Spaghetti Squash in the Instant Pot

I love hard squash, but cooking them always required some planning since they take a good 45 minutes baking in the oven. The Instant Pot makes this job so quick and easy!

Spaghetti Squash cooked in the Instant Pot

1. Place rack in instant pot and add a cup of water.

2. Cut squash in half and remove seeds. I have heard of people skipping this step and just cooking it whole, but I would rather deal with the "squash guts" raw than cooked and even more slimy, so I remove them first. My chickens love them. :D

3. Place the halves in the Instant Pot. I am able to fit two small squash in my 6-quart pot! Close the lid and close the seal.

4. Press the "manual" button and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes, then release the pressure.

5. Scrape out the squash with a fork. If you prefer your squash to be softer, you can cook another minute but I like it to be more firm and not mushy.

I love to eat this with marinara sauce, or sauteed with butter and garlic. I also make the Loaded Spaghetti Squash Casserole from the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook and it is amazing.

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!

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes - delicious and simple, but kind of a pain to make. How many times have I burned my fingers trying to remove hot potatoes from hot water? Then there's the variability of cooking time - you want them done but not TOO done, and then you don't want them to sit in that water and end up with pasty mashed potatoes. It can be a bit stressful.

No more of that! Using the Instant Pot makes it so easy. Cooking the potatoes in the instant pot with the milk makes it so simple, and there's nothing to drain! I hope to never boil potatoes for mashing again.

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

4lbs Potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1/2 cup Milk (I used Buttermilk)
1/2 tsp Salt (to taste)
1 tsp Pepper

Toss the peeled, quartered potatoes into the instant pot. Add milk, salt and pepper. Close the lid, turn the seal so it's closed, and push the Manual button and adjust the time down to 10 minutes. When it's done, release the pressure. Add butter to taste, and mash with a potato masher right in the pot. Done!

If you prefer to whip your potatoes, you can still keep this a one-pot dish and use your hand mixer right in the instant pot insert. :)

Spinach Ricotta Bites

I found this recipe on Weelicious YEARS ago and I still make it regularly. It's one of my favorite breakfasts and snacks. My daughter will eat them too, which is a huge win. I get 24 minis but you can also make it in a regular muffin tin and have larger servings, just adjust cooking time accordingly.

Spinach Ricotta Bites

2 Tbsp Butter
1 Small Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Large Eggs, Beaten
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 10 Oz Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained, or you can cook fresh spinach in with the butter and onions and then drain it
1/4 Tsp Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 4 minutes until tender.
3. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute then set aside to cool.
4. Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
5. Once combined, stir in spinach, salt and cooled onion and garlic mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into lightly greased mini muffin cups.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden on top.
8. Serve.

Easy Shredded Chicken

How many times do you want to make a recipe and realize one of the ingredients is cooked chicken? I used to sigh and toss those recipes aside, as I knew I didn't have time to do double cooking - who wants to cook chicken and then cook a whole meal? I also hated dicing or shredding the hot chicken. I always burned my fingers doing that, or if I waited until it was cool I could dice it but shredding it was a total pain.

Enter my kitchenaid mixer. I'll never forget the day I realized I could use the paddle attachment to shred my chicken for me. What a life saver! I can throw the hot cooked chicken breasts right in and the mixer shreds them up easily. The key is to do quick bursts of the mixer, don't just turn it on full blast or it'll throw the chicken right out of the bowl. Put a few breasts in, pulse it until you like the level of shredding, then dump it into a large bowl to the side and do the next few breasts. Repeat until it's all shredded.

SO for a while after this realization, I would boil boneless skinless chicken and then shred it in my mixer. Then I would do large batches in my crock pot, which was great, but it took all day to cook them. Still better than boiling, but not fast.

THEN I got my Instant Pot. Hello! Now I don't even have to deal with boiling chicken anymore! I can cook 5 lbs of chicken at once - I just throw it in the instant pot with some water, set it to pressure cook, and walk away.

I actually keep cooked, shredded chicken in my freezer now so I can use it in recipes as needed. I even keep some seasoned with taco seasoning. So convenient!

Whichever method you use to cook your chicken is fine. I highly recommend the Instant Pot for cooking chicken because it's so fast and easy but if you don't have one, go ahead and use the crock pot if you have time, or boil it on the stove if you are in a hurry.

Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef and Quinoa

This recipe makes a big batch of stuffed peppers. I threw it together when I accidentally bought more bell peppers, not realizing I already had some, so I wanted to use them up. You can halve the recipe if you want to make less, or freeze half of the filling for a quick dinner another day. My daughter likes the filling by itself so I regularly keep filling in the freezer for her.

Stuffed Peppers

6-8 Bell Peppers, prepped for stuffing. Remove the tops, rinse out the seeds, and remove the white bits from the inside. Arrange them in a baking dish so they will stand up.

1 1/4 cups Quinoa

2 cups Water

1/2 tsp Salt

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Onion, diced

3-4 Carrots, shredded or diced

2 14oz cans Tomato Sauce (or 1 28oz can)

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 tsp Oregano

2 tsp Basil

1 cup Cheese, shredded - you can use Cheddar, Colby Jack, Mexican Blend, whatever

Rinse quinoa, then add to water and 1/2 tsp salt in a pot with a lid. Bring to a boil uncovered, then turn the heat down to low and cover with lid. Let it simmer for 12-15 minutes until you don't see much liquid left. Turn off the heat and let it sit with the lid still on for another few minutes. 

While the quinoa is cooking, brown the ground beef. Add the onions and carrots, and saute until softened. 

When quinoa is done, add tomato sauce and seasoning, as well as the meat and veggie mixture. Mix well. 

For each pepper, put a pinch of cheese in first. Then layer in some of the meat/quinoa mixture. Then cheese, then meat. Pack it in so the pepper is totally stuffed. End with meat mixture on top.

Bake at 350* for about 20 minutes, until the pepper is tender. Top each pepper with additional cheese and serve.

Lasagna Roll-ups

Lasagna is such a crowd pleaser. It's a lot easier to make a huge pan of lasagna with the Oven-Ready noodles, or fixing a Crock-Pot full of lasagna, so if you are feeding a big family, I recommend going one of those routes.

But if you want to have smaller portions available, for just 1 or 2 dinners or even lunches, these are fantastic. They are a little more work on the front end, but the convenience of the portions is worth it. Plus you are guaranteed to get the right proportion of noodles and cheese, which is really important to me. I don't like noodle hogs leaving me with too much ricotta. ;)

This is also a fantastic dish to make ahead and freeze. See directions below!  The pictures below show a double batch of roll-ups.

Lasagna Roll-ups

Ingredient List for a single batch:

1 box regular Lasagna Noodles

24 oz (1.5 lbs) Ricotta Cheese 

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

3/4 cup Mozarella Cheese, shredded

1 Tbsp Basil

1 Tbsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

Marinara Sauce - you can use jars of sauce, or make it from scratch. Here is my "super easy" recipe that starts with a pizza sauce base. I have been adding lots of veggies to it lately though (diced onion, bell pepper, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, etc.)

Step 1. Boil Lasagna Noodles according to package directions. I use my giant stock pot for this job, so the noodles have plenty of room to move around in the boiling water. If you are using a regular pot, you may need to cook the noodles in smaller batches. I was able to cook 20 noodles (the whole box) in my big 12 qt stock pot.

While the noodles are cooking, lay out aluminum foil and give it a quick spray with oil to keep the noodles from sticking to it. When the noodles are done, lay them out on the foil. Be careful, they will be hot!

Step 2: Combine all filling ingredients. I use my Kitchenaid Mixer for this. Spread filling over each noodle. 

Step 3: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll up the noodles and place them seam-side down on the tray. It's ok if they are close but you don't want them to be touching. Freeze.

Step 4: Once frozen, package the rollups into freezer bags. I just put them all in one gallon-size ziploc and pull out however many I want to cook at a time. Freeze.

To cook, just put them in your baking dish, top with marinara sauce, and bake at 350° until bubbly, about 30 minutes. Top with mozarella cheese and bake for an extra 5 minutes until melted. You can make 1 or 2 in a small dish, or cook a larger batch for the whole family.

Optional: Put in your family's serving size in a ziploc, add 2 cups of marinara sauce to each bag and freeze. For my family I would put in 6 rollups, since we make 2 for each adult and one for each child. When ready to cook, cut away the bag, put the contents into a baking dish, cover with foil and bake at 350° until bubbly. It will take close to an hour this way. Top with mozzarella and bake an extra 5 minutes, then serve.

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!

Jalapeño Poppers

Poppers are one of my favorite appetizers. I'm not a huge fan of super spicy food, so these little gems can be made mild or spicy, depending on your preference. They also reheat well so they can be made ahead or you can make a bunch at once for leftovers.

Jalapeño Poppers

15 or so fresh Jalapeño Peppers, sliced in half and all seeds removed. Rinse them out if you want to remove more of the spice.

1 pkg (8 oz) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 cup Mozarella Cheese, shredded

2 Eggs
3 Tbsp Milk


1-2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
1 tsp Paprika
1 1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Oregano

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
Dash Cayenne if you like

Preheat oven to 350*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix cream cheese with shredded cheeses in a bowl. Mix eggs and milk in another bowl. Mix bread crumbs with seasoning in a third bowl.

Assembly Line:

Spread cheese mixture onto jalapeño halves - the amount depends on the size of the pepper. You can mound it up a little bit but you don't want too much or it will just melt and spill all over when it bakes.

Dip each stuffed pepper in the egg mixture, roll in bread crumbs, and then set it cheese side up on the prepared baking pan. Continue until all peppers are ready. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

White Sauce Pizza with Basil and Tomato

The family was having homemade pizza, but I wanted something different. One of the many things I love about making homemade pizza dough is that you can divide the dough into individual pizzas, and even make more dough ahead if you have more people to feed.

I took my ball of dough and rolled it out. Then I topped it with a homemade white sauce, fresh basil leaves, sliced tomato, and mozzarella of course. So good!

White Sauce for Pizza

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3-4 (or more) cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Chicken Fajita

Meals like this remind me that I don't have to have a tortilla to enjoy Mexican food. It's delicious and satisfying, and best of all low-carb! Plus if the rest of your family insists on the traditional meal, they can use the same filling in a tortilla, so you can avoid the carbs for yourself without having to make two different meals. Score!

Chicken Fajita

Cooked Chicken - I just boil some chicken breast until done, then shred or chop.  You can also use leftover chicken if you happen to have cooked extra.


Tomatoes or salsa
Cheese, optional
Sour Cream, optional

Veggies of choice:
Onion, sliced or chopped
Bell Pepper, sliced or chopped

You can also use zucchini or squash if you like. Anything goes!

Mix cooked chicken with fajita seasoning of your choice, or just some garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder.

Saute veggies in butter or olive oil until done, about 15 minutes.

Top shredded chicken with sauteed veggies, chopped tomatoes or salsa, and cheese if desired. Serve!

Homemade Barbecue BBQ Sauce

My husband combined some recipes into this little gem and it fast became a staple in our house. We use it on meatloaf, grilled chicken, crock pot chicken, and many other dishes. He likes it spicy so we always have both hot and mild versions in our fridge.

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. :)

Layered Mexican Dip

 
This is our favorite GAMEDAY food!

Mexican Taco Layer Dip

1lb ground beef
Taco seasoning (use a packet or make up your own with cumin, chili powder, etc.)

Beans, optional - Black Beans, Refried Beans, whatever beans you like, or skip them

2 cups Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt or a combination
Taco seasoning (one packet's worth)

Tomatoes, diced and/or Salsa
Lettuce, shredded
Cheese, shredded (cheddar, monterey jack, colby/jack mix, whatever you like)

Green Onions, optional

Brown ground beef. Drain, add 1/4-1/2 cup of water and the taco seasoning. Stir well and let thicken. If using black beans, you can mix them in.

Mix taco seasoning with sour cream or yogurt. Spread into the bottom of a 13x9 inch casserole.

If using refried beans, you can add them here.

Layer on the ground beef, and then the tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and green onion. Add olives if you like. Anything goes!

Refrigerate if not eating right away. Serve with chips, or on a salad.

Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad

This salad goes perfectly with Jamaican Jerk Chicken.  It's cold and refreshing, colorful and not unhealthy. And it tastes amazing!

Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad

2 white or yellow Potato, peeled and quartered
2 Sweet Potato, peeled and quartered
1 cup Corn (thaw if frozen)
2 Cucumbers, chopped
1 Red Onion, diced
1 Red, Orange or Yellow Bell Pepper, chopped

Dressing:
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
4 Tbsp Lime Juice
6 Tbsp fresh Cilantro, chopped
2-3 clove Garlic, minced
6 Tbsp Olive Oil
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Cook white potatoes in boiling water for 10 minutes, then add sweet potatoes and cook 15 min more. When they are cooked, let cool and chop.

In large bowl, combine dressing ingredients and then add veggies, stirring to coat. Chill for an hour if you can so the flavors can meld. Serve.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Marinade

My husband compiled some jerk chicken recipes and came up with this. Delicious!We love to serve it with Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Marinade

1 medium Onion, peeled
1 small Red Onion, peeled
1 Jalepeno Pepper, seeded if you don't want it too spicy
2 cloves Garlic, peeled
3/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Tamari or Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Vinegar
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Lime Juice
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Red Pepper
1 tsp ground Cloves
1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 Tbsp fresh Cilantro

*optional*1/2 tsp Frontier Caribbean Citrus Seasoning

Blend all ingredients well. Marinate chicken pieces at least an hour. This amount of marinade will cover 2 breasts and 4 drumsticks easily.

Grill chicken until done. :)

Manicotti

You can use any pasta for this - manicotti, jumbo shells, or lasagna noodles. If you use lasagna, cook them and lay them out, spread the cheese mixture down the noodle and roll them up.
 

Manicotti

1 pkg Manicotti, cooked according to package directions (maybe one minute less)
1 15 oz container Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, grated (plus 1 more cup for serving)
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Oregano
1 quart Marinara Sauce (I make it up ahead and freeze it; a jar of sauce also works but it probably costs more!)

Preheat oven to 350*. Cook pasta according to package directions, only take them off about a minute early and drain.  Spray a 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray.

Mix ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses with the egg and herbs. Spoon into cooked pasta, and set into prepared pan. Pour sauce over all and bake for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly.

If serving immediately, top with additional mozzarella cheese. Put it back in the oven for a few minutes to melt if desired.

If freezing, portion the manicotti (and make sure you get sauce for each one, too) into freezer-safe containers and freeze. To serve, thaw and bake until warm, and top with mozzarella cheese.

For a super easy and quick marinara sauce, take some pizza sauce and add diced tomatoes and sauteed veggies, and cooked ground beef if you like.

Chicken Noodle Soup

There's nothing like a bowl (or mug!) of chicken noodle soup when you aren't feeling 100%. Homemade bone broth helps boost the immune system, too.

Chicken Noodle Soup

4 cups Chicken Broth (click here for how I make mine from scratch)
1 cup Cooked Chicken, chopped or shredded (if you cook a whole chicken you can use the meat and make the broth from it too)
1 Onion, diced
Garlic (optional - I add it if we are getting sick, 1-4 cloves depending on your taste)
2-3 Carrots, sliced
1 Tbsp Dill
1 tsp Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Egg Noodles, cooked

In a medium sauce pan, heat some broth on medium heat and cook the onions until translucent. If you're using garlic, you can add it here. Throw in the carrots and seasoning and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the broth, bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, until the carrots are done.

Cook noodles separately and when you're ready to serve the soup, put a spoonful in the bottom of the bowl, and ladle the soup over the noodles. This will keep them from soaking up too much liquid and getting mushy, and you can save the leftover soup and noodles (separately) to eat another time.