Trashy Tater Soup

Once again, I wanted to use some pantry goods so I sautéd some green onions in butter and canola oil in my instant pot. Deglazed with three cans of chicken broth, added a generous shake of Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute and two cans of cream of mushroom soup. Without mixing, I sealed the lid and closed the vent, cooked for 2 min on high. Once it beeped and pressure released, I added 1 packet of Betty Crocker buttery mashed potatoes and a packet of Idahoan Steakhouse Cheddar Broccoli Potato Soup, plus almost two cups of hot water. Mixed well and brought to a boil again. Once it boiled, I added three slices of colby jack cheese, stirred and let it sit for ten min to allow the instant spuds to rehydrate fully, lol. This is the result and it tastes amazing.

Graintastic

About a year or so ago, we discovered that Spouse had to watch his heme iron intake. Then recently we realized that all animal meat has some heme so I set about looking for an alternative to ground meat for tacos and burritos…his staple lunch foods. Rummaging in my cabinet I discovered some long forgotten and unopened bags of farro and purple barley. I had 2 cups of the farro and one of the barley so I mixed them together, added them along with 8 cups of beef stock, one cup of water and two packets of low sodium taco seasoning to my instant pot, cooked on high for 10 minutes and let it go. After it had cooked and vented, I added about 2 tbl of tomato paste and a drizzle of honey and gave it a good stir. Once cooled I bagged it all up into two 2 lb freezer bags and two 1 lb bags and immediately froze them.

The other day, Spouse thawed a bag and reheated to make burritos for lunch. He was surprised at not only how delicious it was, and how perfect the texture came out, but also at how utterly filling it was. He could only eat one burrito. Sine there was some left over, I made myself one. WOW. This is definitely something I will make again and again.

Thankfully I can get the farro and purple barley easily and inexpensively. I specifically want the purple barley because it is chewier and less squishy than regular barley. the texture is almost like that of ground meat. I plan to saute some up this weekend and use for making chili. Hopefully it works for that.

Parsnippery

So we have started getting bi-weekly boxes from Imperfect Foods. Last week we got some parsnips so the other day I decided to peel and cut them into sticks, tossed with olive oil and some Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning and popped them in the air fryer on 380 for about 15 minutes. I whipped up a dip of ranch and a dollop of mayo for dipping and had these for lunch. Delicious.

Curry-curry bo-burri

So in trying to use up some pantry goods, I invented this absolutely delicious sludge. It is not the prettiest bowl of food, but it tastes amazing.

5-6 yukon gold potatoes, cubed

1/2 of a very large sweet yellow onion, diced

1 can of chickpeas, drained

1 can of chicken broth

1 can of pumpkin puree

a drizzle of soup soy sauce

a drizzle of worcestershire sauce

1 packet of sodium free herb ox chicken bouillon powder

garlic powder to taste

4 blocks of Japanese curry roux

Lightly sauté onions and potatoes in some olive oil in the instant pot. Add chickpeas, worcestershire, soup soy sauce, chicken powder, garlic and chicken broth and stir well. Top with the four curry blocks and can of pumpkin. No need to stir again. Set on manual high pressure for 15 minutes. When it beeps, pressure release and stir well. Add in coconut milk and stir again until well combined. Serve in bowls atop cooked brown rice and quinoa (at least this is what I did).

Riceabelly

Okay, so I know the title is completely stupid, but I am feeling doubleplusmeh today and my creativity is at nil, lol.
I woke up around 5:30 this morning, feeling incredibly nauseated but yet somehow hungry. I decided to whip up a small pot of jook/congee, even though I have no chicken. I just threw the following things in the instant pot, set it to cook and went back to watching youtube videos until it was done.

3/4 cup of rinsed short grain rice

1 – 32 oz carton of unsalted chicken broth

drizzle of toasted sesame oil

minced garlic (to your tastes)

grated ginger (to your tastes)

drizzle of fish sauce

drizzle of Chinese red vinegar

salt (to your taste)

1 tbl of sugar

Drizzle some toasted sesame oil in the bottom of your instant pot pan and add the ginger and garlic, giving a good stir. Let that cook on the sauté function for a min or so before turning that off and adding the broth. Finally, add the rinsed rice cover, close the vent and set on the porridge setting for 30 min. Once it beeps, allow it to do a natural release for about 10 min before venting and stirring. Once you have stirred things up, add the salt, sugar, fish sauce and vinegar, or whatever else you would rather use. Soy sauce can work for the fish sauce, the sugar and vinegar can be left out. Tailor it to your tastes. Top with whatever you feel would taste good, chopped peanuts, dried shrimp, green onions, cilantro, etc. I opted for just plain with mine because of my tummy.

Chicken A Go Go

I marinated some chicken breast tenderloins overnight in Greek vinaigrette. Air fried them tonight and served atop a pilaf made from mixed veggies, garlic brown rice and quinoa, a little feta and some more Greek vinaigrette.

Easy, fast, and tastes fantastic. I may try something similar with a Zesty Italian dressing. I just keep on keeping on with the sloth inspired dinners, lol.

Beans, beans the magical fruit

Spouse and me love to have this for lunch/brunch. Easy, takes maybe 4 minutes to cook, (4 min to air fry toast while the beans get nuked) is loaded with fiber, relatively low in fat and DELICIOUS.

Sunday, Lazy Sunday

Not feeling particularly energetic, and not having thawed anything for dinner, this ended up being what I served.

Yup. Macaroni and cheese with peas. Also? I made it in the instant pot…and? It is BOXED mac & cheese. It isn’t even two boxes of the same kind. One box of Annie’s four cheese penne and the other is Annie’s butter and parmesan spirals. I did use chicken broth to make it, added some garlic and mushroom umami powder and extra cheese once it was cooked. But even the peas were reheated leftovers. Sounds kind of sad, tastes absolutely delicious. That’s how I do sloth…BOOM.

Gunge is the word

I woke up at 6 am, and decided to finally use up the apples that have been quietly going soft in the fruit bowl. I cored, sliced and peeled while watching the new season of The Great British Bakeoff on Netflix. (Which, btw, Rowan on biscuit week saying his coconut macaroons looked “a bit like the cat’s lavatory” totally made my day.) I chopped the apples right into my instant pot, added a cup of water (far too much in hindsight), a fuckton of cinnamon (also maybe too much for most, perfect for me) and some dark brown sugar. Set my IP to 15 min on manual high pressure and let it go. Once it beeped and I released the pressure it was…too liquid. Never one to give up easily, I just popped on the sauté function and let it reduce. What was left was a dark brown gunge that I was scared to taste.

So this is what came out, and you know it looks like dark brown gunge, but it tastes really good. A bit too sweet for how I like apple sauce usually, but perfect on toast. Huzzah! Next time, though I will cut back on the brown sugar and water, heh.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Well, chicken lunch anyway. I am currently roasting an entire 4 lb chicken in my airfryer. I stuffed the cavity with onions and clementines, sprayed the outside with coconut oil spray and shook on some Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning. Simple, but should be super flavorful. Will post photos as soon as it is done.

Here you go the leg and thigh I pulled off and am about to devour like a savage wolf: