Beef Vegetable Instant Pot Soup

So, my goal this year is to convert some of my Slow Cooker recipes for use in the Instant Pot.  This one is loosely based off some of the Beef and Vegetable Soups listed in the Fix-it and Forget-It Cookbook Feasting with your Slow Cooker by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good.

I used those recipies as a starting point and then used what we had in the house.

Ingredients:

• Approximately 1 pound of beef cut into small pieces
• 2 pounds of fresh vegetables which included
  • 2 potatoes roughly chopped
  • 3 large carrots roughly chopped
  • cut up celery ribs
  • cut up fresh green beans
• flour  (any, but in my case gluten-free)
• garlic powder to taste
• onion powder to taste
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 medium onion chopped
• 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 32 oz beef stock (I use the kind in a box)
• olive oil

1. Mix the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a plastic bag or in the bottom of a pie tin.  Dredge the beef pieces through the flour mixture.
2.  Plug in your Instant Pot and turn on to Saute
3. Pour a small amount of olive oil into the Instant Pot.
4. Put the beef pieces in the Instant Pot and brown.  Remove the beef pieces after they are all partly browned.
5. Add the beef broth, diced tomatoes, vegetables, chopped onion and beef pieces to the Instant Pot while it is still on the Saute setting.
6. Stir all the ingredients together.
7. Add stock until it is below the Max Line.
8. Keep using the Saute feature until the liquid starts to get hot.
9. Turn off the Instant Pot and then set it to High Pressure for about 10 minutes.
10. After it is done, turn off the Instant Pot and do a Quick Release of the pressure.
11. Check that the liquid level still covers all of the ingredients.  Add more liquid, if needed.
12. Use the Slow Cook feature and set to ‘More’ (high temperature setting) and for over 4 hours.

After about 5 hours we were hungry.  The potatoes and carrots were soft and it smelled amazing.

My family really liked how the soup turned out.

 

What have you made in the Instant Pot lately?

Later – Heather

 

 

Crispy Slow Cooker Carnitas

I made a slightly modified version of this recipe tonight and it was a hit.  So, I figured I would share and post it here so I don’t forget where I found it.

Do you watch/ listen to YouTube bloggers?  Well, I have found some I really like, but that list will be for a post in the future.

But, this recipe was published on YouTube on June 28, 2017 by ‘She’s in Her Apron’.  A friend of hers found it from ‘Gimme Some Oven’ and the direct link is below:

Crispy Slow Cooker Carnitas

I actually had two cooked, plain, shredded chicken breasts in the fridge that I didn’t have a plan for.  So, I put the shredded meat in a saucepan and made the sauce with the addition of the juice from one Halo mandarins.  I then simmered it on medium-low for about 30 minutes.

After than I followed the actual recipe.  The husband commented on how good the house smelled when he came in the door and was more than happy to eat three tacos with this meat in them for dinner.

So, let me know if you try it and if you liked it.  This is definitely going in my list of Go To meals.

Heather

 

Amazing Chicken Drumsticks (gluten free even)

Well, I have worked on a couple of posts in the last few days with the intention of posting at least one soon.  But, I made these amazing Chicken Drumsticks (gluten free even) tonight so I had to share it first.

I had done a search for ‘spicy chicken legs’ and this recipe caught my attention:

http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2014/03/spicy-roasted-chicken-drumsticks.html

I made a couple of minor changes since I didn’t have a pan that could be used on the stovetop and then put in the oven.

a) I put a little butter in a 13×9 baking pan and put it in the oven so it would be hot when the chicken was ready to be put in the oven.  (When I put the chicken in the pan I added a little olive oil also.)

b) I ended up cooking the chicken at 375 degrees F by accident (and my chicken drumsticks were really meaty) so I cooked them for 45 minutes.

Oh, and I added the link to my ‘Links to other peoples gluten-free recipes’ page which is under ‘Gluten free pages’ so I can also find it easily in the future.

Let me know if you try them yourself.

Later – H

Gluten-free (Strawberry) Shortcake

When I was growing up my mom always made Bisquick type biscuits for Strawberry Shortcake and I continued to make it for years, but in a gluten-free form.  When strawberries first hit the local stores a few months ago I went looking for a new recipe for Strawberry Shortcake (either gluten-free or regular since I knew how to revise the recipe).  I found the following in a Google search:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/strawberry-shortcake

This shortcake is fluffy and my family really likes it so I think it will be my new standard.

Here is my version of the shortcake

Gluten Free Shortcake
Ingredients:
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening (or coconut oil)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup gluten-free flour (* my mixture doesn’t have xanthan gum in it)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup milk

whipped cream
fruit – fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced or other favorite fruit

Directions:
In a bowl, cream sugar and shortening (or coconut oil). Add egg and vanilla; beat well.
Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk to the creamed mixture.
Spread in a greased 9 inche square baking pan.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
Cool on wire rack.
Cut into nine servings. Split each serving horizontally, fill with the fruit and add whipped cream on top.

Enjoy!  – H