#1 Use a simple weekly planner and grocery list to plan out your meals the day before. Click these links for nice templates I found online for a weekly meal plan schedule and a grocery list. Once you do this type of planning for 4-5 weeks, you can reuse your schedules from month to month, or from season to season. No reason to cook the same tired thing every single week!

#2 Use what you’ve got. Every weekend, review what’s in your fridge. Have spinach that is about to turn? Throw it into a risotto. Have some chicken that you need to cook? Make soup!

#3 Be prepared with the right tools. Sturdy, BPA-free, microwave and freezer-safe containers like these will do you a world of good when reheating or storing your meals.

#4 You are more apt to make a green smoothie if you have prepped the ingredients in advance. Here is a video I put together on how to prep “smoothie packs.” I throw these into my Shakeology to give it an extra kick. For my kids, I use one frozen baggie along with one container of low sugar fruit yogurt and almond milk. They love them, and have no idea how much extra nutrition I’ve packed into their yummy drink! (Note: Freezing the produce improves the texture of your shake, and is also a great way to utilize produce that is close to turning bad.)

#5 Don’t eyeball your portions. Use these color-coded containers (contact me for more info on these) or basic measuring cups to make sure you are getting the appropriate amount of each food group. It’s so easy to put in twice the serving size of rice if you are just spooning it into the container.

#6 Everybody loves snacks, right? There is nothing worse than bring stuck in a meeting or in a traffic jam with no healthy options available. Your head is hurting, your energy level is falling, and your “bathroom break” really consists of you running with a dollar in your hand to the nearest vending machine and then inhaling peanut M&Ms and pork rinds. Don’t go there. Portion out almonds, rice crackers, or sunflower seeds and put them in your laptop bag. Grab an apple, or a Lara Bar and stick it in your purse or glove box. Just make sure you choose something that won’t spoil quickly. I can’t tell you how many times I have found a bag of nuts in the bottom of my briefcase and practically cried tears of joy.

#7 Don’t do too much right off the bat. You are sure to become overwhelmed and burn yourself out almost immediately if you try to do too much too soon. I advise my clients to start with baking a whole chicken, hard boiling some eggs, and cooking a batch of rice and broccoli. Those simple items are a great way to get started. The following week you can throw in some mason jar salads and change up your vegetable to cooked carrots. The week after that, throw in a batch of soup. Soon it will be become like clockwork and you will have a manageable meal prep that takes around two hours, but saves you at least ten hours throughout the week!

What other tips do you have for our readers for a successful meal prep! Share in the comments, along with any questions you may have.

Happy Prepping!

xo Jaime

This post contains some affiliate links for products I use and love. When you purchase off these links, you are helping to directly support this blog! I thank you for that!

I have to admit I jumped on two trains this past month. I don’t like jumping on trains. I like being different. But sometimes, there are things that are too good to ignore. Like the Instant Pot. Duh. And, Beachbody workouts. Double duh. And most recently, the TV show, “This Is Us.” And, Lularoe leggings. Or watching “This is Us” in Lularoe leggings. Who am I?? How did I end up sobbing in front of the TV in these ridiculously butter soft pants? Well, I did. Guess what? I’m not sorry. The show has phenomenal actors and I don’t need to pull the leggings up constantly.

You know what also fits in perfectly with a night of great TV and comfortable leggings? Mississippi Roast in my bowl. Aw, hell yeah. I’ve been making this roast for years in my crock pot, but it hit me recently that I could make it in a quarter of the time in my Instant Pot. If you have testosterone in your household, this will have them beating on their chests. There are plenty of versions of this recipe on the world wide web, but I’ve been using this method for several years.

First, pour some oil in your pot and press the Saute button.

When your pot is nice and hot, season your chuck roast with salt and pepper and sear each side in the hot oil for a few minutes.

Turn the pot off. Add one cup of beef broth and 5-6 whole pepperoncinis.

Add one packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix.

Add one packet Brown Gravy Mix. Aus Jus Mix packets also work well with this recipe.

Add a half of a stick of real butter.

Set your pot to High Pressure for 90 minutes with a quick release.

Open your pot and breathe in the most wonderful, richest aroma you’ve ever smelled. YUM!

You may want to make a corn starch slurry and thicken up the broth. I didn’t this time, but I may do it next time! Who doesn’t love gravy?

I served this roast with homemade mashed potatoes and green beans. There were a lot of happy bellies that night!

Instant Pot Mississippi Roast

INGREDIENTS:

5 lb Chuck Roast

1 TBSP Olive Oil

1 cup beef broth

5-6 pepperoncini (if you love the flavor of pepperoncinis, add 1/2 cup of the juice!)

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Mix

1 packet Brown Gravy Mix or Au Jus Mix

1/2 stick real butter

DIRECTIONS:

Turn Instant Pot on Saute. Add olive oil. Season roast with salt and pepper, then brown for three minutes each on both sides. Turn off the pot. Add broth, pepperoncini, Ranch packet, brown gravy packet, and butter. Turn on pot Manual High Pressure for 90 minutes and turn valve to sealing. When the timer goes off, turn the valve for a quick release. OPTIONAL: If you would like a thicker gravy, remove a couple cups of the broth from the pot. Prepare a corn starch slurry by using one TBSP corn starch per cup of broth and equal parts cold water. Mix well. In a saucepan, warm your broth and stir in your slurry. Bring to a boil. The broth will thicken as it boils. Cook long enough to remove any starch flavor, but do not over-cook as this will thin the sauce out again. Pour the gravy over the meat, and enjoy!

xo Jaime

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links for products that I use and love. If you use these links to purchase, you are helping me to keep this blog alive!

Boy, oh boy. Lately, the kitchen has been my great escape from the world. It’s tough out there right now, y’all! I know I’m preaching to the choir, but it seems everywhere you turn negativity is all you encounter. We have to put on our blinders and forge ahead. It’s hard not to fall into the rabbit hole of a political conversation, or get roped into choosing “sides” among friends. Don’t fall for it, friends! Misery loves company. But, I’m sorry. Misery ain’t being served up at this party! But, you know what is? Mashed ‘taters! That’s what!

Some relatives came over for dinner the other night and I of course waited until the last minute to decide what to make. The Instant Pot came to my rescue again. I had seen tons of posts where folks had made mashed potatoes in their pots and I was anxious to see how it went for me. I tried out my nearly famous Garlic Red Mashed Potatoes recipe, and it was a show-stopper served under a Mississippi Roast. (Look for the roast post coming soon! Hey, that rhymes!)

Here’s how it went down:

I gave a thorough wash of my red potatoes. (I used around 20 potatoes.)

Then I cut them in half.

Put ’em in the pot.

I added 1/2 Tablespoon of Garlic Powder and a 1/2 Tablespoon of salt.

Then, I added one cup beef broth.

I set my Instant Pot for Manual HP 8 minutes with quick release.

I drained the broth from the potatoes and returned them to the pot.

I added 1/4 cup whole milk and 2 TBSP real butter. (Note: If I find the potatoes are too thick, I add more milk, as needed.)

Blended them with my hand mixer right in the pot!

I love the pops of red from the peel.

Lastly, I just added salt and pepper to taste. Mashed potatoes can never be salty enough for me!

These were a hit!

Ingredients:

20 Red Potatoes

1 cup broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)

1/2 TBSP garlic powder

1/2 TBSP sea salt

2 TBSP real butter

1/4 whole milk (add more if potatoes seem to thick)

Directions:

Wash and halve the potatoes. Add to inner stainless steel pot with one cup of broth. Set to manual high power for 8 minutes. When cooking has completed, release valve with a Quick Release. Strain broth from potatoes and return to the pot. Add garlic powder, salt, butter and milk. Blend with hand mixer until desired texture. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, and enjoy!

xo Jaime

This post contains Amazon affiliate links which simply help generate income for my blog and help me keep it going. I only posts link for products I actually use and love!

Being part of cooking groups on Facebook is quite the roller coaster ride. Reading the comments is proof that folks can argue over literally anything! All drama aside, if you make it through the name-calling you are bound to stumble on some amazing recipes and great tips. Whenever something feels mind-blowing to me, I just have to share it with the world. So, today, here is a collection of tips that I’ve gathered from the at-home chefs of world wide web that I think are worth sharing!

#1. Your freezer is your new best friend. We all know how useful the freezer can be, but sometimes we don’t consider that we can freeze certain things that seem, well, “unfreezeable.” (I know that makes no sense!) One lady, Julia, mentioned that she buys giant bags of celery, onions, carrots. She washes them, runs them through food processor, and then puts them in gallon freezer bags. Those items are always on hand for recipes! She also zest lemons and keeps the zest in a bag in the freezer. Get this – she then juices the lemons, and freezes the juice in ice cube trays. Genius! Several other people recommended freezing just about everything under the sun – herbs, bananas in their peel, coffee cubes to drop into hot coffee to cool it without watering it down. And here is one more that blew my mind:

Beverly said, “You can freeze raw, fresh, whole tomatoes. I don’t even put them in containers. If you pull them out of freezer and let them sit for 5 – 10 minutes, the skin will slip off like an (Instant Pot) hard-boiled egg. Throw them in any soup, sauce or stew and viola! I use them in so many things. No more wasted tomatoes or running to the store because I was out.” What??? Whole tomatoes in the freezer? I can honestly say that I’ve never even considered that.

#2. Use your IP Pot or your crockpot as a freezer mold, suggests Rich. Prep your food, put it in a freezer bag, and then freeze it inside the bowl. That way it is guaranteed to fit back when you’re ready to cook it.

#3. Out of heavy cream? No worries. Camille says, “Quite a few soup recipes call for cream. In a pinch, you can use 1/3 C melted butter + 3/4 milk to substitute for 1 C cream. I’ve used this swap many times and it works, and tastes great!”

#4. Cut your chicken shredding time in half. I’ve heard this one a couple different places, like on this video posted on Youtube by Civilized Caveman Cooking, George Bryant. Marcela from IP Community said, “I used to shred chicken by hand now I just stick it in my KitchenAid mixer 15 seconds later it’s shredded!”

#5. Repurpose your shower cap. Huh? That’s right, your shower cap. Use it to perfectly cover dishes by stretching it around the edge of the bowl. Wash and reuse!

#6. Freeze the cheese. Seriously! Freeze a block of cheese for about 30 minutes and grating becomes a breeze.

#7. Get the nasty off your fruits and veggies. Lord knows what you’re really grabbing when you pick up that ridiculously shiny red apple off the produce shelf. Save some bucks by creating a produce wash using baking soda and water. Other folks recommend vinegar and water as working just as well!

#8. Marshmallows are awesome.  We already know that. But did you know you can use them to keep your brown sugar soft by popping a couple in the bag?

#9 Cutting potatoes is a snap. Just use your apple corer!

#10. Turn your Instant Pot into a self cleaner. This one comes from yours truly. One night my pot was scorched and the filth at the bottom of the pan wasn’t budging. I sprinkled baking soda all around the bottom of the pan, added 4 cups water, and set my IP on 5 min HP. I enjoyed my dinner and when I was done I opened the pot. The water was dirty and when I dumped it out, the pot was nearly clean. A little Dawn, a rinse and a quick scrub and my pot was shiny again! Here is a video tutorial:

Hope some of these hacks help you in the kitchen!

xo Jaime

My neighbor, Sharon, is back and this time with a recipe that is perfect for those of you watching your carbs this New Year!

(Post and Photography contributed by Sharon Harrod)

While visiting my family for the holidays I was learning about the next step to the Wheat Belly diet, which is called “wheat belly total health.”  One of my brother-in-law’s go to lunches is a bread free Reuben.  I decided to make several at a time and I refer to them as “Lunch Pods.” You can store them in the refrigerator pop one out at a time, heat it up and you’re good to go. The bonus is that they are very filling and delicious. You don’t even miss the bread!

 

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown.

My neighbor, Sharon, is always cooking up the tastiest dishes. She’s back on the blog serving up a roasted veggie side dish for our readers today!

(Post and Photography contributed by Sharon Harrod)

I adore roasted veggies. They are like candy! My new favorite is butternut squash. Serve with pork tenderloin, steak, salmon or… why not just eat the whole pan like candy or a sleeve of cookies?!?

Peel the butternut squash. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice it and one half inch pieces.

Place on a cookie sheet drizzle with olive oil sprinkle either cayenne pepper or for the faint-of-heart who don’t like spicy use chili powder salt and pepper.

Bake on 400 for 20 to 30 minutes or until brown.

One of my favorite meals on Earth is P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef. I am drooling just thinking about it. In fact, I feel a date night coming on. But until then, I found a copycat recipe on Once a Month Meals that made my heart sing! And, bonus points that it is Paleo and a much cleaner recipe than many of the others that call for brown sugar.

While visiting my bestie, Kelley, we whipped this up together. It was a perfect dish to enjoy, especially for her daughter who has food sensitivities. I brought my Instant Pot along with me on my visit, so we had twins! What fun! And, yes, it did make me want to buy another.

Check out the recipe here for the ingredients and directions for this dish.

First, we sliced the flank steak against the grain.

Next, we tossed it in arrowroot flour.

We mixed up the ingredients which would make up the sauce.

What is a dish if it doesn’t include minced garlic?

Kelley grated the carrots and chopped the green onions.

All of it goes in the Pot!

Meat goes in last before putting on the lid.

Manual High pressure for 35 minutes!

Meanwhile, a google search led me to the perfect white rice recipe on Dad Cooks Dinner.

Look at our twins! Aren’t they cute?

The rice cooked perfectly for the dish. We purposely didn’t rinse it so it would be sticky.

Here is the finished product! Two moms, one dad, and two teens all gave it two thumbs up!

If you try this recipe, let me know in the comments how it turns out!

xo Jaime

This post contains some affiliate links for products I love. All opinions are 100% my own. If you purchase using these links, you are helping to support this blog! Thank you for that!

Where, oh where, is the sun? And why is it so cold my face hurts? I don’t do well with winter. I really have to push through each and every day, struggling to keep a grip on my spirits. I truly believe seasonal depression is a very real thing, and it affects me every January and February like clockwork. One thing I do a lot of during the winter months is make hearty soups. A warm bowl of soup is kind of like a blanket to the soul. Don’t you agree?

My Instant Pot has been incredible for making soups, so I whipped up some chicken noodle soup and wanted to share the recipe with you.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

3 chopped celery stalks

1 cup carrot coins (or chopped carrots)

1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning

Salt and Pepper

3 (32 oz) box chicken broth (or homemade broth)

6 oz Extra Wide Egg Noodles

Directions:
Sauté minced garlic, diced onions, celery and carrots with heavy seasonings (I used S and P, Italian seasoning, and onion powder) in pot using olive oil.

Add two chicken breasts on top. Pour enough broth in to just cover chicken breast.

Turn Instant Pot on Manual High Pressure for 7 minutes with 3 min NPR before releasing pressure.

Remove chicken breast and place on cutting board. Shred and dice. (You can shred while the noodles are cooking!)

Turn pot to Sauté and adjust to More. Add another 32oz of broth to pot. Let it come to a boil. When it is boiling, add half a bag of egg noodles.

When noodles are al dente’, turn off your pot and add chicken. Stir well.

At this point, you may want to add more seasoning to taste and additional broth or water if you like a brothier soup. I do, so I added another 32 oz of chicken stock. In total, I probably used 3 boxes of broth. (I made my own previously so I wasn’t really measuring.) Enjoy!

(This post may contain affiliate links which benefit this blog if you click and purchase! This helps me keep my blog going. I only ever link items that I truly believe in!)

Another post from my lovely neighbor, Sharon!

(Post and photography contributed by Sharon Harrod)

A Tennessee snow day means a cooking day for me! This recipe is my take on BAKED EGGS from “The Chew.” It starts with a delicious tomato basil garlic sauce in the bottom of a ramekin, an egg in the middle, and topped with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. The tomatoes in these baked eggs add many vitamins and beta carotene which act as antioxidants, so this recipe could also be a nice addition to your morning menu. This breakfast offers a yummy change from your tired scrambled eggs!

Baked Eggs (Adapted from The Chew)

Ingredients
1 28 ounce can of organic crushed, diced, or whole tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons roasted garlic

2 tablespoons fresh or dried basil

6 eggs

1 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Directions:
First, pour a 28 ounce can of crushed, diced or whole tomatoes into your Vitamix or whatever pureeing device you own. I use organic tomatoes.

Next, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of fresh or dried basil. The Chew recipe called for fresh basil and raw garlic however I believe that the roasted garlic adds another level of flavor. I always roast a couple of heads of garlic and then squeeze the garlic out. I keep them in a container in my refrigerator to use as needed. I also had a massive amount of Basil in my garden this year so I dried it and then crumble it into my recipes throughout the winter. Blend thoroughly.

Pour the sauce into medium sized ramekins or small baking dishes. Crack an egg over the sauce. Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese over the egg and salt and pepper.

Bake for 20 -25 minutes or until the egg center is to your liking.

Top with fresh basil and serve.

Enjoy every cheesy bite!

I’m on Day 5 of the 21 Day Fix and my sweet tooth is still recovering from the holidays. I can’t abandon it all together! My husband and I sit together and look longingly into our kitchen each night wishing for bowls of brownies and ice cream. If weight gain was not a consequence, there is no question we would eat ourselves into an oblivion of sugary treats.

But, alas, we are trying to be healthy. I’ve been wanting to make up some of my own recipes for the Instant Pot, so I pursued the web for some apple crisp recipes. They were all full of brown sugar and butter, so I made my own adjustments and came up with something very tasty! I made this gluten-free, but I feel sure you could use whole wheat or regular flour and it would be fine. If you omit the flour altogether you lose the “topping” so I’d keep it in if that is important to you.

The hubby said the only thing missing was ice cream! Maybe another time, honey!

Here is a very bad cell phone photo – I didn’t have my pro camera out because this was supposed to just be an experiment!

Ingredients:
2 Apples – (I left on the peel, but make that your own preference)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping:
2 teaspoon melted coconut oil

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 tablespoon gluten free flour

8-10 crushed pecans

Directions:

Core and chop apples.

Toss apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg in stainless steel bowl that can fit in IP (or any kind of bowl that can withstand the IP) until well coated.
Mix all ingredients for topping in a separate bowl. Spoon over apples.
Place bowl on trivet inside instant pot. Add one cup water to the bottom of the pot.
Cook Manual HP 8 minutes with an 8 minute NP. Release remaining pressure.

If you prefer a crunchier topping, broil 4-5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

21 Day Fix container counts per serving:
1 Purple, 1/2 yellow, 2 teaspoons

Here is a video tutorial!