We finally have some sunshine here in Tennessee! Boy, is it hot but I would choose that over cold any day! Warm weather means more patio dining which I love. The other night I found myself on the patio of a cool little Nashville vegetarian restaurant called The Sunflower Cafe. I was meeting up with some new friends who also are eating a plant-based diet. I ordered this scrumptious vegan barbecue bowl that was made up of brown rice, smoky collards, and vegan seitan barbecue. It was out of this world!! I don’t know how in the world they made that barbecue taste and feel so much like pork, but they did it. Blew my mind!

I got home and immediately starting longing for a repeat of that meal. I tried making the seitan in my instant pot and although it wasn’t a disaster, it was way too chewy. I will have to keep trying on that one. The collard greens was quite a bit easier to recreate, and today I am sharing it with you! These collard greens have NO oil, NO meat, and only a few ingredients. Quick, easy and healthy!

Check out how it’s done here:

I had a yard sale yesterday and it was interesting to say the least. I personally love yard sale shopping, but it brings out some mighty strange characters.  One guy ripped into the driveway with an overflowing truck full of junk. He looked like Uncle Fester and talked in a gruff voice like he had a mouth full of marbles. He handed me a plastic cup with a Taco Bell dog on the front and asked me for black coffee. “No coffee here,” I said. Then he proceeded to tell me how pretty my smile was and he would like to take me home. I told him I come with a husband. Then he went around and made a huge pile of stuff (including a box of nursing bras) and struck a deal with me. He said he would come back with the money. He didn’t, but he left his dog cup.

Another young girl asked if she could just buy a whole tub of baby clothes for $25. I told her I wasn’t ready to sell it like that, but if she came back at two pm I might be feeling generous. She came back and by that time all the clothes were mixed up in the various tubs. I told her she could go through them and make a big pile of items she wanted. As she worked on her pile, she told her friend she didn’t want coats, anything over 12 months, and nothing stained. She made a pile and asked me how much. I said, “$20?” (There were 38 pieces of clothing.) She said, “Well, I thought I was gonna come back here and grab a tub for $25.” I said, “Well you can add more clothes if you’d like to your pile and pay $25.” She was really stuck on grabbing a tub. I asked why she would want to grab a tub of mixed up clothes when I’m letting her pick the pieces she wants. Again, I told her she could add more clothes to her pile and still pay just $20. She said, “But I only brought $11.”  Um, ok. “Alright, you can have that pile you picked out for $11 then.” She said, “But I thought I’d be getting a tub full,” she said. I replied, “I’m trying to follow your logic. You wanted to grab one of these tubs ‘as is’ and pay $25, but you only brought $11. And now, I’m letting you pick the clothes you actually want instead of a tub full of junk and agreeing to accept $11, and you clearly aren’t happy. What do you want exactly?” She said, “I don’t know. I just thought you said you’d be feeling generous, so I would get a tub.” She was pretty ticked off, but she gave me the $11 and took the clothes that I let her hand pick. Her friend later came back to buy something and told me that she was upset because she felt I misled her. I am still mystified by the whole thing. I truly thought I was being generous by letting her hand pick the clothes she wanted rather than take a random tub of mixed up sizes and conditions.

Anyway, I do understand that money is hard to part with, especially when you only have a little. For that reason, I’m sharing a cheap and easy Instant Pot recipe that is tasty and versatile. You can add hot sauce, top it with chicken or smoked sausage, or roll it up in a burrito. It will makes several meals, and stretch your hard earned dollar so that you can buy more at your next yard sale.

Here is a video to see how I did it:

I love lemon. It makes me happy. It makes me think of spring in the midst of these dreary February days. It’s fresh, zesty and blends wonderfully with sweet and savory ingredients!

I also love rice. I think rice was the main staple of my diet in college. I’ve come a long since my days of Minute Rice with butter and salt at the University of Maryland College Park. Now I whip up fancy rice salads like this one which combines two of my favorite things!

This salad has no oil so it stays low-fat and is perfect served on a bed of greens. I used Jasmine Rice for the nutty flavor that it offers, but you can sub other rice types. Just remember that the Instant Pot cooking times in the recipe below are specific to Jasmine Rice. If you change it, then you need to cook the rice you choose to the proper times in the Instant Pot.

Check out a video on how to make this rice salad here and don’t forget to subscribe!

Dressing for this salad adapted from Ordinary Vegan

Never have I cooked a lentil until this past weekend. I did it in my Instant Pot of course! In my quest to find some more plant based recipes, I was watching a bunch of videos and reading recipes about Lentil Chili. But, listen folks. I am SO sick of Mexican dishes. It seems like every whole 30 or healthy recipe is seasoned with cumin and chili powder. I need a break from that. I threw caution to the wind and just winged this recipe.

It turned out so tasty! Lentils, though – they kind of look like mush so prepare yourself. And, they overcook quickly. I saw some recipes online that had red lentils cooking for like 20 minutes! I imagine they would completely dissolve. I chose a cooking time in my Instant Pot that left them just slightly firm. Try not to forget to do the quick release as you want these to stop cooking quickly.

There are so many different ways you can eat these through the week. Eat them as a stew. Scoop them over some fresh steamed broccoli or over a baked potato for a carb-heavy meal. Put them as a side with your favorite meat. It is such a hearty dish that it will keep great through the week after you meal prep.

The big question I am anticipating:

I hate coconut. Can I sub the oil and coconut milk? Yes. Use olive oil or avocado oil instead of coconut oil. If you are subbing the canned coconut milk, use heavy cream. However, and this is important, add the heavy cream AFTER cooking is complete. Dairy products can sometimes curdle. These substitutions obviously change the overall flavor of this recipe, but it should still be tasty!

Check out a video on this prep here:

xo Jaime

Vegetables. I’m trying to eat them. Trying hard. And, I’m going to take you on the journey with me.

I already knew that I could successfully cook a beet. I did it in my Instant Pot and actually enjoyed it. If you didn’t see that recipe, check it out here. My neighbor, Sharon, gave me a butternut squash that had been sitting in my window seal begging to be eaten. I had apples in the fridge. I also happened to have a fennel. Why? I don’t know. I just bought one without really knowing what I would do with it. I figured if I tossed all those things with maple syrup and a little oil, then I would have something pretty special. I was right!

My kids wouldn’t touch this dish with a ten foot pole (shocking), but my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it with savory pork chops and a kale salad. The next day I had them for lunch over sautéed zucchini. They taste good hot or cold!

This dish tastes great, and it looks gorgeous on the table with the rich, beautiful holiday colors. If you are looking for a healthy dish to serve at your next dinner party, this would be a show-stopper. Enjoy!

In my fitness groups, we have been talking about what a critical time of year this is to stay dedicated to our health and fitness goals. This is when most people throw in the towel and start talking about “Jan 1st” as the magical date to make big changes. I say, why not right now? Just because you make good decisions for your health during the holidays doesn’t mean that you can’t indulge a little too! How about making sure you get in that 30 minutes of exercise each day as a non-negotiable? How about making a plan of action for how you will approach holidays meal. Will you fill your dinner plate with meat and vegetables and skip the bread basket, but indulge on a piece of pecan pie? Or would you rather fill up on rich mashed potatoes and gravy and let the kids enjoy the chocolate brownies? Or, are you going to eat all the food, but make sure that you are back on track the very next day? Make a conscious decision about how you are going to approach these things, and you are bound to feel less guilt-ridden anxiety and make better decisions for yourself.

All that said, why not be the person who brings a dish to the holiday table that doesn’t use refined sugar and a 1/2 lb of butter? If you are looking for ideas, I have a great one for you! Try this super-simple Maple Spiced Sweet Potato dish that you can throw together in roughly 15 minutes in your Instant Pot! Not everything has to be baked with brown sugar and butter to taste amazing. You might be surprised to find that some real maple syrup and unrefined coconut oil adds flavor while also letting you actually taste the natural flavor of the sweet potato. Of course you can sugar up this recipe as much you would like, but this version skips the guilt while serving up all the goodness! Your body will thank you!

Here is a video showing how it’s done. Don’t forget to subscribe to my youtube channel! And, if you are interested in joining my fitness accountability group, send me an email to moderndayfox@gmail.com!

xo Jaime

I’m on a mission to use as my Instant Pot as much as possible in preparing for holiday meals. I have two, after all, and they are just plain fun. I’m also on a mission not to use ANY white sugar or grains in the dishes I prepare for the family. I don’t expect everyone to eat healthy, but I’m going to do my part to offer more nutritious options. And, before you say it, yes, I do know that honey and maple syrup still have a high natural sugar and carb content. This should be considered a Paleo treat. We gotta live a little, right?

Before you tackle making your own cranberry sauce, I need to remind you of something. Cranberries are tart. Like, really, really tart. When you open a can of cranberry sauce and throw it on your Thanksgiving table, it is going to be loaded with refined sugar and have a different flavor than a homemade version. A homemade version like mine uses natural sweeteners like maple syrup and honey, and the natural flavor of the cranberry is a bit more prevalent. I want to remind you of that so you don’t taste it and then freak out on me. When you stop using white sugar in your cooking, it’s crazy how different food starts to taste. It seems like there is so much sugar in everything that it’s all we end up wanting to taste. After cutting it out for the last couple months, I’m finding my taste buds are changing and I’m enjoying the actual taste of the food I’m preparing.

If you do find the tartness to be too over-the-top, I included ways to tone it down. An additional tablespoon of honey or maple syrup, or some additional orange juice can really help. I will say that I made this for my son’s Thanksgiving program and I left with an empty bowl. So, that’s a good sign!

Here is a video to show you how I did it!

I love rice. I think it constituted about 90% of my diet in college. The other 10% was Fruity Pebbles. Lately, I have been craving that Yellow Rice that you get in the grocery store. You know, the kind that is like 65 cents, full of sodium, and looks like this…

But, I’m not in college anymore. So, I care about things like my blood pressure.

During a recent vacation, my friend whipped up her version of Yellow Rice in her Instant Pot and I was intrigued. I took her recipe home and tweaked it out to fit my taste preferences. I thought you might enjoy it too! This recipe is very, very basic and can be enhanced with additional seasonings like onion power or curry. You can also opt to toast your basmati rice in the oil before adding the other ingredients. Go crazy and throw in some diced onions sautéed in the oil too! Or, be lazy like me and follow the easy recipe below.

If you are a visual person, here is a how-to video complete with Paw Patrol in the background. Yay!

Enjoy!
xo Jaime

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