt.


So there you are, if you're looking at a new way to include Sweet Potato in your diet or are hankering for an old classic to banish those winter blues give it a go.

Any feedback appreciated...and if you try it, let me know what you think.

Coming soon...Sweet Potato Lancashire Hotpot.