Friday, January 31, 2020

Instant Pot Cashew Chicken

You guys were so excited this week when I mentioned I would be making a paleo cashew chicken recipe with our instant pot! We made it last night and it was actually pretty easy despite the long list of ingredients. Recipes like this tend to make me nervous because I usually mess something up. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was easy to follow and we all had fun making it. Even Clara joined in! 

For being homemade, it compares well to my favorite take out version, and its FAR healthier. No soy or MSG snuck in. As fun as it was cooking it, I can’t take credit for creating the recipe. I found it on Pinterest! I’ll copy the recipe here and tag the original website it’s from. Enjoy!

Original recipe: https://www.wholekitchensink.com/instant-pot-cashew-chicken/ 

instant pot cashew chicken: whole30, paleo, 30 minutes
This instant pot cashew chicken tastes like the familiar Chinese takeout we all love, but in a better-for-you, Whole30, Paleo, gluten-free version that only takes 30 minutes. No more waiting for your delivery full of MSG!
·       author:bailey
·       prep time:10
·       cook time:12
·       total time:22 minutes
·       yield:serves 4-6 1x
·       category:chicken
·       method:instant pot
·       cuisine:chinese
Ingredients
·       1.5–2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1“-1.5” pieces
·       2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
·       1/2 cup coconut aminos
·       3 tablespoons sugar-free ketchup
·       3 tbsp rice vinegar
·       1 tbsp coconut sugar*
·       1 tbsp honey*
·       1 tbsp minced garlic
·       1 tbsp minced ginger
·       2 tbsp arrowroot flour, divided
·       1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice powder
·       1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
·       1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
·       1/4 tsp pepper, or to taste
·       2 tbsp water
·       1 cup raw (or lightly salted) cashews
Instructions
1. In a medium bowl, combine 1 tbsp sesame oil, coconut aminos, ketchup, vinegar, coconut sugar, honey, garlic, ginger, Five Spice, and red pepper flakes. Whisk well to combine and set aside.
2. In a bowl or baggie, coat chicken pieces with 1 tbsp of the arrowroot flour, salt and pepper. Add 1 tbsp sesame oil to the bottom of the instant pot and turn it to “sauté”.
3. Allow oil to heat up and then sear chicken for 1-2 minutes. Press “cancel” and pour the sauce into the instant pot. Stir the sauce in with the chicken to evenly distribute. Cover, set the valve to “sealing” and press “manual” and adjust the time to 10 minutes.
4. Right before the instant pot is done, combine 1 tbsp arrowroot flour with 2 tbsp water and stir well to dissolve. Once the instant pot is done, do a quick release and open the lid. Press the “sauté” button and pour the water and flour mixture into the instant pot and whisk into the sauce.
5. Add the cashews and then continue stirring until the sauce has thickened. If you’d like it thicker after 1-2 minutes, add an additional 1/2 tbsp arrowroot dissolved in 1 tbsp water. Once the sauce has thickened, add any additional salt and pepper and serve.
6. Serve over broccoli, cauliflower rice, on it’s own with a side, over spaghetti squash “lo mien” noodles, etc. Garnish with any additional cashews, green onion, or sesame seeds
Notes
·       *Omit for Whole30. Optional substitutions include 3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice, or 1-2 medjool dates, pitted and pureed in a food processor with 1/4 cup water to help blend.
·       If sauce gets too thick, you can easily thin it back out again by adding a few tablespoons of water. Only do a few at a time until at your desired consistency.



Instant Pot Beef Stew

INSTANT POT BEEF STEW
Serves 8 | Prep Time 10 minutes | Total Time 40 minutes 

INGREDIENTS

1.5 lbs beef (I like to use chuck roast or stew beef)
2-3 carrots, chopped
2-3 celery stalks, chopped
½ yellow onion, chopped
8 oz mini golden potatoes, cut into fourths
2 tsp celery salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp herbs de province 
2 cups of water

DIRECTIONS


Place all ingredients into instant pot, making sure liquid covers the beef and vegetables. Add more water if they’re not completely covered. Place cover over instant pot and lock it down. Press “stew” option, and let it go. It should take about 30 minutes to pressure cook. Once done, allow it to release pressure and enjoy! 

Beef Bone Broth

BEEF BONE BROTH
Servings 8 | Prep Time 10 minutes | Total Time 18 hours

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs beef bones (preferably with marrow intact)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
½ yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt 
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp herbs de province 
6-8 cups of water

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place bones in roasting pan and rub olive oil into the bones. Roast the bones in the oven for 1-1.5 hours. 
As bones are roasting, prepare your vegetables. Chop carrots, celery, onion, and place in slow cooker. Once bones are dark in color but not burnt, remove from oven. Place bones in slow cooker, crush the cloves on garlic and place on top of bones, then add seasonings. Add 6-8 cups of water, until the bones and vegetables are covered. Cover slow cooker and set to low. Allow to cook for 16-18 hours (I like to prep and start this process overnight). 

Once done cooking, remove bones and vegetables. Strain broth 2-3 times with a cheese cloth to collect any small particles. Can be used for cooking or sipping alone. Enjoy! 

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Chicken Noodle Soup

ORGANIC CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
Servings 6 | Prep Time 10 Minutes | Cook Time 1 Hour


INGREDIENTS

2 lbs organic chicken breasts

1 lbs organic carrots
½ lbs organic celery
½ sweet onion, chopped
1 lbs organic baby medley potatoes
1 bag of organic pasta of your choice
3 quarts organic chicken bone broth
Olive Oil
Pink Himalayan Salt
Black Pepper
Minced Onion
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning
Bay Leaf

DIRECTIONS

Pour enough olive oil to just cover the bottom of the sauté pan and set the burner to medium heat. Once the olive oil is warm, place chicken tenders in pan and season them with the salt, pepper, minced onion, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. 


Cover the pan and let cook for one minute. Then flip the chicken tenders and season the other side. Cover and let cook for another ten minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered for another five minutes.  

While chicken is cooking, chop the vegetables and place in a stock pot. Pour the bone broth into the pot and make sure it covers the vegetables. Add same seasonings used on chicken at your discretion. Add 1-2 bay leaves. Set burner to medium-high heat. 


Once chicken is done cooking and allowed to sit for five minutes, shred tenders and place in pot with vegetables and broth. 

Cover stock pot and cook on medium-high for one hour. 
Serve and enjoy! 

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Date Night in Geneva


 

We all know I’m passionate about good food. I’m not one to pass up an opportunity to try out a new spot for a bite to eat. That’s why I was so excited when Kindred Fare reached out to me and offered to let me try their farm-to-table menu and share my experience. 

Mike and I took this time to drop Clara off at her grandmother’s house and use this evening as a rare date night. Since we live about an hour away from the restaurant, we took our time to make our way out to Geneva, NY and made a few sight-seeing stops. This included a stop at Tractor Supply to see the baby chickens because I was pregnant and my hormones made me baby crazy. 

We arrived at the restaurant just as they were opening for dinner and took a few minutes to soak in the beautiful outdoor design of the building. I took my 36 week bump picture in front of the outdoor seating area. I was in love with all the plants hanging from the enclosure. 


Inside, we were seated by the hostess and took in our surroundings. The interior looked like something out of an old western movie. The modern farmhouse décor was right up my alley. I wish I could decorate my own home the way they did here. 


We ordered the poutine for our appetizer. Mike LOVES poutine, I had never eaten it before. It was soooo good. Like, I could have eaten the entire dish myself. But it was a huge amount of food and we still had our main course coming. 


For our main courses, I ordered the Snapper with sautéed cauliflower, summer squash, and corn relish. I kid you not, the fresh snapper I had in Jamaica wasn’t even as good as this. I had to force myself to slow down and savor it because I was inhaling my food and Mike told me I looked like I was in a hot dog eating contest. 


Mike ordered the 16oz sirloin steak with a side of mac & cheese. He really ordered the mac & cheese for me though because my pregnant heart was OBSSESSED and I was eating it all the time. I really didn’t think he would finish the whole thing since it was so big but he DID and he wasn’t even full yet. I tried a bite of it before he devoured it all and I was really impressed. Mike always orders his steaks medium-rare but restaurants never seem to get it just right. Kindred Fare nailed it! He was so happy! 


For dessert, we each ordered the honey vanilla homemade ice cream. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I’m a big fan of ice cream anyways, but when I was pregnant, my cravings for this frozen treat were on a whole other level and this stuff set a new standard. I was expecting it to have a stronger honey flavor than it did, yet I was pleasantly surprised. I could mostly taste the vanilla until just the very end of the bite, then could taste the honey coming through. The sugar rush had this sweet baby boy rocking and rolling in my belly, he was impressed with it too!

 

Overall, I could not have asked for a better experience. The food, staff, atmosphere, everything was top notch. I honestly can’t wait go back with friends and family. We had so much fun trying out foods we maybe normally wouldn’t try, and knowing it was locally sourced makes it all the better. 

Friday, June 21, 2019

Family Vacation (Disaster) 2019



You think I would have learned my lesson by now. For the second year in a row, we had to pack up and end our vacation only two days in. This time from one of our favorite camping spots. The Adirondack Mountains are SO beautiful and only four hours away from home. Clean lakes, fresh air, all the hiking and fishing we could dream of. The state park we choose to stay in is so well-maintained and family oriented. It’s hard not to get excited about going! 

We thought Clara would love it. She’s walking now, and her new favorite obsession is exploring the great outdoors. I packed all kinds of fun activities and small toys to keep her occupied during the car ride and the stay at the campsite. All of which she really liked (links below), but it wasn’t enough. 

Let me start with how Monday morning (the day we left) started out. I woke up at the ass-crack of dawn to finish the packing and make sure all those last-minute details are taken care of. Mike gets up maybe an hour after me and finishes his packing and grabs us breakfast. Clara had slept really well the night before and showed no signs of waking anytime soon. Perfect. I can eat in peace and make sure everything is done before I have to wake her up. Mike gets the boat and care loaded up with the gear and I decide to wake up Clara at 7:30AM. This way she can eat, play, do whatever it is toddlers her age love to do, and we can set out right at naptime. 

This sweet baby girl woke up in the BEST mood. I fully expected her to start crying and throwing her elephant lovie at me for waking her, instead she just smiled and lifted her arms toward me. I got her out of her crib, changed her diaper, got her into travel clothes, and brought her downstairs for breakfast. She ate everything I gave her, drank her whole sippy cup, and said she’s “all done!” 

This was too good. She stayed happy like this all morning. Smiling at Mama & Dada, running around the front yard with her sidewalk chalk while we finish loading the gear, and singing along with Super Simple Songs on the Amazon Echo while we bring the birds down to the dining room (easier for my mom to care for them there while we are gone). 

Okay, everything and everyone is ready to go! We decided to leave a tid bit early and stop at a local playground to let Clara use up the last of her energy. I wish I was able to get pictures of this experience because it was perfect. My hands were full of Mike’s pocket items so he could go down all the slides with her and push her on the swings and chase her around the entire playground. It wasn’t long before we smelled the undeniable scent of poop and knew it was time for a diaper change and a nap. 

Get her back in the car and start our journey. She’s still happy but getting sleepy, just what we wanted. Again, this was going too well. When is the other shoe going to drop? Nothing EVER goes this well when there is an unpredictable toddler involved. 

It wasn’t until we got on the express way that we realized our first big mistake. We left way too early. We made her use her energy up too quickly and it isn’t anywhere near her naptime. Crap. 

Now I’m sitting in the back seat with her. I have snacks, toys, activities, diapers, wipes, water, allllll the road trip essentials to keep her happy on the road. Singing songs to her and hoping she will just fall asleep and wake up in time for lunch. 

Nope. This kid started getting overtired. Like that cranky, sleepy, yet still has energy to burn tired. I start grabbing things to make her happy. We settle on her watermelon Montessori toy and that seems to keep her occupied for a while. Her real nap time comes and goes, she’s crying, not wanting to sleep, I’m getting scared. Mike suggests we just stop for lunch and see how she does after. Good plan. 

Does great at lunch, eats her whole meal and seems ready to wind down. Within just a few minutes of leaving the restaurant, she’s out. Halleluiah!!! I can finally relax a bit and snooze for a half hour myself. 


We drive for about an hour and a half before we end up at our first destination – a hotel in Watertown, NY. Clara wakes up just as we are pulling into the parking lot and she’s ready to play. 

SHE’S HAPPY AGAIN! This is great, she’s running around the room, jumping on the bed, snacking her little heart out, and giving kisses. We’re feeling pretty confident about this, she can handle it after all. Evening was spent laughing, playing, eating, and snuggling. 


Then. We had booked the room with a single king-sized bed and didn’t request a crib. We are no strangers to bedsharing with Clara and figured it would be fine because she loves to cuddle with us anyways. She fell asleep at like 6:00PM. Way too early for bed but I figured she has had a long day, she’s probably tired, she’ll sleep all night.  NOPE. Clara wakes up an hour later. Nothing is getting her back down. It’s now 10:30PM and she’s still going strong. Mike and I are beyond exhausted and Clara could run a marathon.  

To be honest, I have no idea how it happened (mostly because I was pretty much asleep myself), but she eventually settled down and went to sleep for the night. Fast forward to about 2:00AM. Clara and Mike are sleeping beautifully (even if Clara is taking over the entire bed). I’m literally crying and choking on Tylenol from pregnancy pain. When I get further along in pregnancy, my hips and legs start to lose circulation while laying on my side. I woke up to this happening and couldn’t get comfortable if my life depended on it. I had to get up and stretch, sit on the floor, stretch again. Nothing helped. Mike finally heard my sobbing around 5:00AM after a failed attempt at getting myself in the shower. I told him I couldn’t do the trip and needed to go home. Clara woke up from hearing me crying and started signing and saying “more” (food). 

Breakfast isn’t being served for another 1.5 hours so I grab my phone and turn on Super Simple Songs for her. This sort of occupies her for that time and I can pull myself together a bit. The pain subsides and we head to breakfast. We decide to continue on the journey but head out closer to nap time so we don’t make the same mistake as the day before. 

The drive up the campsite is about 2.5 hours, perfect for nap. Clara falls asleep pretty quickly once in the car and we head out. She sleeps through almost the entire drive and wakes about 10 minutes away from our campground. We park at our site and take it all in. That mountain air is incredible! Our site sits right on the pond and the views are to die for. Mike lets Clara out of her seat and she starts exploring the campsite. In between helping to set up the gear, I’m filling Clara’s tiny fists full of pretzels to keep her happy as she explores. 




Mike unloads his kayak and Clara makes a b-line for it. She pretends to row and paddle just like her daddy. All the while, pretzels are hanging out of her mouth and she’s happily crunching away with her three new teeth. I make sure the sunscreen is slathered on (our favorite clean/natural sunscreen brand linked below), and I let her use her imagination while we finished setting everything up. 


Most of the afternoon went pretty smoothly. We put Clara in her new red wagon and took a walk around the campground. She enjoyed pretending to steer it and barking at the family dogs staying on the other sites. When we got back to the campsite we decided to get a fire going and grill up some burgers. My feet were starting to feel pretty sore by then so I plopped myself in my camp chair and kept an eye on the little one while Mike handled cooking the food. 


This is where things started going wrong, and didn’t get better. Clara wouldn’t eat ANY of her food. Guys, this never happens. I was blessed enough to have given birth to a child who eats literally anything. ANYTHING. Food, dirt, crayons, paper, ant hills, you name it. So, when she kept saying she was hungry but refusing to eat, I knew we were in for it. I had the Mama feeling. Mike and I tried to let it go and just let her play for a bit. If she’s really hungry, she’ll eat something when she’s ready, right? 

Okay, now we need to find something else to occupy her because she’s starting to get bored at the campsite. Fishing and playing usually does the trick. The campground has an amazing playground in the picnic area. We decided to take her there and she had a blast…for maybe a half-hour max. BUT, she’s genuinely happy in these pictures, playing with her daddy. 




Back at the campsite, she starts to get overtired and cranky. Starts making this high-pitched screaming so loud dogs on the other side of the pond started barking. If I so much as looked at her wrong it was an instant meltdown. There was nothing we could do to console her, and we knew it was only going to get worse the longer we were up there. We wanted so badly for everyone to enjoy the trip, but our instincts told us it just wasn’t going to happen this year. She was not going to handle sleeping in the tent at night (or napping during the day), and she certainly was not going to handle the lack of daily routine she has come to rely on. It was simply time to go home. 

I put her in the car and entertained her with food and toys and random objects as well as I could while Mike rushed around the site and broke everything down. He was amazing and did it all in about 30 minutes. We sadly pulled out of the site and checked out. Clara was asleep before we were even a mile into the trip home. 

So yeah, Mike and I are super bummed it didn’t work out again this year. We had been looking forward to this trip for months and here we are already leaving. We talked about it on the way home. We realized that as much as it sucks, we can’t really be mad about it. We just can’t. It’s not Clara’s fault in the slightest. She’s so little and at an age where structure and routine are her best friends, and overstimulation is her worst enemy. Safe to say, I have learned my lesson. She isn’t a baby anymore, a little being whom I can just bring with me wherever I go and she will just sleep through it. We have entered this new stage of life where she is quickly becoming her own person and showing just how she feels about things. 

As I watched her sleep from the backseat, I couldn’t help but cry a little. Not because I was sad about vacation, but because I realized this was the only way she was finally able to relax. Looking at her sweet, angelic face made me tear up because I love her so much and I felt so bad that I had put her through all the stress of the day. Also, pregnancy hormones are NO JOKE, I cry at everything these days. 


We stopped at the same hotel in Watertown for the night. Mike had been driving so much the past two days, he really needed the break. I had pizza delivered right to the room and we watched Simple Songs and kept Clara happy. It was clear she wouldn’t ever have settled down in the tent, she would barely settle in the hotel room for bed time. But after that, it seemed like she knew we were going to be home soon. She woke me up just in time for breakfast to be served, and remained in the most amazing mood. She ate her fill at the table and Mike took her outside to run around for a few minutes while I ate my own food. We checked out of the hotel just in time for Clara to start to get sleepy again. She took a beautiful two-hour nap on the ride home and woke up just as we were getting back into town. 

She was finally happy, back in her own environment, and Mama could finally breathe again. Even though we didn’t get to have our grand mountain-based camping trip, we still enjoyed little camping activities right in our own backyard. Our huge fire pit/grill made for a perfect way to make homemade meatballs, chicken kabobs, grilled corn on the cob, and roasted marshmallows. I got Clara into bed right around her normal bedtime and sat in the backyard with Mike for a while, just enjoying the fire and each other’s company. 


After some discussion, we decided it was best to save the big family vacations for when the kids are just a little older, like, out of the toddler stages. Until then, he and I will take little mini trips together. We booked a baby moon for the end of July. A little two-day camping trip in another favorite state park of ours, just the two of us. It’s something for us to look forward to, and we won’t be away from our daughter for long. 


This is what parenting (and life) is all about. You just need to figure out what works for you. It’s trial and error and eventually success.  All I can do is hope I don’t mess up too badly. 





Links to our favorite kid-friendly travel items: 

·     Wagon

·     Sun screen

·     Baby camping chair 

·     Watermelon Montessori Toy

·     Block shapes and board 

·     Jumbo crayons 
·     Toddler coloring book

·     Teether raddle 

·     Pacifier clips

·     Pacifiers

·     Name tags for diaper bag/luggage

·     Elephant lovie 


·     Convertible car seat 

·     Baby/toddler-friendly utensils

·     Diaper rash stick 

·     Straw cups



Instant Pot Cashew Chicken

You guys were so excited this week when I mentioned I would be making a paleo cashew chicken recipe with our instant pot! We made it last n...