Instant Pot Stew

I know I've been stewing it up here lately between the Crock-Pot and trying it in the oven... but I just had to give stew in the instant pot a try.  This is essentially my slow cooker recipe that I adapted to the IP.

The beauty of stew is you are in charge of throwing in the veggies you like or keeping out the ones you don't like.  Hate mushrooms?  Keep them out.  Love peas?  Throw them in.  (I would wait and add these in frozen in the saute while thickening at the end so they hold some texture and don't get mushy on you.)

Let's Get Crafty!

Get all the veggies in the pot:
2 potatoes, chopped (I chop mine big so they stand up well to the pressure cooking)
4 mushrooms, sliced
3 stalks of celery, sliced (leafy stems and all!)
1 cup baby carrots (already small and ready to be dumped into the pot)
1 onion, diced

Put the meat in first then spread the seasoning packet over the top.  
Add the beef broth and then give everything a good stir.
1 1/2 pound roast, diced into bite-sized chunks (absolutely buy stew meat already cut up, if you would rather!  This roast was 3.49 per pound and I just couldn't bring myself to spend an extra 2.25 per pound for them to dice it for me.  I certainly buy it up when I can catch it on sale.)
1 package onion soup mix
2 cans low sodium beef broth

Cook beef/stew for 40 minutes.

Once the pressure is released and the pot is open- change the setting to saute.  Whisk together 2 tablespoons cornstarch and some cold water to add to the pot and help thicken it up.   Stir for a couple minutes until thickened and then you are ready to eat.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Cheeseburger Soup in the Instant Pot!

Here's a recipe where I took what I would have done on the stove and adapted it for the instant pot.  I LOVE that I can saute, pressure cook and then saute again all in the same pot.  One pot equals less work equals happy family.

Let's Get Crafty!
Turn the instant pot to saute and add:
1 lb hamburger
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
Saute for about 6-8 minutes until the hamburger is cooked through

Add to the party:
1 1/2 cups carrots, diced (these were our final ones we just pulled from the garden.  They made it through the middle of November!)
4 red potatoes, peeled and diced on the larger side
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 cans low sodium beef stock

Pressure cook on the manual setting for 5 minutes.  Yep - just five minutes.  The meat is already cooked and the onions and celery are already softened some.  I put the carrots in last with the potatoes to help them hold their texture.  I'm not a fan of mushy carrots.  Timing worked like a charm.

Let's make it cheesy and creamy by switching the instant pot to saute and adding in:
1 cup milk you have on hand for drinking, we've switched to 2% here lately
8 oz velvetta, diced small
Let this simmer for a few minutes until the cheese is melted

Thicken up the soup:
Whisk together two tablespoons of cornstarch and some cold water.  Stir into the IP and stir until thickened.  This should only take a minute or two.

Serve with your favorite mix-ins.  Mine are cheese and bacon today... because... well... cheese and bacon can only make something delicious taste even better.  Green chiles would be another great addition but we didn't have any thawed.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

One Pot Sausage and Pasta

Well... it could be one pot.  But I was trying to bust it out faster and sometimes having the veggies cook with the turkey sausage takes longer... So tonight this was a two pot meal.

Let's Get Crafty!
Saute together until softened:
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, diced (I used half of an onion because it was so big)
1 yellow pepper, diced (or whatever you have on hand.  I like yellow because I seem to get the kids to noticed them the least and they eat them on accident and like them)
After a few minutes when the moisture had been absorbed - I added about 1/2 cup chicken stock to keep it simmering.  (This is my trick to using less butter and oil.)

Fry on both sides are beautifully browned:
1 tablespoon EVOO
13 oz Turkey Smoked Sausage link (I like Hillshire Farms)  I like to cut the link in half and then slice it.  It looks fancier sliced on the diagonal... depends on my mood.  Tonight I was trying to bust out dinner after football practice and cut it as fast as I could.

Combine the veggies, sausage and the following - bringing to a simmer:
1 1/2 cans low sodium chicken stock (1 full can and the other half of the 1/2 can was added to the veggies)
1 can rotel, mild (drained)

Once simmering add the pasta and cover:
I love the Campanelle pasta.  Pasta feels like it tastes even better to me when it looks fun.  These cook to al dente in 10 minutes.  From a 1 lb package I used about 2/3.

As a general rule with pasta and water when cooking it in the dish... best to have not enough water and add more than too much.  You can always add more stock but if you drain the excess water then you are also taking out all that wonderful caramelized flavors from the meat and veggies.

Let's add that creaminess:
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/8 cup fat free half and half (whatever you like to put in your coffee)
Stir these in once the pasta is done and the pan has been removed from the heat.  This really gives the dish a Wow!

It's the long Thanksgiving weekend and I came across this little gem that I completely forgot to share!  Here this is talking about football practices and we've humped into basketball practices now.    This recipe is an awesome go to on a weeknight when you don't know what to make for dinner and have forgotten to defrost any meat.  I like to buy the turkey sausage when it's on sale a keep one on hand in the fridge to cook up in a pinch.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great Saturday!

Turkey Fun!

Are you still looking for something to take or add to your Thanksgiving celebration?  It doesn't get much more fun or festive than making this little guy.  This picture is a couple years old... but I just love it and had to share.  My nieces and parents put this together.

No fancy recipe here! Just use whatever meat and cheese you like.  We even took extra care to cut out some feet and a nose with cheese.  Then we grabbed a couple olives from the veggie tray to use for eyes. 

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you all have a blessed day with family and friends.

French Toast Casserole

Here's a fun recipe to jump start the holiday season for a morning where you want to sit and enjoy sipping your coffee and playing with the kids while breakfast is baking away in the oven.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love that it's all about food with family and friends.  I must admit that I've already started putting up my Christmas decorations.  And guess what!?!?  I love it.  I have both Thanksgiving and Christmas up in our house right now.  I don't believe holidays should be mutually exclusive.  If it makes you happy... do it!

The kids love french toast and I love being able to make something the night before and put it in the oven while they are still sleeping in the morning so it's hot and ready to eat when they are.  I'm not a fan of dishes in the morning and love my sink to be empty to start the day - making breakfast the night before also helps achieve that secret goal.

The first time I can remember having french toast casserole was at a church breakfast over the last year or so.  It was so good that I ate 3 pieces!  I've read a lot of recipes that include cream cheese and some with pumpkin.  'Tis the pumpkin season.  I'm tempted to try  adding some pumpkin- but not today.  Today was meant to get a basic recipe going.

Let's Get Crafty!

Spray 9x13 pan with non stick spray 

Toss into the prepared pan:

6 large sandwich hard rolls, broken into bitesize pieces (You could use sandwich bread here but I like the texture difference you get with the rolls.)

Whisk together the filling:

8 eggs

2 cups lowfat milk 

1 cup half and half

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

3 teaspoons vanilla 

4 tablespoons maple syrup (I warmed this a little bit in the microwave to help it whisk well with the others)

Pour the filling over the bread.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning - let the dish sit on the counter while waiting for the oven to preheat to 350.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.  I added some more warmed maple syrup to mine.  It would also be very pretty and tasty to sprinkle on some powdered sugar.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great day!

Texas Ranch Chicken Casserole

This is an oldie but goodie from the Six Sisters' Stuff blog.  This recipe was made on a night where we were running behind and kept running into obstacles getting dinner on the table.  This recipe is pretty close to theirs with some small adjustments.

Emily and I went to the grocery store after work and didn't get home until 6:30.  Needless-to-say she was starving and couldn't wait another hour for dinner.  I bought a rotisserie chicken at the store and settle on what to make until we made it home.  For Emily - I pulled off some chicken and she ate that with some yogurt and crackers.

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat the oven to 350

Saute the veggies until tender in a large nonstick pot:
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic (add this in the last minute)

Add to the veggies - stir until combined and warmed:
3 cups shredded or diced chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup (reduced sodium)
1 can cream of celery soup (reduced sodium)
1 can rotel
1 tablespoon chili powder

Put the casserole together:
It a 9x13 baking dish layer as follows:
- 2 cups tortilla chips (tortilla strips would have been better... but we had one tortilla.  Don't you love it when you come home from the grocery store and already need to start making a grocery list?!)
- 1/2 chicken mixture
- 1 cup of cheese
- Repeat one more time

Bake for 30 minutes uncovered.  Increase temp to low broil and bake another 5 minutes to make that cheese absolutely delicious!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Shredded Beef for Tacos

Beef roasts were on sale and I wanted to mix it up with something different, since we recently had beef stew.  Here's a quick and easy crock-pot recipe that I threw together in 5 minutes.  I actually very gently threw it together because Emily was taking her nap after church and needed a good one today since yesterday's wasn't so good.

Let's Get Crafty!

Throw into the bottom of the slow cooker:

1 onion, diced

1 can beef broth (reduced sodium)

Get the meat ready by mixing this together in a medium sized bowl:

2 1/2 lbs beef roast, cut into medium sized chunks

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons of taco seasoning 

Arrange the meat on top of the onions and broth

I'm cooking mine on high today for 5 hours.  This could easily be turned into a freezer meal.  In that case - I would cook it all day on low for at least 8 hours.  

Coming out to cool before shredding and

adding back to the broth

I made some mashed potatoes to serve with this today along with roasted acorn squash.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great day.

Quick Chicken Cacciatore

This was a quick and easy recipe that had the kids eating in just over 30 minutes.  The secret trick here is using frozen chicken nuggets.  This recipe is based on the Pampered Chef recipe in the Main Dishes book.  It falls under the Weekly Express menu on page 21.

Rather than using pasta for myself - I microwaved spaghetti squash.

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat the oven to 425
Start some water for the pasta (throw a lid on it to get it up to a boil faster)

Start softening the onions:
1 tablespoon EVOO
1 onion, diced extra small
Cook on medium heat for a few minutes.  Add a couple cloves of garlic in the last minute if you would like.  We do because we all really like garlic.  Depending on the brand and type of tomatoes you get - there will usually be some garlic already in it.

Add to the onions to get the sauce simmering:
2 cans Italian seasoned tomatoes, pureed
1 medium green bell pepper, sliced into sticks
5 mushrooms, sliced (about 1 cup)
Simmer for about 10 minutes on medium low to low

1 lb pasta
The spaghetti was ready to go into the pot while the sauce was simmering.  We've been doing a combination of regular barilla pasta and veggie barilla.  This time I did half of each and it went over with my husband and the kids really well.

20 chicken nuggets
Also while sauce is simmering the chicken nuggets were ready to go in the oven.  Bake according to directions until nice and crispy.

The original recipe incorporates partially thawed chicken patties in the sauce to warm up.  I like to bake chicken nuggets in the oven to keep them crispy and then stir them into the sauce at the very end so they are still a little crispy.

Thanks for stopping!

Beef Stew Hot from the Oven

I usually make beef stew in the Crock-Pot and wanted to make it using a Crock-Pot cast iron dutch oven that my husband got me for Mother's Day.  I've actually been wanting to try this for a while and was excited to have a Sunday afternoon at home to do it.

Every good stew needs something to sop up the delicious sauce and we had some jalapeno cheese bread we toasted in oven.  The kids had french bread.  They both were deliciously crispy and rounded out the meal.

Let's Get Crafty!

Getting the meat going:
2 1/2 lbs stew meat
4 tablespoons EVOO
2 bay leaves
Working in two batches - Heat a couple tablespoons of EVOO over medium- high in the dutch oven and cook 1/2 the stew meat along with one bay leaf.  We're wanting to brown the meat on all sides and get some flavors going.  This took about 5 minutes or so for each batch.

Once both batches are done - set the meat aside and continue to use the same dutch oven with the juices left behind from the stew meat.  There are so many delicious flavors left in the pot that we are going to work with and incorporate in our stew.

Add to the dutch oven:
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Let the onion saute by itself for a few minutes before adding the garlic and cooking another minute

Give me more flavor!
1 12 oz can light beer (we used Miller Lite)
8 oz can tomato sauce (no salt added)
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 can beef broth, reduced sodium

Add the beer in first and stir.  Then add in the remaining ingredients of this section along with the browned beef that's been set aside.  Simmer on medium low for 30-40 minutes.  You'll want to get your oven preheated to 325 towards the end of this part.

We need more veggies!
4 carrots, sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 small container mushrooms, sliced
Toss these all into the dutch oven and stir

(We didn't add potatoes today, but you certainly can if you think stew just isn't stew without potatoes.  I didn't put them in today because I wanted the kids to eat up the veggies and not just the meat and potatoes.)

Bake covered in a 325 degree oven for 1 - 1 1/2 hours until meat is tender.

To thicken our stew - I added 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to a small amount of cold water and added it to the pot.  I stirred constantly until it reached the desired consistency on the stove top using medium heat.  This took us around 1 minute.

Thanks for stopping by!  What's your favorite comfort food stew or soup?

Beef & Spinach Lo Mein

This recipe comes from the Spring 2015 Taste of Home magazine Quick and Light.  I don't cook fresh spinach very often and I was excited the kids both gobbled it right up along with the meat and other bright veggies.

Let's Get Crafty!

Getting the meat in some marinade:

1/4 cup hoisin sauce (this is the original recipe amount- I used about 1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound beef round steak, thinly sliced

When I'm working marinade, I like to mix all the marinade ingredients together and then gently add in the meat.  This helps ensure the marinade well mixed.

Cook spaghetti according to package instructions:

6 oz spaghetti (we did half Barilla regular spaghetti and half veggie pasta)

Cook the meat in two phases to help the pan not get overcrowded using 1 1/2 tsp canola oil each batch:

5 tsp canola oil, divided

Use 1 tsp canola oil stir fry the following:

8 oz sliced water chestnuts

2 green onions, sliced

Use 1 tsp canola oil stir fry the following:

1 red chili pepper, seeded and thinly sliced (we used a small sweet red pepper for this)

Then add the spinach to the party and prepare to be amazed by the wilting process:

10 oz package fresh spinach

The way the spinach wilts down amazes me each time.  I always think of a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal early episode where she points out the frozen spinach at the store is a very good buy because of the amount of spinach it takes to yield that small box.  Craziness!

Everything back in the pot and toss together

I had to have the crunchy noodles and chili sauce to finish it off.
This picture shows the color of the veggie pasta a little bit .

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!