Shepherds pie is a staple meal in my household, mostly because it's a great way to use up leftover mixed veggies and mashed potatoes, and hamburger is easy to brown quickly.

In the coming year I want my whole household to eat healthier. Mom is having to go on cholesterol meds again and her sugar is too high. My fiance and I are too fat around the middle. I don't want to end up diabetic, and I recently had some tests run that put me in the high risk category.

So anyway I came up with a healthier version of shepherds pie last night. I think it could be improved but for a first try, it turned out really tasty and is much lower in carbs, fat, sodium, and calories.

Brown 1 pound of lean hamburger with half a minced onion, and 3/4 cup frozen peas. Add some Lowery's seasoned salt if desired. Not too much tho. A little garlic and thyme goes well too.

Use one can of carrots or steam a bag of frozen carrots in the microwave. Dump that into the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer your hamburger mixture over that, careful to leave out any grease that cooked out of the burger.

Instead of using canned soup or a homemade sauce, spread a can of creamed corn over top the burger layer. It's much less sodium and fat.

Then instead of mashed potatoes with milk and butter, I used a bag of the microwaveable riced cauliflower with garlic and herbs. I found it pretty cheap at Aldi. I think I'm going to start shopping there, they have simple affordable good quality selection. I get overwhelmed at large supermarkets. Mashed cauliflower would have been better but I didn't want to add milk or anything. Then I sprinkles just a little low fat shredded cheddar on top and baked at 350 for 15 minutes.

I hope to try more healthy swaps and get back to eating like I did years ago. It was healthier and cheaper.