Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot

I recently did a month-long "pantry challenge" where I challenged myself to try to use as much as I could from the freezer and pantry, minimizing trips to the grocery store and then only for fresh produce as needed.

Following that rule, I made vegetable soup! It was so easy and we made grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it. By cooking in the Instant Pot, it tastes like it cooked all day but really it only took 45 minutes from start to finish.

If you don't already have an Instant Pot, you can use a regular slow cooker or just make it on the stove and let it simmer a while. But really, you should get an Instant Pot. ;)

Vegetable Soup in the Instant Pot

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 stalks Celery, diced
3 Carrots, sliced
2-3 cups of Vegetables (I used green beans and corn since I had them on hand, plus some shredded zucchini I found in the fridge. I add peas if I have them, and sometimes diced potatoes if I'm not worried about carbs)
2 cans Diced Tomatoes
2 cups Stock (I used chicken stock from the freezer, but would use water if I needed to make it vegetarian)
2 cans V-8 Juice
Herbs and Spices such as Oregano, Basil, Marjoram, Parsley, Thyme, Bay Leaf  (I added all of these, probably a tablespoon of the first 4 and a teaspoon of thyme, plus 1 bay leaf)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Push the Saute button on the Instant Pot, and saute the onion, garlic, celery and carrots in olive oil for a few minutes until the onions are tender.

Turn the IP off and add the rest of the ingredients. Give it a stir, place the lid, turn the valve to "sealed" and push the Soup button. Mine automatically set for 30 minutes and I thought that sounded good. Dinner is done!

Beef Stew (gluten free)

This is one of our favorite meals and everyone in the family loves it! It's easily adaptable for different diets. Feel free to drop or sub different veggies if you are trying to reduce carbs. Some recipes coat the beef in flour before browning, but I skip that part and don't miss it, so this recipe is even gluten-free.

I love to make this in my Instant Pot. It cooks so fast yet tastes like it simmered all day.

Beef Stew

1 lb Beef Stew Meat (any roast cut into chunks is fine)
2 Tbsp Oil of your choice (I use refined coconut oil or olive oil, veg or canola is fine if you use those)
1 Onion, diced
2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 cups Beef Broth (or water)
1-2 cans Diced Tomatoes
1 quart V8 Vegetable Juice
3 cups Veggies, fresh or frozen. Classic options would be Carrots, Celery, Potatoes, Green Beans, Peas, and Corn. Alternative options could be Zucchini, Sweet Potatoes, or Rutabagas.
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Marjoram
1 Bay Leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instant Pot directions: 

Push the "Saute" button and brown all sides of the beef in the oil. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and close the pot. Make sure the valve is closed for pressure. Push the "Meat/Stew" button and let the Instant Pot do all the work for you!

For Stovetop Cooking:

Heat oil on medium and brown meat on all sides. Add onions and saute until they soften. Add beef broth, scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze it, and let simmer while you prepare the veggies.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer. The meat will get more tender as it simmers so it's nice if you can let it cook for at least half an hour or longer. Taste it for any needed salt. Depending on your V8 and Beef Broth, you may need to add some. Enjoy!

This can be made in the crock pot, but I recommend not skipping the first section where you brown the beef and cook the onions with it. After that point, when you add the veggies and herbs, you can throw it all into the crock pot on low for several hours. It also freezes really well. Sometimes I will get a bulk amount of stew beef and make a large batch of Beef Stew to freeze.

Chili

We make chili pretty often, even when it isn't cold out, but it's one of our favorites when the weather is chilly. So warm and satisfying and hit heats up well for lunch the next day.

I don't make it spicy at all, instead letting each person add spices and sauces to increase the heat level. This way it's always safe for my kids to eat (and me, since I am not a big fan of super spicy!)

Chili

1 lb Ground Beef
1 Onion, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
2-4 cloves Garlic, minced
4 cups V8
2 cups Beef Broth
2 cans Diced Tomatoes
2-3 cups Beans, cooked (or 2 cans, rinsed and drained)
2-4 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Cumin
2 tsp Basil
2 tsp Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown ground beef with chopped onions and peppers. Add garlic toward the end of cooking. Drain fat if desired.  Add remaining ingredients and heat to boiling, then cover and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Serve. We love it with sour cream and shredded cheese.

You can also make this in the crock pot - begin the same, just put the meat mixture and remaining ingredients into the crock pot to heat through and cook for several hours. It'll be ready when you are. :)

Barbecue Chicken in Slow Cooker

This is a twist on cooking a whole chicken in the slow cooker, only this time I covered it in barbecue sauce. It was delicious and we used the leftovers for sandwiches.

Barbecue Chicken in Slow Cooker

Place whole chicken in slow cooker. Cover the chicken in barbecue sauce. Add about half a cup of water and let it cook all day on low. Easy!

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

2 Tbsp Butter
1 small Onion, minced
2 cups Ketchup
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Apple Juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Molasses
2 Tbsp Honey
2 Tsp Dry Mustard Powder
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper, optional (leave it out for a "mild" sauce, and add it for a "medium" sauce)

Melt butter and saute onion until tender. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Store in the refrigerator. I would think it would last for a month or so... except in our house it'd be gone way before that. :)

Barbacoa-Style Shredded Beef

We recently had a couple of Chipotle restaurants open and we went a few times. I always got the burrito bowl with chicken. My husband always got this mysterious thing called "barbacoa". He kept encouraging me to try it but I declined, enjoying my safe chicken. Finally I tried it and I haven't ordered chicken since. Love it. Totally addicted. Had to figure out how to make it myself or go broke eating at Chipotle. This is DELICIOUS and tastes just as good. :) Hooray!

Barbacoa-style Shredded Beef

Start with a chuck roast. Anywhere between 2-4 lbs is fine. I usually go for bigger because I like leftovers to make more meals. Cut it in half and trim most of the visible fat. Place in slow cooker or instant pot.

In food processor or vitamix, puree the following:

1/2 Onion
1/4 cup Lime Juice

1/4 cup Tomato Paste
4 cloves Garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Cloves or Allspice

Pour the puree over the roast in the slow cooker. Pour about a cup of Beef Broth on top, and drop a few Bay Leaves.

Cook on low for 7 hours. When it's done, shred it with two forks and put it back into the amazing sauce in the slow cooker that was created during cooking. Keep on low for another couple of hours to really soak up the flavor of the sauce. 

Serve! I've had it plain, in a burrito bowl like Chipotle, on a salad, in soup, the list goes on and I will be blogging some of my ideas here in the future. Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Broth

After I cook a whole chicken, I throw all the stuff we didn't eat into a pot (or back into the crock pot!) to cook into broth. Just fill the pot (or crock pot) with water and all the bones, skin, and other bits that were left from the chicken. Bring to a boil and then turn it down to let it simmer for a few hours. You can add herbs or just leave it as is. If you use the crock pot, you can leave it on low overnight.

When it's done, pour it through a sieve into a large bowl. Add ice to cool it before transferring it to your storage containers. I usually use freezer zip bags which are easy to label, and easy to thaw out when I want to use it.

Not only do you get to feed your family homemade broth instead of processed, but you can tell it's full of good gelatin when you refrigerate it, unlike the cartons and cans of processed broth that are always thin liquid.

Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker

I used to think it was a really big deal to cook a whole chicken, but it's really pretty simple and very frugal when you consider that you can get a couple of meals out of the chicken meat, plus several quarts of homemade broth.

It couldn't be any easier - just put the chicken in the slow cooker, seasoned however you like (I just use a little salt and pepper since I do different things with the meat and don't want it to have one particular flavor). Add a small amount of water (like 1/2 cup) and let it cook all day on low. It'll be ready when you are, falling off the bone.

I take all of the meat off and either serve it with veggies for dinner, or save it all for other recipes. You can also freeze it if you like.

Tomorrow I'll talk about making broth with the leftover bits you don't want to eat. Don't throw those away!

Cooking Dry Beans in Slow Cooker

My 2013 "resolution" (though I hate to call it that) is to be more conscious of spending. Food is easily our biggest expense, since we get a lot of fresh food and organics. One of the big ways I save on our grocery bill  is by cooking dry beans instead of buying cans. I tried it on the stove several times (and several ways) and hated it, but then I discovered using the crock pot is EASY and I can make up a bunch ahead and freeze it. Then when it's time to cook, I just pull a package from the freezer, the same as if I were grabbing a can from the pantry. Remember that unless you add salt to your beans (I don't) you'll need to adjust the seasoning in your recipes.

Add dry beans to slow cooker - mine is a 6-quart and I cook 2lbs at a time.

Fill with water until about an inch from the top. Let sit overnight (or all day). Drain and rinse, then pour back into the slow cooker and fill with water again. You can cook them on low overnight (or all day), or set it high for a while and then to low if you want them to go a little faster.

Drain and rinse, then portion them out and freeze or use right away.

Sugar Free Mustard Barbecue Sauce

For the first time ever, I made my own pulled pork!  Then I wanted some barbecue sauce for it, but since I'm really trying to cut down on sugar, I thought I'd try making my own. I love the mustard style bbq sauce (is this South Carolina barbecue? I can never keep that straight) so here is my recreation. I loved it and so did my husband, who is very picky about his bbq. :)

Sugar Free Mustard Barbecue Sauce

1/4 cup Mustard
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
8-10 drops Liquid Stevia or Honey, Agave or other sweetener
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
2-3 tsp Worsecestershire Sauce

The pulled pork couldn't have been easier: simply put a boston butt in the crock pot with a little water and salt and pepper, and cook on low for about 8 hours.  Then shred the meat.  Done!

Crockpot Lasagna

All I can hear from the other room is, "Wow, this is yummy!"  "Mom, this is so good!"  And my favorite, "Can I please have some more?"

These phrases are music to a mama's ears, especially coming from the mouths of two somewhat picky kids who don't voluntarily eat many veggies.

I adapted this recipe from CrockPot365 and it was so, so good.  Probably the best lasagna I've ever tasted, actually.   I'm sure the original version is great, but here's what I did, mostly because I used what I had available at the time.

Crockpot Lasagna (for a 6-qt crock pot)

1 box of uncooked regular Lasagna Noodles, any brand (not the quick cooking kind)

1 large container of Ricotta cheese, or half Ricotta, half Cottage Cheese

1 egg

1-2 jars (or equivalent homemade) Marinara Sauce (check back later for my recipe full of pureed veggies)

2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded

 1/4 cup Water

Optional: Meat, pre-cooked

Optional: Chopped Veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, spinach, etc. 

If using both ricotta cheese and cottage cheese, you may want to blend it up.  I used a stick blender, and I also added a small handful of raw baby spinach.  It turned a very faint shade of green which went unnoticed by my veggie-haters.  Then mix in the egg.

If using meat, mix it into the marinara sauce before you begin.

Pour a layer of sauce into the crock pot.  Add a layer of lasagna noodles, breaking them up as necessary so they fit.   Smear some of the ricotta mixture on the noodles, or plop a little along if it's hard to smear on broken noodles.  It doesn't have to be perfect.

Add a layer of chopped veggies here if you are using them.

Sprinkle some shredded mozzarella and parmesan.

Repeat layers: sauce, noodles, ricotta, (veggies), shredded cheese, etc.  End with a layer of sauce on top.

Pour water over the top and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Serve!  And be prepared to refill your kids' plates at least once, if not twice!  :)