Happy April Blogger friends!!! 😏

I have been away for a little while handling all of life's challenges, but I am back to share my kitchen mishaps and cooking journey with you all!

This past month has tested me in all sorts of ways! Emotionally, mentally and physically! But I am ready to start April with a fresh outlook and move forward one day at a time, the best way I know how. MEAL PREP!

I have really let my meal prep fall by the wayside, so that was the first thing I did to kick off April right! I ordered my groceries online.. (still amazballs 😏) and after an effortless trip pick up my goods I was ready to rock and rolllllll!

I love zoodles sooooo much, so I decided to prep Pesto Chicken with Zoodles! 5 glorious days of zoodle goodness, and I. CANT. WAIT. to dig in at lunchtime today! (after my workout of course).

Pesto Chicken with Spiral Zucchini (zoooooodles) 😏

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 container pesto (about 1 cup)

4-5 medium zucchini

3 Tbsp EVOO

S&P to taste.

THATS ALL! This is one of those meals that is healthy for your wallet too!

I am slowing becoming more comfortable with pan frying chicken, so I decided to try and make my chicken this way even though all I wanted to do was bust out my Instant Pot!!! I cooked these babies slow and low. Initially browning the outsides in the hot olive oil, I covered them and let them cook at a lower temp for about 30 minutes before I felt they were cooked fully. While my chicken was cooking, I got busy spiraling my zucchini, and boy am I out of shape

I set those on a plate, washed out the pan (who wants zoodles cooked in chicken juice, YUCK!) and popped in my zoodles with a little S&P and a bit more olive oil! I gave the pan a few stirs to mix up all the seasoning, and then covered them for about 5 minutes to cook. I find that the more you cook, the easier it is to get the consistency just right!

That was all! It was time to assemble! I put my zoodles in my containers, cut up the chicken and dispersed evenly and topped with a lovely green heap of pesto! These meals were looking amazing!!! And my apartment smelled like heaven!

I popped the lids on and stacked them up in the fridge ready to go for the whole week! Darn that feels good!! 😏

Along with this easy peasy lunch meal prep, I also prepped 10 hard boiled eggs for breakfast and my snacks for during the day. I usually pack a snack for 10am and a snack for 2pm to keep my metabolism going strong throughout the day! For my morning snack I pack 1/4 cup of grapes (purple of course), 1 halo and a baby bell cheese. It is about 150 calories of sweet and savory goodness!! For my afternoon snack I pack 8 baby carrots, 6 strips of orange pepper and a tablespoon of red pepper hummus, it is amazinggggggggggggggggggg.

I also always pack a bag of skinny pop popcorn, an apple and a banana to eat at my discretion during the day. This feels a lot like the road to success I've once known so well! 😏
The review on this meal prep is A+++. It was soooo good! What a filling and tasty dish to have for the middle of the workday! I am usually looking forward to trying something new each week, but I think this wins for the foreseeable future! If you haven't tried zoodles. Do it. If you haven't tried pesto. Do it. If you haven't tried them together, you haven't experienced a life worth living! DO IT!

Stay tuned to find out what's for dinner! Ill give you a hint, its a vegetarian take on a classic pasta dish! YUM!!

Quick side note... Boone and I have recently given our apartment a mini face lift.. check out how adorable he looks laying on our new rug! 😏😏😏

Happy Monday blogger friends! I'm going to post about something a little different today! A topic that is near and dear to my heart, MEAL PREP!

I love meal prepping! After moving to Omaha, and becoming more and more focused on health and wellness, I discovered the amazing benefit to meal prepping! The thing I love the most is how EASY it makes the rest of the week! Grab and go breakfasts, lunches and snacks that are healthy and guilt freeeeee! YASSS!

After the trauma of 2017, (getting in a car accident, losing my job/starting a new career, and entering into a new relationship) (Ok that last part wasn't traumatic 😏) I had lost ALL motivation to do any sort of meal prepping. I found myself eating like a 5th grader. A sandwich, fruit, chips, POP and a sweet. Or grabbing something easy, and FAST (fast food). Or eating leftovers from the night before. Now these things aren't bad every once in a while, but they just make for a boring, unhealthy and redundant lunch hour. I wanted to be excited about food again! I wanted to feel that sense of accomplishment after prepping a weeks worth of HEALTHY meals!

So I did.

Recently, I discovered the process of ordering groceries online. I have seen post after post from friends and family who have been doing this for a while and I just never took the plunge! Well in the spirit of all the changes I have been making, I decided to DO IT! And let me just tell you, it is LIFE CHANGING! I sat on my butt, meal prepped from Pinterest while simultaneously adding the items I needed to my online cart, chose a convenient time to pick them up and that was it! SO CONVENIENT! I went out to breakfast, did some laundry and cleaned out my refrigerator all before it was time to go get my groceries. (Like there were other people doing my shopping for me? WHAT!) Using the app, I checked in, pulled into one of the designated spots and BAM! There they were! Brought to me, and loaded into my car! WHAT?! REALLY?! Yes. It was like living in a dream. I will never buy my groceries the same way again! If you haven't done this yet, DO IT! I was hesitant at first, but boy am I a believer today!

This made meal prepping a cinch! I was so excited to get to it!

I started by making some Chocolate muffins for Reno. He likes his breakfast to be of the grab and go variety, and muffins are great for that! Baking up enough for him to have 3 a day, my apartment was smelling like Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

As the muffins were baking, I prepped MY breakfast. I absolutely LOVE overnight oats! Not only is it super easy to make but its healthy as well and the options are endless! I decided to do one I've never done before, Strawberry Coconut Overnight Oats with Flax Seeds (for and extra kick of health in the morning!) Its so simple! All I did was mix the oats, cashew milk and plain Greek yogurt together, added a pinch of flax seeds, a dash of vanilla extract and mixed it all up until blended well! I cut up 3 strawberries per serving(5 servings total), and topped them off with unsweetened coconut flakes! That's it! DONE! Popped them in the fridge to chill overnight and it was on to the next prep!

Lunch prepping is really important to me, I typically head to the gym over my lunch hour so when its time to eat I need something healthy, filling and worth the wait! This week I decided to do Bang Bang shrimp with zucchini noodles and couscous! Sounds delicious right? YUP! This recipe was also extremely easy to make! I got a veggie spiral-er (is that a word?) for Christmas a couple years ago, and I LOVE IT! I made my zoodles and heated them up in some olive oil until they were tender! YUM! After those were cooked up, I started on the shrimp and couscous (Boil water, put in couscous..). HOLY BUCKETS! The shrimp needed to be peeled and deveined.. WHAT! You're meaning to tell me that I have to pull them out of their shells AND pull out those gross little black 'veins' (you cant fool me, I know what that is!) UGH! I committed to this recipe, so for the next 15 minutes, I was elbows deep in shells and veins. YUCK! (I'm still having shrimp vein flashbacks..)

The good thing about shrimp is that it cooks up soooo fast! So while those were cooking up, I made the sauce! I mixed together Greek yogurt, hot sauce, sriracha, honey and lime juice! This made for a sweet yet spicy shrimp sauce! Once my shrimp were nice and pink, I tossed them in the sauce until they were nice and coated! Added them to the containers with the zoodles and cooked couscous, and WHAM! Lunch was served! So amazing!  I continue to amaze myself. I am like my own cheerleader, patting myself on the back for a job well done!

The last thing I prepped was my healthy snack! This was the easiest of them all! I have these great little containers (from the container store, the most amazing place on earth!.. besides Target 😏) that fit my snack so perfectly! About 1/3 cup of grapes, 1 halo and a string cheese. Just over 100 calories, this snack is easy to prep and even easier to eat! LOVE IT!

I love love love meal prepping! I was able to meal prep 5 days of breakfasts x 2, 5 days of lunches and 5 days of snacks in under 2 hours! When I ate my prepped meals today, IT FELT AMAZING! I feel like I have my life together when I successfully prepare meals, and STICK to eating them!

Here is to finally committing 100% to the New Year New Me resolution! I have been doing pretty darn good with most of it, but not all of it. TODAY IS THE DAY MY FRIENDS!

Let me give you my 2 second review on the recipes I chose, BOMMMMMMBBBBBB. The lunch was so amazing, I had to refrain myself from licking my container while at my desk. It was THAT good!

Now, go and get your meal prep on!

P.S Meal prepping is exhausting, just ask sleepy Boone!

ITS TUESDAY!

I hope you are all having a FANtastic week so far! Here in Nebraska it is COLD and a BLIZZARD. Like really. Is it time for weekends by the pool yet? I am hoping that my readers are enjoying my posts! If you make it through this next one, leave me a comment and let me know which one has been your favorite so far! Do you like the IP posts? Vegetarian? Or do you like when they are short? Long? LET ME KNOW! I welcome your feedback and am looking forward to reading what your thoughts are! 😉

Todays post is another rendition of 'What else can Bailey make in the Instant Pot?!' (spoiler alert: the options are endless, so buckle up folks!)

I absolutely LOVE Chicken Marsala! Who doesn't? I have made it on the stove top and in the crock pot too many times to count, but last night, I used the Instant Pot and OHHHH BOYYYY was it a game changer! I feel like I am in this new relationship (with the pot) and we are in this honeymoon phase where everything is perfect. I would characterize the relationship with my IP as being, sunshine and rainbows (its THAT good). And because I cant go more than 24 hours without spending some time with my new love, I whipped up a killer dinner last night and you guys HAVE GOT to try this!

The recipe is as listed below, with my edits! 😉

Pressure Cooker Chicken Marsala -

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 chicken breasts, because there is 2 of us...)

S&P to taste (among other spices)

2 cloves minced garlic 

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup Marsala cooking wine (I used regular Marsala wine, because the grocery store sucks)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup cornstarch (I used flower because my mom said I could 😉)

Fresh parsley (optional) (we went without)

Cooked egg noodles (we used rice, because we have to change everything about all recipes)

So now that we have our ingredients in order, lets get pott-ing! Insta-ing!? Hmm, maybe I just created an online phenomenon! Probs not, so lets move on.

Ok, so this recipe is BOMB. It is so easy to do! I filled my pot with some olive oil (the recipe said to spray your chicken with cooking spray, um WHAT? So I did NOT do that because WHAT?). Once the shock of the first instruction wore off (WHAT), I turned it to the sear function, let the oil get hot and I dropped in the chicken breasts (S&P'd) to brown on both sides. This only took about 3 minutes per side which was amazing! While my chicken was searing, I chopped up some goodies (the mushrooms and garlic) so that they were ready to go! Once the chicken was browned to my likening, I added the chopped mushrooms, garlic, Marsala wine, more S&P and some garlic salt! Once that was all in and looking scrumptious, I closed the lid and set it to manual high pressure for 7 minutes. SEVEN MINUTES. Whoa, this thing is nuts.

While my chicken was cooking I got to work on the rice. That took me 30 seconds, so I did some push-ups while I waited.

Just kidding, I cant do a push-up, so I sat on the couch for the longest 7 minutes of my life! DING DING! The dinner bell was ringing! I let it do a natural release for about 10 minutes before releasing the rest. Once I cracked that lid open, I knew we had done good! The smell alone was enough for me to know this was going to be amazing! The picture above does not do it justice you guys. That sauce was bubbling, the chicken was perfect and the steam was ALL OVER my camera lens!

 

I pulled the chicken out, set them on a plate and finished up by returning the IP to sear, bringing the contents to a boil and adding the flour and chicken broth (which I mixed to avoid clump-age). I stirred it for about 3 minutes until thick, returned the chicken to the sauce and let it simmer for a minute. But that was it. I couldn't wait any longer, it was time for dinner! YOU GUYS.

Holy hell this is good. I could not get enough! Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am basically Julia Childe, and those are just the facts.

I had dinner prepped, cooked, eaten and cleaned up all before 6:30! That is unheard of! 2 thumbs up, 5 stars and 100% on rotten tomatoes. You guys need to go out, get an instant pot and make this RIGHT NOW! You will not be disappointed!

Also, just a quick question unrelated to food. How does my cat become a model because COME ON!

Until next time! 

 

 

 

Happy Thursday Blogger Friends!

I have taken a small hiatus from blogging (it has been one heck of a January), but I am BACK and ready to share my latest recipe with y'all. So giddy on up! (How do we feel about the accent? Not my style?) Oh well, HERE WE GO!

Baked Potato Soup. Who doesn't love a good BPS? I have made many variations and have loved it more and more each time! I have made it on the stovetop, in the crockpot, with broccoli, and last night, I made 10 - Minute Baked Potato Soup in the INSTANT POT! WHOA! How does that even work? Potato's cant be cooked under pressure? This sounds like madness.. 

(Narrator) And madness it was.

The recipe is as follows (with my edits of course) :

Baked Potato Soup

5 lb bag of potatoes (I used about 8 Russet Potatoes)

1 large shallot minced (or 3 tbsp. minced onion)(I used onion and threw in some garlic too)

5-6 cups chicken broth/stock (I used stock, less calories)

4 tbsp. butter

1/3 cup softened cream cheese

1/3 cup sour cream (I used plain Greek yogurt)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used Colby Jack because its WAY better)

Dash of S&P and any additional spices desired 

1-2 cups milk (depending on how thin you want your soup) (I added ZERO CUPS.. Stay tuned)

Bacon crumbles (optional)

Green onion (optional)

This seemed easy enough.. (it was not)

I started by searing up the garlic and onion in a little EVOO. It doesn't call for this, but it makes the flavor SO MUCH BETTER. I love this setting on my IP! It eliminates the need to transfer your seared items and locks the flavor in! After searing for about 3 minutes, I added the diced up potatoes and filled the pot with chicken stock until the liquid just covered them.

Popped the lid (and sealed it of course), set it on SOUP for 10 minutes and let it do its THANG. I was so excited to use the soup function. It is really no different from the others I have used, but it is my goal for 2018 to use all 10 settings on my IP ULTRA! Challenge accepted!

It was so simple, I had no clean up and nothing else to prepare so I sat down to relax.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. This thing really lets you know when its done! I let it do a natural release for about 10 minutes before releasing the rest. While the steam was whistling I could start to smell the yummy soup that was waiting for us inside. I opened the lid and it looked great! The potatoes were so tender that they mashed up with no effort. Reno stepped in to help and added the butter, cream cheese, sour cream, Colby jack cheese and spices of our liking to the pot and mixed it up until smooth. That is where our problems began.

The potatoes DISINTEGRATED! POOF GONE! We went from thinking we were going to have a thick hearty soup, to stirring up hot POTATO WATER. YUCK.

I was PISSED! What the heck am I supposed to do with HOT POTATO WATER. NOT what I was expecting AT ALL. Good thing I am a quick problem solver, I immediately popped some more potatoes in the microwave while Reno added a flour/water mixture to the completed 'soup'. We had just made enough potato water to feed a small country, so there was no way we were going down without a fight.

The flour was starting to thicken the soup up, its a miracle how that works! And ding ding ding, the potatoes were ready! Reno cut the potatoes into chunks as I watched with my fingers crossed hoping these additions would make the soup edible. After about 10 minutes we had our verdict.

IT WORKED! THANK GOODNESS!

Our Potato water was beginning to look more like soup by the second! I got all the toppings out and we were ready to rock and roll! Reno and I like to top our soups (and really all our meals) in very different ways! I like mine classic, with Greek yogurt (sour cream), bacon crumbles and a little more cheese (because why not!) while Reno likes his DRENCHED in SRIRACHA!

We finally sat down to eat, and boy was it worth the wait! This soup is creamy, flavorful and delicious! The only downside to a soup like this is the amount of servings it yields! I used less of everything and we still got enough to portion out for the next 100 days. If excess soup is my only complaint, I would say that this recipe is pretty darn good overall! I will definitely add more potatoes next time.. I'm always learning.

 

Happy Hump Day BLOG WORLD!

We are halfway through the week already! Not to mention that we are over halfway through JANUARY! Can you believe it!? It will be sunshine and weekends by the pool in no time! But oh boy, that means I better get focused on my 'summer body'.

The IP is great for staying on track when trying to eat healthy. You can whip up a quick, easy and HEALTHY meal in minutes (literally minutes), and I promise, you will never want to run through the drive through for convenience again!

I made this recipe last night, Taco Tuesday, and as you all know I am on the prowl for healthy variations of the beloved beef taco. I decided to try something a little different on this cold, winter weeknight.

IP Chicken Taco Bowls! The recipe is as follows:

4-5 uncooked boneless, skinless breasts if large, cut in half

1-2 packets taco seasoning (1 for mild flavor, 2 for more flavor)

1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 12 oz bag frozen corn

1 15 oz jar salsa

3 cups uncooked rice (calls for jasmine, I used white)

3 cups water or chicken broth

Cheddar cheese (optional)

Cilantro (optional)

Sour cream (optional)

This recipe is so incredibly easy! It took me under 5 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to cook! That's a total of 20 minutes for a delicious meal that everyone is going to love!

Simply add 1 cup of your liquid of choice into the IP and layer your chicken breasts on top. Sprinkle the taco seasoning (1-2 packets) directly onto the chicken and add your beans and corn. Finish up by adding the uncooked rice and the remaining 2 cups of liquid. Close and seal your IP! Make sure that puppy is sealed! We don't want an explosion on our hands!

Set your IP to manual HIGH pressure for 12 minutes (that's it!), and once the timer goes off do a quick release until your IP is safe to open!

You guys, this is the EASIEST way to do taco bowls! No mess, no hassle and super simple cleanup!

I topped mine with cheddar cheese and plain Greek yogurt (which is the absolute best substitute for sour cream EVER!) After a few bites, my review is..

OMG, what a delicious dish! The chicken was cooked perfectly and shredded immediately with little effort. The rice was cooked perfectly, and all the flavors worked really well together! I have made a recipe similar to this in the crock pot but it was not nearly as delicious!

This recipe is going to become a staple in our house for sure!

Again, if you don't have an IP, GET ONE! You will not regret it!

 

Happy SUNDAY blogger friends!

I am slacking! I made this recipe on Friday night and got so busy with weekend activities that I am just now sitting down to relax (and write)! And just in time for the new week to start! ☺

For me (like many of you I'm sure), this past week was my first FULL week back to work after the holiday season and boy was it LONG! I am proud to say I have stuck to my meal prep ALL week (yes even the vegetarian meals) and tonight I'm going to reward myself with an easy dinner that is just as yummy as it is tasty!


Garlic Bread Pizza! Whos heard of it? I have made this recipe once before, and it was delicious! Friday night and pizza go together as well as peanut butter and jelly! So this yummy variation will do just fine!


The recipe is as follows:


1 jar of pizza sauce (your favorite kind)
Pepperoni or other pizza toppings
3 cups of your favorite cheese (we used a mix)
1 box Texas Toast garlic bread


THATS IT! And I bet most of you have these ingredients in your fridge/pantry already! Not only is this recipe super easy to make, its also extremely cost effective! You can make 8 mini pizzas for under $9! SIGN ME UP! ☺


All you do is preheat your oven, assemble your pizzas, cook em' up for about 5 minutes and eat! DONE! How easy is that? In addition to the 5 minutes of cook time, I broil for about a minute to get that cheese perfectly golden brown!


The only problem with this recipe is how hot it is when it comes out of the oven.. I want to eat it all up so quickly that I end up burning my mouth! So I would recommend letting them cool for at least 90 seconds! I ate mine so fast, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! Talk about unimpressive! Boy do I need to get it together!


Make them as a side dish, or the main attraction and you wont be disappointed! These mini pizzas are the best of both worlds!


After a long, cold week this was the perfect meal for a Friday night in!


Boone is excited for the weekend, hope you all have a great week ahead! Catch you guys next time!

Philly Cheesesteak! Who doesn't love a good Philly Cheesesteak? I mean I have heard nothing but yummy reviews! Being from the Chicago area, I grew up on Italian Beef from the one and only Portillos!

I have never been to Philly, nor can I say I've had a TRUE cheesesteak. So I decided to try it from home! And because we have given up red meat (still going strong) I found a version that uses chicken! YUM! Oh, and did I mention that this recipe is made using my new best friend. THE IP! (Instant Pot)

The recipe is as follows:

Instant Pot Chicken Philly Cheesesteak!

2lbs chicken breast, cubed

1 onion, thinly sliced (I used yellow onion)

1 large green bell pepper, cleaned and thinly sliced (or if your me, red pepper)

1lb sliced mushrooms (optional)

1C chicken stock (calls for 1/3C, but instant pot rules say minimum 1C of liquid!)

1tbs poultry seasoning (or any seasoning you choose)

1tbs garlic powder

1/2tbs S&P

8 slices provolone cheese

4 buns (I used brioche)

Calories per serving (serves 4-6) : 626 calories (with bun) 467 calories (without bun)

This sounds like its going to be amazing. And the best part is that it is all cooked together in the IP! Easy peasy! I am getting so much more comfortable with my IP that I am giddy with excitement any time I get to use it!

A side note on the IP.. It's true what they say, the sealing ring DOES lock in some of the smells from previous uses, so what I did to clean and sterilize was really quite simple. I cut up two whole lemons and added about 2 1/2 cups of water to be steamed for about 5 minutes. I'm not sure if it was 100% effective but I could taste the difference 😉. 

Ok lets get cookin'!

This recipe was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO EASY! I had the chicken breasts in the fridge, so I trimmed and cubed about 1 1/2 lbs and placed them in the pot. I then seasoned the chicken with poultry seasonings, some garlic and onion powder and mixed it all up. I sliced up the onion, mushrooms and RED pepper. (It called for green, which I thought I had. NEWS FLASH. I did not have green). Mixed all the veggies with the chicken and covered with just over a cup of chicken stock.

I closed the lid, locked it up and set it to manual high pressure for 15 minutes. Once the actual timer started on the IP (it takes a few minutes to preheat) I set my oven to 400 degrees so it would be nice and hot when my chicken was done. I did a quick release (which took about 2 minutes) and loaded up my brioche bun with my chicken mixture, topped it with 2 slices of provolone cheese and popped it in the oven to melt. BOY DID IT MELT!

DING DING DING. That's the sound of my delicious dinner telling me its time to eat! OMG you guys. It was that simple.

When I took it out of the oven it was so bubbly I had to stop myself from devouring it right then and there. Sadly, my bun got a little soggy from the moisture (never a bad thing to have moist chicken!), so I had to eat it open faced with a fork. Over all, this was a delicious meal! The chicken was juicy, tasty, and who doesn't love melted cheese on anything? (If you don't love melted cheese, we are not friends, k bye)!

I would give this a 9/10 simply because my bun was soggy. Now I am totally aware that this was MY fault. The recipe did warn me about the soggy bun possibility that I chose to ignore (for whatever reason). If you guys are Philly Cheesesteak fans looking for a healthy alternative, add this to your list. Just make sure that you buy a GREEN pepper. 😉

 

 

IM BACK!

I hope you enjoyed my first post! I had so much fun writing it, and such positive feedback (other than my dad telling me to shorten it up..), that I thought I would give it another go! I think you guys are going to like this one!

As I mentioned in my last post, I have several kitchen gadgets, and I do, like 1 million. In this post, I'm going to take you guys on a little kitchen gadget adventure. So bare with me, because this is going to get a little crazy.

THE. INSTANT. POT. Dun Dun Dun.... Raise your hand if you have heard of this 'miracle' appliance. Do you all have your hands raised? Good!

I got this gem for Christmas this year and once the excitement of being able to cook things freaky fast wore off, I was feeling one thing, and one thing alone. PURE TERROR. So much terror. I did days of research, reading countless negative comments online and each one more terrifying than the last (why do I do this to myself?). How bad could it really be? I mean, they wouldn't sell something that is known to explode right? RIGHT?

I was (and still am) SO intimidated by this thing. But I was determined to use it. After all, Santa had searched far and wide for this little ticking time bomb. So after reading the safety instructions (and not feeling one bit safer) it was time. I had to use it. Who in their right mind is afraid of a kitchen appliance. ME. That's who.

Other than the initial water test (which was awful) I have used it once since getting it home. I was so worried it was going to explode, that I just stood there staring at it for a good 20 minutes. JUST STARING AT IT YOU GUYS. Like, to the point where I overcooked and ruined the batch of mashed potatoes I was making because I was so focused on what the instant pot was doing. Let me just be very clear about one thing.. Once the lid is closed and the start button is pressed, there is literally nothing that can be done. But that didn't stop me.

Well, its a new year and I'm here to try it again. YEP. And this time I thought, why not try to cook a whole chicken? I mean I have never tried this before, so what's stopping me now? This is supposed to be one of the easier recipes to make, so I'm going to give it a whirl. (Ill just have to wait to make my side dishes this time).

Lets talk about the chicken for a second. Have you ever bought a whole chicken? Well let me just say that I have not. And I was blissfully unaware that it comes with a couple of ORGANS stuffed inside. Oh. My. God. That's all I have to say about that.

The recipe is as follows:

Faux-Tisserie Chicken

For the Chicken:
2 1/2 - 3 lb whole chicken
2 tbsp olive oil
S&P to taste
1/2 medium onion (cut into quarters)
5 large cloves fresh garlic (peeled and left whole)
1 cup chicken stock/broth

For the Southwest Seasoning:
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp basil
Or any seasoning mixture of your choice!

OH BOY. This sounds amazing right? I mean, the fact that it is faux-tisserie is just the best part. There is a zero percent chance that I am going to mess this up. Here's what happened.

I started with the chicken. Now I don't have any children, so nothing could prepare me for how disgusting it is to hold a whole raw chicken. It was GROSS. Once I removed the nasty giblets (it just keeps getting better) I followed the instructions. Lathered him up with olive oil, salt and pepper and placed him in the pot for saute-ing (is that a real word)? It says to saute each side for about 4 minutes, seems easy enough right? WRONG. Once the 2 lb chicken is IN the pot, it is crazy hard to get it OUT. I had no luck. The best I could come up with was dumping the chicken out onto a cutting board and then quickly (before completely burning my fingertips off) placing him back in on the other side.



While my chicken was in the pot doing its thing, I mixed up the seasoning. I used the above recipe without any additions or changes. It was just spicy enough for me.


Once the chicken was done with the first step, I poured him out onto the cutting board (again, couldn't come up with a better way) and let the pot cool. Thats the cool thing about the instant pot, it cools down REALLY fast. Like really fast. Within minutes I could handle the internal pot with bare hands. AMAZING!

I put a little over a cup of chicken broth in the bottom of the pot, added the trivet and lastly in went my chicken, covered in seasonings (breast side up). It was showtime. I kept thinking to myself, you can do it, you've been preparing all day! And I had. Want to know how many times I read the recipe? 11. 11 times. But who's counting?

Thats it! OH.MY.GOSH. I set it to manual high pressure for 25 minutes, and left it at that. I only checked on it 34 1/2 times. The 1/2 is because Reno walked in and I didn't want him to see me obsessing...

It was so easy! Once it was done cooking, I let the steam release naturally (this took about 20 minutes). In the meantime I had cooked up some baked potatoes and creamed corn (I know, but it's Reno's favorite). Successful entrée and sides, all cooked up and ready to go. Holy cow. Had I done it?

We dumped the chicken out and covered it in the broth it had cooked in. You guys, this chicken was falling off the bone. It was crazy! We served it up, and boy was it GOOOOOD. Tender, juicy, flavorful. All the adjectives I was going for. It turned out so much better than I expected. And all 3 of us couldn't get enough! Yes, I allowed Boone to try some! I would give this recipe a 10/10. Anyone who has an instant pot, try this! And if you don't have an instant pot, I feel sorry for you..


BRB, Im gonna go eat the leftover chicken now.

Hi Everybody!


Hold onto your hats because this is my VERY. FIRST. BLOG. POST! I created this blog ( with the full support of my sister-in-law ) to share my experiences in the kitchen with those who are just like me! Inquisitive, innovative, creative and curious! And for those of you that enjoy reading about a girl attempting to make recipes way out of her league, you wont be disappointed.

Its a new year. And we all know what that means, #resolution2018. Now I'm no stranger to half-ass failed attempts at New Years resolutions, but this year, I'm 100% committed to starting anew. Not only have I acquired 43 new kitchen gadgets since this time last year (literally I have everything), but I also have an amazing resolution partner. So this year, is going to be THE year.

Ok so now that we have that out of the way, lets talk about a very important topic. Meat. I like meat. I have always liked meat. And in an effort to focus on my health this year ( along with everyone else 😏 ) I have decided to commit to making half of my meals, wait for it, VEGITARIAN! What am I thinking? This is going to be a tough one to follow through with. Not only did I choose to begin this journey on Taco Tuesday ( practically a holiday in my house ) but did I mention I really like meat? I am determined to make this work, so without further ado, lets talk about what I did for my first vegetarian friendly dish.

Black Bean and Corn Tacos + Avocado Cilantro Lime Sauce. Sounds good right?? The recipe is as follows:

For the (imposter) Taco:

1 15 oz can black beans

1 15 oz can corn 

1 cup salsa

1 tsp. cumin

Corn tortillas

Optional toppings: lettuce, tomato, onion, plain Greek yogurt

For the Sauce:

1/2 ripe avocado

3/4 cup cilantro

Juice from 1 lime

1 clove garlic

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. honey

Pinch of salt

At first glance, I have to admit, I'm thinking these are going to shape up to be a pretty tasty meal despite them lacking ALL THE MEAT. So here's how it went!

I started with the sauce, and anyone who works with avocado knows that IT IS BLAND! So we ( yes I had a kitchen helper ) made it with the above ingredients first, before adding a million other spices ( red pepper flakes, chili powder, onion powder, cumin, garlic salt ). If I could do it all over again, I would leave out the honey. We like things spicy in our house, so the sweet flavor the honey added forced us to drown it out in spices and sriracha (in true millennial fashion). Just a side note here, I absolutely love to use my food processor. If you don't have one, get one!

That was done, and tasting spicy! So I popped that into the fridge to chill and started the 'meat' of the taco. I drained, rinsed and poured both cans into the skillet and then I just stared at it for a minute. What am I supposed to do with this? To my surprise, it cooked up nicely and once mashed up, had a consistency I could work with. Things were starting to look up!

DONE. It was all done! I couldn't believe it! All these different layers of the tacos complete after only 20 minutes! Assembly was a cinch! We had several toppings to choose from, and I ended with a pretty standard final product. I usually eat my tacos in salad form, but I wanted to experience the full flavor! So it was corn tortillas and all their glory.

I was extremely surprised by the outcome of this meal! I actually ate my entire two tacos and had to stop myself from licking the plate. They were so full of flavor that I hardly noticed I was eating a vegetarian variation ( I like alliterations 😏 ) ! Adding the extra spices to the avocado sauce was the game changer. Each bite I took was better than the one before. The only thing I did not fully enjoy about the final product was the tortillas. They became soggy after only a few minutes and it changed the overall texture of the taco pretty quickly. Other than that, this black bean and corn version give standard beef tacos a run for their money! Even Boone agrees! 😏