#2,699: Carrot-Coconut Muffins

Here's the April muffin from Food Network's 12 months of muffins in their January 2018 issue.  This month is carrot-coconut with crystallized ginger.  I had fun giving the kids a piece of the candied ginger when I brought the package home...ok let's be honest, it was delivered by Amazon.  LOL  They were so traumatized by the spiciness of it, it took a lot of convincing to get them to try these muffins.  But the ginger flavor is definitely in there but it isn't as over-powering as I thought it might be.

When I first saw this recipe I thought it was going to be too hard or require too many ingredients for my liking, but I had almost everything on hand and just had to get the coconut, candied ginger, and the nuts.  But as much as I love macadamia nuts, I have FOUR pounds of slivered almonds (only paid $6 for them b/c they were on clearance at Sam's club), so I used those instead.  Next time I'll probably try macadamia nuts because they are so good.

I really enjoyed these!  I don't know if I would make them regularly because they aren't my kids favorite muffin, but they are different than what we normally have, so it was a nice change for us.  Besides Chloe (age 8 1/2) keeps asking me to make the roasted carrot-orange muffins so maybe if I just leave the crystallized ginger out of this she'll like these just as much.

As far as what my kids thought...Matthew (6) pretty much took a lick of one and said he didn't like it.  Chloe (8) told me that she didn't think coconut and carrots went well together.  Allison (11) however, loved it.  

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3)

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, plus more for topping

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (I used slivered almonds)

1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger and salt in a large bowl; make a well in the center. Whisk the brown sugar, yogurt, coconut oil, eggs and vanilla in a small bowl; pour into the well in the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the carrots, coconut, macadamia nuts and crystallized ginger.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them three-quarters of the way. Bake until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the muffins cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: Stir the confectioners' sugar with the water in a small bowl. Spread about 1 teaspoon glaze on each muffin and sprinkle with coconut.

#2,698: Blueberry Banana Bread

I had some blueberries in my freezer (from last summer!) that I wanted to use up, so I decided to find a recipe to use them in along with the bananas getting over-ripe on my counter.  I made this recipe quickly this morning and my kids LOVED it.  It's going to make a great, quick breakfast for them for a few day this week. 

This is super moist, and there is a wonderful sweet crunch from the sugar that was added to the edges and dusted the inside of the pan.  I missed the step about adding it to the top because I had 3 kids in the kitchen with me distracting me. Next time I'm definitely going to add that. Thankfully I saw that there was supposed to be cinnamon in this, and I added it right to the batter. 

This is going to be a great recipe to make in the summer when blueberries are in season!  

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 overripe bananas

2 large eggs

7 tablespoons buttermilk milk (I used 2% with a splash of vinegar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9x5x3” loaf pan with butter and coat it with sugar. (You do this like you would grease and flour a pan. Grease it first, then add about 2 tablespoons sugar to the pan and move the pan side to side until the bottom and sides are coated with sugar.)

Cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar with a hand mixer. Set aside.

Add bananas, eggs, milk, vanilla, salt, and baking soda to a blender jar and blend until smooth.

Pour half the banana mixture into the butter mixture with 1 cup of flour. Mix with hand mixer until just incorporated, then add the remaining banana mixture and flour. Mix until just incorporated. Stir in blueberries (I threw mine in frozen). Pour into prepared pan.

I got distracted by the kids (stupid multi-tasking!) and added the cinnamon to the batter and then missed this step.  Whatever...it was still good! Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs. The edges will be a dark brown and there will be a nice crack down the center.

Cool completely before removing loaf from pan and slicing.

#2,697: Baked Spanish Rice Balls

I had a little more than 1 cup of the leftover Instant Pot Spanish Rice we had for dinner a few nights ago and I wasn't sure what to do with it.  It wasn't enough to serve my family again for dinner, but too much for one person to eat for lunch.  So I decided to see what would happen if I tried to make a baked rice ball out of it.  I'm obsessed with peas lately so I figured I'd just throw some of those in there too.  :)

Personally I loved these.  It probably could have used a little more seasoning (chili powder, garlic salt, and black pepper maybe??), but otherwise it was so good.  No one else in my family will even try these...their loss!  

1 cup leftover Instant Pot Spanish Rice
1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
¼ c thawed peas
½ cup plain breadcrumbs

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place breadcrumbs in a small bowl, set aside.  In a second bowl, beat one egg, and set aside. 

In a separate bowl combine the leftover rice, cheddar cheese, 1 egg (lightly beaten), and peas. 

Form the rice mixture into golf ball sized balls.  Dip each rice ball in egg mixture and then coat in breadcrumbs. 

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the rice balls and continue baking for an additional 10 - 15 minutes or until they are golden brown. Serve hot with or without a dipping sauce.

#2,696: Homemade Latte WITHOUT an Espresso Machine

So I have been really into drinking lattes lately, but I am TERRIBLE at making them at home.  I use my Keurig in the morning and my coffee just seems super diluted no matter what I try.  I hate spending at LEAST $4 for coffee at a coffee shop (even if they do offer deals on numbers of purchases), so I figured there had to be an easier way of making them at home.  After several failed attempts, I came across this video which actually seemed to work for me!  So I figured I'd pass along this link in case anyone wants to try it too. 

First of all, I had to pull out my actual coffee maker...not my Keurig.  And I had to double the recipe so that I could fill Tervis cup (and it's a smaller one!).  My first attempt at this, I had one cup worth of a latte...yeah, I drink way more than a small/tall!

My next job/step is to learn how to add the cute latte art!  :)

4 tbsp ground coffee
10 oz water
1 cup milk
And I definitely needed 3-4 packets of stevia.  But I like my coffee a bit sweet

You will also need a glass jar with a lid.

Brew the 4 tbsp of ground coffee with 10 oz of water.
While that is brewing, place 1 cup of milk in a glass jar and microwave on high for 30 seconds. 

Remove the jar from the microwave and put the lid on the jar.  Shake vigorously for 30-60 seconds.  

Remove the lid and continue heating the milk for an additional 30 seconds.  Watch closely so that it doesn't bubble over. 

Pour your brewed coffee into a large mug (my Tervis is a 16 oz one!).  Add desired sweetener, and then add the warmed milk and foam.  

#2,695: Carrot Cake Banana Bread

One of my favorite places to go in the grocery store (when I actually step foot into a grocery store thanks to Walmart's Pick Up service!), is the clearance section.  I never know what I'm going to find and what deals I'll be able to snag.  Recently I was able to get a box of carrot cake mix for 50 cents.  So I've been trying to think of a way to health-ify it so I can give it to my family (preferably as some sort of breakfast food).  When I saw the 2 very ripe bananas on my counter, I knew someone had to have combined the two, and a quick Google search led me to this recipe.  Thankfully I had an extra banana waiting to be used up in my freezer, so I was good to go on whipping this one up.

Matthew wouldn't even try this because "It has carrots in it.  I can see them!".  The girls and I however loved this.  It is super moist!  I love the addition of the coconut in it too....the girls didn't seem to notice that it was in there.  

1 package (15.25 ounces) carrot cake mix, dry

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used coconut oil) 

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) (I omitted)

1/4 cup shredded coconut, plus more for topping (optional)

Optional Cream Cheese Spread (I did NOT make this)

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 Tbsp honey

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients until combined and a batter forms. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Top with additional coconut if desired. 

Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan and allow to completely cool.  Once cooled, slice and serve with sweet cream cheese spread if desired.

If desired: While the bread cools, whip together the ingredients for the spread until smooth. Cover and until ready to use and refrigerate any leftovers.

#2,694: Instant Pot Mexican Rice

I needed something quick and easy to go with the Taco Beef Bake with Cheddar Biscuit Topping I was making for my family for dinner.  It should be no surprise that I wanted to make something in my Instant Pot, so when I found this recipe (and that I had everything on hand to make it), I knew it was going to be exactly the thing that I wanted to try!  I was able to throw the Taco Beef Bake into the oven, then start to make the rice, and both were done at the same time!  (Score!)  

Those of us who love rice, really enjoyed this dish.  The other two, were more content to eat the main dish.  However, this rice was perfectly cooked and seriously so good!  I will definitely be making this again in the future!  

2 tbsp avocado oil (I used olive oil)

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

3/4 cup tomato sauce

2 cups long grain white rice

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

dash cayenne pepper

Set the Instant Pot on saute and add your oil and onions. Leave the lid off and stir frequently.  Saute the onions for about 4 minutes and then add in the rice and garlic.  Saute the onions and rice for about 2 minutes, until they begin to turn a golden color.

Add in the tomato sauce, chicken stock, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper and stir. Scrape the bottom so the rice doesn’t burn.  Close and lock the lid. Turn the Instant Pot to Manual HIGH for 8 minutes.

When 8 minutes is up and Instant Pot beeps, do a quick release of the pressure.  

#2,693: Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies

Like I mentioned in my previous recipe/post, I was told to bring a dessert to Easter this year, and since the traditional Lamb Cake was already being made, I wanted to make some sort of cookie.  Not being the best baker (because I don't do well with exact measurements), I figured this recipe looked easy enough for me to handle, and for the kids to help out with. This dough needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours in the fridge, but can be made up to 5 days in advance (although that seems like an awfully long time to prep it and then leave it in the fridge.  We wouldn't have any dough left if I waited 5 days to make it.  

To make this easier to handle when cold, right after you make this dough (prior to refrigerating it) portion out each cookie amount and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet (with each cookie dough ball right next to one another so you could get a lot on one sheet), then cover it with foil and put it in the fridge until the next day.  

When ready to bake, pull them out of the fridge for about 10 minutes and then place on a separate cookie sheet spread out so they were about 2 inches apart from one another.   

By the way, these are REALLY good cookies.  There are a lot of M and M's in this dough (an entire bag of them!!), and I made these more on the smaller side for a cookie, but it was a great grab-and-go snack/dessert.  

PS: I'm super thankful that this isn't my year to make the Lamb Cake and that I have probably 3 more years until I have to do it again!  Here's a pic of my Lamb Cake the last time I had to make it.  That poor lamb.  His head kept leaning more and more until it completely fell off! 

  

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch salt, optional and to taste

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate M and Ms (or another variety of M and Ms, or chocolate chips may be substituted)

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use a hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).

Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.  Add the M and Ms and fold in by hand.

Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping mounds. Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds very slightly with your palm, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread.

Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat, parchment, or spray with cooking spray, and place them on the baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly under cooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than ten minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool.

Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

#2,692: Spring Flower Pretzel Bites

I had to bring some sort of dessert to my cousin's house for Easter, and I knew my brother and his girlfriend already had the Lamb Cake covered, so I wanted to bring something small and easy to grab as you walked by.  I had the kids help me make these super easy pretzel bites, so this was a total family project.  These are so simple and so good!  I would definitely make this again!  This would be cute for a baby shower with just pink and blue candies.  Or just made with colors of a certain theme, school cools, etc.  I had never heard of Butter Snap Pretzels, but here is a link to what they look like and where I got them.

Butter Snap Pretzels

White Candy Melts

Pastel M and M's

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silicon baking liner.  Place the butter snap pretzels in rows on the baking sheet.  Put one candy melt on top of each pretzel.  Warm in oven for 2-3 minutes - you don't want them melted, just softened.

Quickly place one M and M in the center and surround it by 5 or 6 "petals". Gently press them down to "secure" them in the candy (they are definitely cuter with the "M" facing down so you can't see it).  

Let cool and serve. (You can speed up the cooling time by placing them in the refrigerator for a few minutes).  Store in an airtight container - enjoy!

April Fool's Cake Pops

My family doesn't necessarily try to prank our kids on April Fool's Day, but when I saw my cousin share this post on making cake pops out of brussel sprouts, I knew I had to bring these to Easter! 

These definitely look a lot like a cake pop, and even my dad didn't know there was something wrong with these.  They were really easy to make.  I just cut the bottom off the RAW brussel sprout and kept pulling away leaves until they were the size of a traditional cake pop.  Then I melted some chocolate (I bought this kind at my local Walmart) and dipped each one in.  I added some candy sprinkles and then placed it in a Styrofoam rectangle to keep it standing upright.  

I don't know what was funnier...the kids who took a big bite right away, or the ones who just kept eating the chocolate off it?!

#2,691: Irish Cheddar, Bacon and Potato Muffins

I've been trying to make each of the monthly muffins that Food Network Magazine put out at the beginning of the year (one for each month), and I personally thought these savory muffins sounded good, but I figured I was the only one who would probably eat these.  I was surprised that Allison enjoyed these and said they tasted a little bit like breakfast pizza...she's kind of right.  It does remind me of that a little.  The other two kiddos were not fans, although Matthew just licked his so I can't really say that counts as a true vote either way.  I liked these, but didn't love them, so I probably wouldn't make them again.  Not bad, just not my favorite thing to eat.

Also, they stick quite a bit to the paper liners, so using silicone muffin tins might be better to use!  

1 large Yukon Gold potato (8 ounces) (I'm so lazy I used refrigerated shredded hash browns)

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1¼ cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg

3 slices bacon, cooked with 1 tablespoon bacon grease reserved

4 ounces Irish cheddar cheese, diced

¼ cup chopped fresh chives (about ½ a bunch)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.

(I totally omitted this step) Cook the potato in the microwave. Poke the potato 5-6 times with a fork and wrap in a damp paper towel. Cook until the potato is just cooked through, about 4-5 minutes, being sure to turn it once during cooking. Let the potato cool. Once you can handle it carefully peel off the skin and grate the potato. Lightly season the grated potato with salt and pepper; toss to combine.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, egg, and tablespoon of bacon drippings. Pour the mixture into the well of the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Carefully fold in the grated potato, bacon, cheese, and chives.

Evenly divide the batter among the prepared paper liners. The batter should fill each to the top. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the top of the muffin is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to completely cool.

#2,690: Super Moist Banana Bread

Now this is definitely a moist banana bread.  I usually start to get nervous when it calls for 3 bananas because I'm afraid it's going to be too banana-y (is that a word?!), but figured I'd give this recipe a try with the kids.  They loved it!  The totally devoured it for breakfast for 2 days.  Although this does have quite a bit of sugar in it, so next time I'm going to cut back on that and see how it turns out. 

3 medium Bananas

3/4 cup Sugar (or 1/2 c honey)

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

1 Egg

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 tablespoon Cinnamon 

Preheat your oven to 350.

Mash your bananas.  Add the egg, sugar (or honey) and cooking oil to your bananas.

Add the dry ingredients to your banana mixture and stir just until moistened.

Spray the bottom and sides of a loaf pan with cooking spray. Cook for 50-55 minutes, or until a cake tester (or toothpick) inserted in middle comes out clean.  Allow pan to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack.

Remove the bread from the pan, and allow your bread to fully cool on a wire cooling rack.

#2,689: Instant Pot Fried Rice

I had total mixed reviews on this recipe.  First of all, I liked it...but it was NOTHING like fried rice, and I even added in some coconut aminos and sesame oil to amp up the flavor.  Would I make this particular recipe again, probably not only because it didn't taste like fried rice.  But would I make rice in the Instant Pot again?  For sure!  I'm still on the lookout for a more authentic fried rice recipe, but for a veggie rice, this was good. 

2 cups Long Grain Rice

2½ cups Vegetable Broth

2 Carrots

3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

½ cup Frozen Peas

2 Medium Eggs (I omitted only because I ran out of eggs!)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Add rice and vegetable stock in your instant pot. Mix so the rice is spread around evenly. Throw in diced carrots and close the lid.

Instant Pot Settings: turn the vent to “SEALING” position, press “MANUAL” and adjust the time to 3 minutes.  When the instant pot finished cooking, press “CANCEL” button. After 10 minutes, release the pressure manually.

Now mix the rice, it will be quite sticky but it should change its texture and lose quite a lot of its stickiness. Move the rice to a side and press the “SAUTE” function. Add oil and frozen peas and saute for about a minute before mixing everything together.

Make a well in the middle of the rice and add beaten eggs. Stir the egg into rice and fry everything together for a further 1-2 minutes before turning off Instant Pot completely. Taste it and if needed, season with salt and pepper.

#2,688: Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli

As a family, we all really enjoyed this quick Instant Pot dish.  The only complaint I had to this was that the broccoli was too hard for my liking.  I think it needed way more than 5-10 minutes to cook and soften.  Personally, it probably needed closer to 20 minutes for my liking.  Other than that, we really, really enjoyed this.  

2 tsp olive oil

1 1/2 pounds of flank steak, sliced very thin against the grain

1/2 cup diced shallots (I used sweet onion)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

2/3 cup beef stock 

1/3 cup of coconut aminos (or sub low sodium soy sauce)

2 T plus 1 tsp honey

3 1/2 cups of broccoli florets

1/2 T arrowroot or your favorite thickener/flour (I used cornstarch)

1/4 tsp salt

crushed red pepper

Whisk coconut aminos, chicken stock, honey and fresh ginger together. Set aside.

Set Instant Pot to Saute. When it's hot, add olive oil and shallots and sauté until they begin to soften and become fragrant. Add in garlic and cook an additional minute.

Pour stock mixture into the Instant Pot and add in sliced flank steak. Cover and lock your Instant Pot and set to manual/pressure cook for 12 minutes. When cook time is up, allow to naturally release for 5 minutes before finishing with a quick release.

Carefully take off the lid and remove 1 cup of the cooking liquid and make a slurry by whisking in 1/2 T of arrowroot starch. Mix until well combined and then return to pot. Set Instant Pot to sauté and stir until the sauce begins to thicken. Stir in salt. Turn pot to keep warm.

Add in chopped broccoli florets and stir everything together. Place lid on IP and give the broccoli 5-10 minutes to steam from the heat of the pot.

When broccoli is to desired tenderness, garnish with some scallions, crushed red pepper, and additional grated ginger if desired.

Serve over rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice.

#2,687: No Yeast Soft Pretzels

I always love a good warm soft pretzel.  But I am not a patient, yeast-using type of cook, so I was looking for an easy recipe that I could use that omitted it.  We whipped this recipe together really quickly, and I gave each of the kids enough dough to make 2 pretzels.  You would think I was torturing them asking them to roll out logs of dough.  Once they were done and put into a semi-pretzel shape, we coated half of them with an egg wash and salt, and the other half was coated with cinnamon and sugar.  It was a 50/50 split vote whether we liked the salty or sweet pretzels.  Both were good though.  These are a bit dense (but I expected that!), but still pretty good.  I don't think these compare to a good soft pretzel, but for a quick, easy recipe, I thought they were ok! 

1 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cups milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

topping suggestions: coarse salt, cinnamon, sugar, toasted sesame seeds, etc. 

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Stir together the first six ingredients to make a soft dough.

Sprinkle 2 tbsp of flour on the counter. Divide dough into two balls. Knead it. Put bowl upside down over balls for 15 minutes.

Divide each ball into four balls, resulting in eight total balls. Roll each ball into a long rope, about a foot in length and form into pretzel shape.

Spray cookie sheet and place pretzels on pan.  Beat egg and brush over pretzels. Sprinkle on your desired topping.

Place in the oven for 9-11 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.

#2,686: Instant Pot Taco Pasta

Although I thought this recipe sounded wonderful, I wasn't sure if my family (particularly my husband) would agree.  But I figured I'd take a chance and make it anyways (and there was some leftover Texas Roadhouse Pot Roast in the fridge if my husband absolutely hated it!).  Plus it gave me an excuse to try another Instant Pot recipe.  I made the meat mixture ahead of time on the stove when I had some extra free time, and so that I didn't have to spend as much time in the kitchen right at dinner time when it's usually a little crazy.  This would also be a great prep ahead meal for a quick weeknight dinner. 

Anyhow, I figured I was pushing my luck with this recipe but wanted to push it just a bit more, so I added some frozen riced cauliflower into the mix...AND MY FAMILY NEVER KNEW.  Score!!  Actually my kids were more concerned about the corn they could see in this dish.  Babies.  

I was so scared that the noodles wouldn't be cooked but I left it to fate and tried it anyways, and was shocked when the noodles were cooked after only 5 Instant Pot minutes!  

By the way, not only did we enjoy this dish, but it was really good as leftovers too! 

1 pound ground beef or turkey

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

2 Tablespoons taco seasoning

1 cup frozen sweet corn

1 - 14.5 oz. can of fired roasted diced tomatoes (I used picante sauce)
I also added about 1/3 cup of frozen riced cauliflower

2 cups chicken broth (I used 2 1/2 cups)

8 ounces small pasta of your choice, uncooked (I used 12 oz of elbow macaroni)

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded 

Optional Garnishes

Freshly chopped cilantro

Freshly chopped green onion

Sour cream

Chopped red onion

Extra cheese

Fresh salsa

Shredded lettuce

Set your Instant Pot to sauté. Add the ground meat and onion and cook until browned, stirring while it cooks. Once it is cooked add in the taco seasoning, frozen corn, fire roasted tomatoes, chicken broth and pasta. Cover and seal the lid. Change the Instant Pot to MANUAL HIGH and set the time to 5 minutes.

When the Instant Pot beeps showing that it is done, do a quick release. Once all of the pressure/steam is please turn off the Instant Pot. Remove the lid keeping the lid pointed away from you and stir the taco pasta together. Add the cheese to the pasta mixture. Cover the Instant Pot (do not seal it) and let the cheese melt for a minute or two. Open your Instant Pot and stir.

Serve the taco pasta in bowls with garnishes.

#2,685: Texas Roadhouse Pot Roast

We don't eat at Texas Roadhouse, so I can't vouch for the comparison to what they serve, but I can tell you that we loved this recipe!  I also highly doubt that Texas Roadhouse serves this as sandwiches, but that's how my family enjoys roasts the most.  

We eat some form of a roast fairly regularly and it's always hit or miss if my kids enjoy it or not.  I wasn't sure if they were going to be fans of this one, and in fact, would have bet they did not.  They completely proved me wrong!  We had 3 different meals leftover this week so we had a leftovers night, and both of the girls chose this meal over the other choices.  I'd say that's a good sign.  I too ate the leftovers but ended up making these as sort of nachos (chips, leftover meat, and some cheese) , which was also absolutely delicious!  We loved this recipe and I'd definitely make it again!

As I mentioned above, I served this as shredded beef sandwiches.  I just shredded the meat with 2 forks, and then put it back into the sauce to soak up more flavor.   

2 - 2.5 lb chuck roast

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper (any color), chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup water

Place roast in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Top with vegetables, BBQ sauce, tomato sauce, water and spices.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.  

#2,684: Instant Pot Green Beans with Mushrooms and Bacon

I've made this recipe three times now since I originally found it.  Personally I think it's easier to make this separately and not all in the instant pot.  I use my griddle to cook up a pound of bacon, and I only use what I need and save the rest for another time.  In a saute pan I cook the onions and mushrooms, and then in the instant pot I cook the green beans.  I don't know if I'd boil or steam green beans in a pot again.  I am always hit or miss if they turn out or not.  Sometimes they are perfectly cooked, and other times they are over cooked.  But each time I make them in my Instant Pot I end up eating all of them and they are cooked perfectly!  In fact, I'm making this again for dinner tonight!  

1 pound fresh green beans, cleaned and trimmed (while fresh green beans are best, frozen will work in a pinch)

6 ounces bacon, chopped

1/2 onion, diced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

splash of balsamic vinegar

sea salt and pepper, to taste

Place green beans in inner pot of pressure cooker.  Add enough water to barely cover the beans.  Put on the lid of your cooker, checking that the seals and all components are in good shape, including being in the sealing position.  Set to high for 1 to 2 minutes (fresh green beans) or 3 to 4 minutes (frozen green beans).

Once cycle is complete, hit the cancel button and allow pot to do a quick pressure release.

Drain green beans into a colander.  Set aside.

Turn pressure cooker to Saute function, or put stove-top cooker over medium heat.

Add bacon.  Let fat render.  Add onions and garlic.  Add mushrooms a little later, in time for them to get soft, but before bacon is too crispy.  Once bacon is crispy, onions are translucent, and mushrooms are soft turn your Instant Pot off and add the green beans back to the cooker.  Add a splash with vinegar and stir to combine.  Season to taste.