I have always loved my Mom's Shepherd's Pie. It is a comfort food from my childhood and something I rarely cook myself. Now that we try to eat healthier and avoid processed foods; it doesn't help that it is often made with tinned vegetable and tomato soups. I decided to try and make a healthier version using only real food options. This is what I came up with and it's pretty darn good :)

Serves 6

Ingredients:
4-6 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
I tbsp olive oil
1 lg onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 lb ground beef (or chicken or turkey)
Salt & Pepper
Onion powder
Garlic powder
2 cups frozen peas and carrots
1 cup frozen corn
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (14oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp butter
Salt & Pepper
3 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven 350 F.

Boil potatoes in a pot of boiling water until softened, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over med heat. Add onions and celery. Cook until veggies start to soften, stirring occasionally. When veggies are softened add ground beef, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. Stir to combine. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Turn the heat up to high and brown beef. Once beef is browned turn heat back down to med and add frozen veggies. Stir and heat through. Add diced and crushed tomatoes. Stir and heat through.

When potatoes are cooked, drain and mash. Add butter, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Add meat mixture to a casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes. Top potatoes with shredded cheese. Bake about 15-20 minutes. Turn oven to broil and broil until top has browned, about 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes. Makes 6 nice-sized servings.

Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
Italian sausage, sliced (optional) (edited to include Feb 2017)
Olive oil, for frying
1 large green pepper, diced
3 celery sticks, diced
1 onion, diced
14 oz can diced tomatoes (or about 8 roma tomatoes, diced)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (less if you don't like spicy)
1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika (or regular paprika)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
1  1/4 cups dry brown rice (20 minute variety)
1  1/2 cups chicken broth
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions:

Fry the chicken in a large fry-pan with the olive oil over med-high heat until chicken starts to brown. Add sliced sausage, if using, and cook a few minutes.

Add green pepper, celery, and onion. Cook for a few minutes until veggies start to soften. Add tomatoes and all the seasonings. Stir in dry rice and broth. Cover tightly and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to med-low and cook, covered, about 20 minutes, until rice is cooked through; stirring once or twice during cook time.

Add the shrimp, stir and cover. Cook shrimp about 2 minutes, until they are pink. Don't overcook the shrimp.

Stir and serve.

Note: This is Hubby's recipe. He loves his food spicy and smoky; me, not so much. I would reduce the cayenne pepper to 1/4 tsp instead of 1/2 tsp. You can also use regular paprika instead of the smoked or a mix of both.

I usually do not follow recipes exactly and never make anything the same way twice. I made a point to record what I put in this chili so I could share the recipe. Feel free to change anything to suit individual tastes. This is not overly spicy, I don't like food too spicy but Hubby adds hot sauce to it afterwards.
Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground chicken
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp dried jalapeno
Salt & pepper to taste
2 medium onions, chopped
3 bell peppers, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
10 medium tomatoes, chopped (or 1  28 oz can diced)
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup salsa
1 (14 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 oz) can pinto beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp chili powder
Crushed red pepper 
Garlic powder of fresh minced garlic.

Directions:
Heat oil in large pot. Add chicken, cook and brown on med-high heat. Season with 1 tbsp chili powder, dried jalapeno, salt and pepper. Cook meat and break into small pieces. When chicken is no longer pink add onions and bell peppers, cook over med-high heat until veggies soften, about 10 minutes; stir as needed. Add remaining ingredients: corn, tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, salsa and beans. Add the remaining spices; chili powder crushed red pepper and garlic. Cover, reduce heat to med-low and cook for 1 hour, stirring a couple of times throughout.
May top with cheese or sour cream and add additional chili powder and/or hot sauce if you like it spicy. Leftovers can be frozen.

Note: this can be made in the slow cooker as well. Brown your meat first in a fry pan with oil. Season with 1 tbsp chili powder, jalapeno, salt & pepper. When cooked and browned add it to slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients. Set slow cooker to low for 6-8 hours.
Update Aug 2015: Cook for 6 hours in slow cooker; if need to cook for longer I would add another can of crushed tomatoes as it tends to dry out when cooked for 8 hours or longer.

Note: Realized after I made this I forgot to put in the garlic. I love garlic and would have normally added a couple of cloves of minced fresh garlic to the meat while cooking.
In addition: to make this more "real food" friendly I used canned crushed tomatoes that only had 1 ingredient - tomatoes. I did use fresh tomatoes instead of using a large can of diced. I didn't use a chili seasoning package as I normally would, instead I just added some individual spices. I did use canned black beans (only because I tried dried pinto not realizing even after soaking they will not soften in tomato based recipes, sigh, so had to pick those out afterwards), the canned black beans only had 3 ingredients - beans, water & sea salt. It seems many of the no salt added bean brands I found had calcium chloride added; things that make you go hmmmmm. Finally, the salsa I used only has 5 real food ingredients as well.