Chicken and Dumplings

Posted on January 11, 2017 by erin

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Date: January 11th, 2017

Recipe: Page 98-99 of the Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook

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Time to table: One million years – so much for INSTANT!!! Real time: more than 95 minutes. The estimate was 55 minutes. I hate recipe time estimates.

Servings: Maybe 5-6 adults

Modifications: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Thighs would definitely have been more flavorful, but this was what we had and was still plenty tasty. I also only used one onion, 2 seems like it would have been completely excessive. Oh and I only used 3 chicken breasts, but they were pretty big. I also didn’t put all the dumpling dough in there, just because it seemed like the pot was getting too full.

Erin: Like

Ben: Like

Kids: Annie and Charlie loved it. Luke gave it 2 VERY enthusiastic thumbs DOWN but also seemed to have no problem eating it. He just repeatedly told me he likes his bread OUTSIDE the soup.

Notes: This particular meal was absolutely no faster or better in the Instant Pot. I should have just made it on the stovetop, but wanted to try this recipe. I have so far not been that impressed with the speed of the Instant Pot – some meals/things are definitely slightly faster, but it takes awhile to get up to pressure, and pre-heat, which is never figured into the recipe time, so it still ends up taking easily an hour to prepare most things, if not more. This still definitely was a great recipe, and was very very good, but the Instant Pot didn’t do much to save any time.

I’d probably add a few herbs and some garlic if I made this again, it was a tiny bit bland.

Posted in carrot, celery, chicken, cornmeal, cream, instantpot, milk, one dish meal, onion | 1 Comment

Sweet Potato, Sausage, and Kale Soup

Posted on January 10, 2017 by ben

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Date: January 8th, 2017

Recipe: Page 80 from “The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook“:

Photo Jan 10, 8 38 16 PM

 

Time to table: 75 minutes

Servings: This will feed our family of 5 for 2 dinners

Modifications: Used twice as much sausage as it called for (20 oz instead of 10) cause that’s better. I used ground sausage instead of sausage links.

Erin: Love

Ben: Love

Kids: The kids surprisingly loved this, even with the kale, which I had expected they’d object to. We gave Charlie some of the sweet potatoes before mashing them.

Notes:

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Posted in garlic, instantpot, italian sausage, kale, one dish meal, onion, potato, soup | Comments Off on Sweet Potato, Sausage, and Kale Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Posted on January 9, 2017 by ben

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Date: January 2nd, 2017

Recipe: http://flavorrd.com/2014/03/chicken-tortilla-soup/

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: This will feed our family of 5 for 2 dinners

Modifications: Didn’t make the fried tortilla strips and just used tortilla chips instead because we have kids. I also made some white rice to serve it over cause that seemed appropriate.

Erin: Like

Ben: Like

Kids: They thought it was fine, Charlie seems ravenous these days and eats most things.

Notes: One of our first meals in the Instant Pot!

Posted in black beans, cheese, chicken, cilantro, corn, ginger, instantpot, Mexican, onion, rice, soup, turkey | Comments Off on Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tuna Casserole

Posted on October 5, 2016 by erin

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Date: October 5th

Recipe: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tuna_casserole/

Time to table: 20-30 minutes prep, 20 minutes baking

Servings: This will feed our family of 5 for 2 dinners

Modifications: No mushrooms, but I added more broccoli than called for. I also put some cheese on top before I added the crushed potato chips. I also added garlic powder and a bit of crushed red pepper because it seemed kind of bland.

Erin: Love

Ben: Like

Kids: All seemed to like it, Charlie was a love, but he loves everything. Annie didn’t like the chips?!?! Who is she?

Notes: I was wanting classic tuna casserole a la Tuna Helper, and this fit the bill, and definitely exceeded my Tuna Helper memories 🙂

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Posted in broccoli, cheese, onion, pasta, tuna | Comments Off on Tuna Casserole

Orzo salad with roasted cauliflower, spinach, feta

Posted on October 5, 2016 by erin

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Date: September 26th

Recipe: http://www.annies-eats.com/2016/09/15/orzo-salad-with-roasted-cauliflower/

Time to table: 20-30 minutes

Servings: This fed me for 4 lunches and probably could have stretched to 5

Modifications: None

 

Erin: Love! I was getting sick of it by day 4 though.

Notes: I don’t think anyone else in my family would have enjoyed this, but I love feta, spinach and cranberry based salads and this was a great lunch all week.

Posted in cauliflower, feta, fruit, lunch, pasta, spinach | Comments Off on Orzo salad with roasted cauliflower, spinach, feta

Black bean, corn, tomato, avocado salad

Posted on June 19, 2016 by erin

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Date: June 17th

Recipe: http://www.annies-eats.com/2013/07/01/black-bean-corn-and-avocado-salad/

Time to table: 20 minutes or so

Servings: Depends on if it’s a side or a main dish I guess? 4?

Modifications: Just used frozen corn and microwaved it a bit. Also, kind of ran out of cilantro so we could have used more of that.

Ben: Meh. Pass due to his distaste for tomatoes and plain avocados.

Erin: Love

Charlie: (new rater!) Love

Notes: Whenever we are serving food to other people, I love that I can actually make things with tomatoes because 3/5ths of my family does not like them. This is a super simple, easy and healthy side dish and a great summer salad. Loved it and might make some for work lunches again. I keep giving Charlie raw tomatoes and figure if I keep it up, maybe there will be another person in my family who likes them! He may have even gotten some raw onion and been okay with it. This kid is like a garbage disposal at this age!

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This was after he’d finished the rest of this salad, also had green beans, blueberries, and then the mac and cheese and just dipped his fingers in a blob of hummus and licked it off his hands. Love this stage 🙂

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He’s a good motivator for these 2 to try different things too! Not like they are terrible eaters, but they have their strong preferences by this point for sure.

Posted in avocado, black beans, cilantro, corn, lime, tomatoes, vegetarian | Comments Off on Black bean, corn, tomato, avocado salad

Fish tacos with mango salsa and avocado cream

Posted on June 19, 2016 by erin

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Date: June 4th and June 17th

Recipe: http://www.annies-eats.com/2015/04/24/fish-tacos-with-mango-salsa-and-avocado-cream-sauce/

Time to table: Tough to say, because we were making a lot of other stuff at the same time – I’d say probably 30 minutes for just this part of it.

Servings: 4

Modifications: Added a jalapano to the salsa. The first time we served this, I also had shredded cabbage out, didn’t do that the 2nd time. I think the avocado cream makes this dish awesome.

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Notes: We made this twice for an adults dinner after the kids went to bed and it was SO good. The first time, we served guac, queso fundido, and strawberry margaritas, and then tres leches cake. The second time, we again had regular margaritas, guac, and then a black bean/corn salad that I’ll post next that was awesome. What is REALLY amazing is how awesome it is to cook in our newly completed kitchen! Yesss.

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Posted in avocado, cilantro, fish, jalapeno, lime, mango, Mexican, red pepper, yogurt | Comments Off on Fish tacos with mango salsa and avocado cream

Brussels sprouts risotto

Posted on March 14, 2016 by erin

Pork chops, risotto and green beans

Date: March 13

Recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/risotto-with-brussels-sprouts-and-browned-butter/

Time to table: Over an hour (no exaggeration – with chopping the brussels sprouts and onion it’s really probably 90 minutes. Risotto is always time consuming but the added steps of browning the butter and sautéing the brussels sprouts before the risotto even starts take awhile)

Servings: As written, a side dish for 4

Modifications: I doubled this recipe to serve 6 adults because I wanted leftovers. Added some vermouth as the first liquid added after the rice.

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie & Luke: Wasted on them – Annie “didn’t like the leaves” and Luke gagged on it.

Notes: I forgot to post this recipe the first time I made it – this time I was slightly rushed so didn’t fully let the butter brown (also obviously did not use “European butter”) but I still think it tasted great. I used more brussels sprouts than were called for too. It doubled well, and fit nicely in my dutch oven. This is a great side dish for pork! These pork chops were made in the sous vide and were just ok.

Posted in brussel sprouts, cheese, onion, parmesan, rice, vegetarian | Comments Off on Brussels sprouts risotto

Mexican Layer Casserole

Posted on March 2, 2016 by ben

Fajita casserole

Date: February 28th

Recipe: http://elefantitasalegres.blogspot.com/2016/02/mexican-layer-casserole.html

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: Dinners and a several lunches

Modifications: Didn’t use the frozen vegetables and used carrots, onion, garlic, and corn instead. We mixed the black beans in with the rice too. Next time I would mix the enchilada sauce in with the rice, or at least pour it on top of the rice before the chips and cheese so it mixes in better.

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie & Luke: They didn’t hate it.

Notes: This was pretty good and easy enough that I’d make it again, I love having plenty of leftovers for lunches so it made for a good Sunday night meal.

Fajita casserole

Fajita casserole

Posted in black beans, carrot, cheese, garlic, green pepper, greens, Mexican, one dish meal, onion, red pepper, rice, spinach, vegetarian | Comments Off on Mexican Layer Casserole

African Peanut Soup

Posted on February 22, 2016 by ben

African Peanut Stew

Date: February 21st

Recipe: http://relishingit.com/2011/10/20/african-peanut-soup/

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: Two dinners and a couple lunches

Modifications: I used kale instead of spinach because I had some I needed to use up. The recipe calls for 2 cups of crushed tomatoes, I just used a single 28 oz can, not sure how that compares. I threw in a couple green onions we had too.

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie & Luke: They didn’t hate it.

Notes: This was much better than I had anticipated and thickened up to almost be like chili. The peanut butter, spinach (kale), and cilantro really give this a different flavor than the soups we normally have around here.

Posted in carrot, celery, chicken, cilantro, garlic, ginger, green onions, green pepper, greens, kale, lime, one dish meal, onion, peanut butter, red pepper, soup, spinach, sweet potato, tomatoes | Comments Off on African Peanut Soup