Pressure Cooker Vegetable Burger Soup

It has been soooo cold this winter! The high was 6 today! I love having soup on days like these! I really didn't want to make chili so I ran to the store and caught up on some grocery shopping that I hadn't gotten around to in a good week or so and decided to make soup in my 6qt. Instant Pot for the first time! I used ground beef for this soup because I already had it thawing!

Vegetable Burger Soup

1lbs. ground beef
1 small onion
1 tbs. butter
minced garlic to your liking I used about 1 tbs. of pre-minced garlic
1 small 6oz or 8oz can of tomato sauce
2 qts. chicken broth
s+p to taste
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4-1/2 tsp. thyme
2 bay leaves (remove after cooking)

Veggies to your liking and cut to bite sized pieces. I used:
1/2 a bag of mini carrots cut in half
1/2 a head of cauliflower
2 medium sized heads of broccoli
1 zucchini
3 heart of celery sticks
6-7 small golden potatoes
1/2 medium/large green bell pepper

You may also use things like: cabbage, spinach, kale, mushrooms, etc...

1. Set you instant pot on a low saute and add the butter and small onion (if using bell pepper you made add this too) for 1 minute and then add ground beef and garlic. Cook ground beef through and then turn off saute and drain fat.

2. Add tomato sauce and one qt. container of chicken broth/stock.

3. Chop vegetables and add to stock most hardy at the beginning to least hardy at the end. Zucchini and leafy greens should be added last. After you add some carrots and celery, hit saute again and adjust to medium heat. This will warm up the broth while you finish chopping veggies. Continue to add all veggies to the pot and then add the last qt. of broth/stock making sure it doesn't go above the fill line but should cover your veggies.

4. Add all seasonings and make sure you have s+p to your liking. Make sure your silicone ring is in your lid and the vent is closed. Hit the soup button and let cook until finished. (Should be 30 minutes). May QR or let the pressure come down naturally about 10-15 minutes.

5. I garnished with some parmesan/romano cheese.

Serves 6-8

Italian Sausage Rice Pot

It has been a very long time! I recently made a new purchase and I LOVE it! I bought the 6qt. Instant Pot. This thing has changed my life! I have used it everyday and sometimes twice a day for the last two weeks! I already started making recipes for it!

My first recipe is an Italian sausage rice pot meal. It only took about 30 minutes between tossing in the ingredients, cooking, to eating time.

Italian Sausage Rice Pot
1 1/2 c. long grain white rice
2 1/2 c. chicken broth/stock
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
5 Italian sausage links whole and frozen works great
2-3 tbs. pepperoncini and juice
1/3 c. frozen or fresh bell peppers
3 tbs. giardiniera (I used mild but your choice)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add all ingredients to instant pot and seal.
2. Set manual time to 10 minutes.
3. After 10 minutes hit the Warm/Cancel button to turn off the IP and do Natural Pressure Release (NPR) for 10 minutes.
4. Remove sausages and use kitchen scissors to make into slices. Once back into pot stir until everything is mixed.

***Variation: The second time I made this I used thawed sausages and sliced before cooking. This made the rice have more grease mixed in from the sausage fat. I also added baby carrots to add some extra vegetables.

Meatballs!

I've been buying a lot of ground beef lately. Other cuts are just too expensive right now. So I need to find things to make that aren't the same everyday! Burgers just won't cut it. I created some meatballs, that are really good and would be paleo friendly but they do contain parmesan cheese.

Meatballs
Serves 3-4

1lb. grass-fed ground beef
1 egg
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
5 leaves of fresh basil; chopped
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
Dash of salt and pepper.
Optional coconut oil for cooking

1. May turn heat to medium and add 1tbs. of coconut oil. Turn off when coconut oil coats bottom of pan.

2. Using your hands, mix all the ingredients into the beef.

3. Divide into 10 balls of equal size and place in pan as you go.

4. Turn pan to medium heat, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes rotating the meatballs every 3 or 4 minutes until browned.

I love these! I made them twice now and the first time I didn't cook them in the oil. It makes no difference either way. Really, try them. You'll have them for dinner and you'll hardly be able to wait til the next day for the leftovers.

Burgers on the Grill Season

It's getting warm out! I love it! I love being outside and grilling so I can keep my kitchen fairly clean for once, too! Stuffed burgers are all the rage around here lately so I made my own burger stuffed with cream cheese.. and a few varieties of herbs.

 Stuffed Hamburgers

1lb. grass-fed ground beef
about 2 oz. of cream cheese room temperature
5 leaves fresh basil OR
1 T chives OR
any herb of your choice
garlic salt and pepper

1. Separate your pound of ground beef into 4 balls about the same size and mix your cream cheese with the herb of your choice in a small bowl.

2. Split each of your ground beef balls in half. Make very thin hamburger patties out of each half.

3. Sprinkle half of the patties with garlic salt and pepper and then take 1/4 of the cream cheese and herb mixture and spread evenly in the center of the patty.
4. Place your other patty halves on top of the cream cheese patty and attach into a hamburger form.

5. Grill for about 15 minutes on a medium heat grill alternating sides until the burger is not pink in the middle or cooked through.

Enjoy!

Coconut Crusted Chicken

This would be awesome with the Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato soup! I wanted some sort of friend chicken after eating different so I tried this out and it's pretty good!

Coconut Crusted Chicken

1-2lb. bonless skinless breasts or thighs
1-2 eggs

1-2 tbs. coconut milk
1/2c. + unsweetened organic coconut
1-2tbs. coconut oil

1. Whisk eggs and coconut milk in a bowl and put the coconut in another bowl.
2. Heat coconut oil on medium heat in a frying or sautee pan.
3. Dip chicken into egg mixture and then dip into the coconut on both sides.
4. Toss in pan to fry until the inside reaches 165 degrees.

Hint of sweet, feel free to add salt and pepper to taste.

Creamy Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Well, I just started typing out this post and the power went out! I'm glad it didn't stay out otherwise I don't know how I would have finished my meal! This soup is amazing. I could put spice in there to counter balance the sweetness but I like it just how it is. Super simple and tasty crock pot recipe. Make sure you cook some chicken or pork to go with it for protein!

Creamy Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

4c. butternut squash in 1" cubes (1 large)
4c. sweet potato in 1" cubes (2 large)
1/2c. coconut oil
1/2c. white onion chopped
2.5 - 3c. free range chicken broth (half for later)
1/2tsp.sea salt
1 can of organic coconut milk

1. Peel and cube squash and sweet potatoes.
2. Put all squash, potato, and onion, and coconut oil in the crock pot with half of the chicken broth.
3. Cook on high 4 hours or until tender.
4. When soft, process in a blender until smooth and return to pot.
5. Add rest of broth, salt, and can of coconut milk.
6. Mix and keep warm until ready to serve.

If you want to add some spices, try some cumin and red pepper to taste!

This soup would be awesome with coconut crusted chicken! See my next recipe!

Desperate for Chocolate!

Since I have to cut out all sugar and most carbs I definitely get cravings. I love chocolate and today it hit me really hard so I made something up in 5 minutes to give myself a little treat and satisfy a craving. Chocolate milk!

Paleo Chocolate Milk

1/2 c. organic full fat coconut milk
1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. pure maple syrup or to taste

1. Mix all ingredients well.
2. Split in half and share with spouse.

Makes 2 quarter cup servings.

I used a can of coconut milk I had previously opened and kept in the refrigerator so I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften it up some. It was just sweet enough and had coconut flavor too. I love it!