Pilgrim's Pie

I made a few modifications to an online recipe to find yet ANOTHER use for our vat of instant potatoes. Pilgrims ate turkey, right? Apologies for the half-eaten photo, I just wasn't fast enough! BTW, my 9-month-old loved picking this up and eating it.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
  
• 1 pound ground turkey
  
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• 1 medium onion, diced
  
• 3 medium carrots, diced
  
• 1 small butternut squash, diced
  
• 1.5 tablespoons tomato paste (AKA ketchup)
  
• 1.5 cup chicken stock, divided
  
• 1.5 teaspoon dried thyme
  
• 1.5 teaspoon dried rosemary
  
• 1.5 teaspoon dried parsley
  
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 4 servings of your favorite instant potatoes (may involve butter and milk)
  

Instructions

Chop all those pesky veggies and set them aside for later. Shred your cheese. Don't worry, this is the most time-consuming part.
Place a large skillet over high heat and with 3 turns of the pan, cooking oil, about 3 tablespoons. Once the oil starts to ripple, add the ground turkey and break it up into small pieces as it cooks, using the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Cook until the turkey is nice and brown, about 8-10 minutes.
While the meat is cooking, prepare your mashed potatoes. Make them just a little more watery than the instructions say.
Add the veggies to the meat and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, chicken stock, spices (be sure to rub them to release flavor before you add them), salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 10 more minutes, stirring every now and then.
Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
While the veggies are cooking, stir about half of the cheese into the mashed potatoes until it's all melted.
Once the veggies and meat are finished, use them to cover the bottom of a large, oven-safe baking dish. Spread the cheesy potatoes to cover the turkey mixture evenly.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the potatoes.
Place in the oven and bake until the top is golden brown, about 10 minutes.