I am so excited to be teaming up on a couple recipes with a local business owner and chef, Kristie Holdren. Kristie is the owner of My Veggie Chef, a Nashville company which delivers prepped freezer bags of whole food plant based meals locally here in Middle Tennessee and also ships to 38 states.

Since switching to a whole food plant based diet back in December, my weekly meal prep began kicking my booty. Without meat, dairy, or eggs, I basically have had to teach myself to cook all over again! I needed to press the “easy” button. Enter My Veggie Chef. Each week, Kristie releases a menu of five entree choices and allows customers to customize their orders by choosing which meals they prefer for the week. Don’t care for tempeh (like me)? No problem. Double up on the Carribean Quinoa Burgers. The meals, which feed four, are delivered to my home every Sunday and left in a complimentary freezer satchel provided by My Veggie Chef. The meals arrive in Ziploc bags with a sticker containing the cooking instructions. I put them in the freezer and set one out each day. They take roughly 20 minutes to cook each night. The best part? There are many meals that I can put directly into my Instant Pot frozen, and you know I love that! The meals are healthy and delicious, and full of plants!

This is not a sponsored post. I just love small business owners with unique ideas, especially when they support healthy lifestyles. I’m a paying customer, and plan to continue to being one!

Kristie sent me this hearty split pea soup recipe to share with all of you. Of course I converted it to the Instant Pot! Did you expect any less? As we hammer through these frigid days at the cusp of Spring, this soup is sure to warm you up and make your belly happy!

Photography and Food Styling Credit: Sherry Mata

Check out a video tutorial here:

Pasta with white beans is a recipe has appeared on my menu a couple times over the last few weeks. I made the Red, White and Green Pasta from The Simple Vegan Cookbook and loved it. Then, my weekly order from My Veggie Chef had a very similar dish. Both times my family really liked it, so I knew I had to create my own recipe for the Instant Pot. I think I came up with something very special with this recipe! It is low in fat, vegetarian, and delicious!

The sky is the limit on how you can improvise with this recipe. Add some chicken or sausage if you eat meat. Add some feta if you eat cheese. Add olives and pine nuts to make it even more Mediterranean. Switch out the spinach with argula or kale. You do you, and make this dish your own. I do recommend using the sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes that are soaked in oil. It gives the pasta great flavor! If you opt for ones that are not soaked, you may need tom compensate with additional spices. Remember, any change in the recipe that you make can affect the outcome. The directions are for white penne pasta. If you change the pasta, you may need to research to see how that changes cooking times.

Check out how to make this recipe here on my youtube channel:

I’ve been on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster this weekend. My Gram is 94 years old and has been in nursing home for the last few years. She is blind and pretty much confined to her bed, only occasionally going to the cafeteria if a relative insists she does. Everyday my dad (her only child) goes to visit her and she asks why God won’t just take her home. It must be so hard on them both to have that conversation everyday.

This weekend she developed pneumonia and was taken to the hospital. They told us that the infection was in her blood and the antibiotics probably would not knock it out of her system. Since she requested no life saving measures, any other treatments would be too invasive. My dad said she appeared close to passing on and started meeting with Hospice. I prepared myself minute by minute for the “call.” I was so sad, but I knew she had been ready for so long. My brother went over for a visit after work. He said when he walked in she looked as if she could go any minute. But only 30 minutes later, she woke up and started talking. She was confused, and mad! But, to say she did a 180 is an understatement. When my dad returned, he said she was back to complaining about everything which is a good sign.

When my dad called me to tell me, I honestly didn’t know how to feel. I wanted to feel overjoyed that she turned for the better. Ultimately, I am of course so happy that I got to talk with her again. But, I also feel a lot of sadness for her. She feels so much misery with a life of just “existing.” I feel selfish wanting her to live forever, but I feel guilty as hell wishing for anything else.

Today when I spoke with her she said, “You all thought the good Lord was gonna take me home, but He fooled the hell out of you!” I cracked up. That right there is why it’s so hard to say good-bye.

So, like I said, I’ve been on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. When your emotions get the best of you, that might be a sign it’s time to make a pasta dish. And, that’s what the rest of this post is about. Here is the easiest one pot Pasta Bolognese for your Instant Pot ever. It’s perfect a busy weeknight when you forgot to plan your dinner. You can make it vegan by subbing out the ground beef with diced mushrooms. Saute them just like you would the meat, and then follow the rest of the directions.

Check out this video to see just how easy it is!

I know why Northerners laugh at Southerners when it comes to weather. I know because I was a Northerner for the first 22 years of my life, but I’ve been a Southerner for the last 19. I remember opening the front door when I was in high school and seeing the snow over waist high. I believe it was the Blizzard of ’93 in Maryland. We were holed up in our house for days with good reason. But now, I live in Tennessee and we too are currently holed up in our home because of less than 1.5″ of snow. My kids haven’t been to school since last Thursday. They cancelled school on Friday because it was supposed to snow. It didn’t. Today is Tuesday and we did have a good snowfall today. School is already cancelled for tomorrow. My husband has bets that it will also be closed on Thursday.

I get it. Tennessee is not equipped with enough plows and salt trucks to quickly service entire counties, especially in rural areas. Safety comes first, and I totally agree with that. It’s just the hysteria that gets me. There was no national news shown on TV this morning, just live coverage of the snowfall and slush from every corner of the state. (Wait, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing, after all.) The bread and milk shelves were emptied last Thursday. The kids refuse to go outside and play because it’s “too cold.”

What to do? For me, I cook. And cook, and cook, and cook. I whipped together a comforting chicken vegetable soup in my Instant Pot using what I had on hand – because you know I couldn’t get to the store. Best part was that both kids really loved it, and I loved seeing them actually eat their veggies!

One little note – you can definitely use fresh chicken. If you do, put the chicken in your soup in the IP for 10 minutes and then release. Remove chicken and chop. Add back to the pot and then cook for another 5 minutes high pressure with a quick release. If your chicken is frozen, then set the IP for 15 minutes instead of 10. Chop and return to the pot for another 5 min high pressure with a quick release.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links which help to directly support the life of this blog. When you use my links for purchases, you help keep Modern Day Fox alive! Thank you!

The next few recipes I will be posting on Modern Day Fox were designed specifically for a prep that I created for a friend in need. I have been six weeks meat and dairy free, and focused on a whole food, plant based diet. I’m feeling great, but I have to admit that I miss cooking meat in my Instant Pot even more so than eating it. How crazy is that? What can I say? I just love experimenting with my IP.  When my friend, Cassie, asked if I would help with some freezer meal prepping for her to use post-surgery, I jumped at the chance. Not only would this allow me to be of service to a friend, but I would also be able to whip up some fun meat-based recipes to share with you.

There are many Beef Stew recipes out there, but mine was probably most heavily influenced by this one at Budget Bytes. I prefer a specific mix of vegetables though – always gotta have potatoes, onion, carrots, and celery in my stew. I also do not love worchestershire or thyme flavors in my stew. I love to add red wine in my beef recipes as that added layer deepens the flavor. Finally, an arrowroot slurry gives it the perfect stew texture.

I hope you enjoy my version of this American classic!

xo

Jaime

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

I love cooking pork in my Instant Pot. Pork happens to be my favorite meat, and I make it for my family regularly! The Instant Pot has made it a much faster process. Pork Carnitas is my favorite way to prepare the meat, but often the recipes are a bit too spicy for my little guys. Because of this, I decided to throw together my own version and share it with you. Feel free to spice it up with extra cumin, chili powder, and even some habanero peppers if that is your jam!

Remember that the cut of meat is very important depending on what results you want get from your pork. In my video below, I chose a slightly leaner cut of meat with a pork tenderloin. But, a pork shoulder roast has much more fat and makes for a more tender dish. I’m trying to watch my weight a bit right now due to the holiday temptations in every direction, so I opted for a cut less fatty. I don’t recommend trimming the fat on a pork tenderloin. You need the fat to keep the meat nice and tender!

Check out a video of this prep here:

I hope your family enjoys this dish!

xo Jaime

My best friend, Chad, was dealt an unexpected blow this year. Out of the blue, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroendocrine Cancer and Type 2 Diabetes. To say we were shocked by this news is the understatement of the year! Chad and I have been singing partners for over 12 years, and he is like a brother to me.

Chad is handling this turn of events like a champion. It SUCKS, and there is no question about that. But, Chad has dedicated himself to trying to inspire others not to give up the fight. Touching others keeps his fight alive! As part of being a service to others, Chad asked if he could join me in some of my cooking videos to make some diabetic friendly recipes. He is hoping he can help inspire others to heal themselves with healthy eating as he does the same for himself.

Since he used to work on a Thai food truck, Chad and I decided to whip together an easy and flavorful Instant Pot Thai Soup! Check out our video here, and the recipe below!

By the way, if you are interested in helping Chad with his medical expenses, all of the proceeds of our band, The Desert Okies’ new CD go to support him. Check it out at www.desertokies.com!

This post may contain affiliate links for products I use and love. When you use these links to make purchases, you help keep Modern Day Fox alive! Thank you!

“Carrot soup? That sounds… um, not good.”

That’s what I said when my best friend, Kelley, suggested we throw together an Instant Pot soup for my blog. But, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of disguising a serving of vegetables into a smooth soup. Make it tasty enough and no one in my family would know they were eating a full serving of veggies. Heck, I hardly noticed myself!

Both Kelley and I deal with food intolerances in our households, so we immediately knew we would make it gluten and dairy-free. We strive to create dishes that are easy, and that meet the needs of our loved ones too. Our end result was a rich, almost buttery-tasting soup that was a cinch to throw together. Even my six year old wolfed down a bowl, and that says something – trust me!

We hope you enjoy it too!

Check out the prep video here:

xo Jaime

Note: This post contains affiliate links that directly help support the life of this blog. When you use my links for purchase, you help keep Modern Day Fox going! I’m not sponsored by any company, and anything I recommend in this post I have actually purchased myself.

Wow! This recipe took off fast in the Instant Pot Community! So happy to see so many excited about how EASY using the Instant Pot can be. There is nothing to be scared of, folks! Not only is this soup easy though, it’s also healthy, gluten and grain-free, and fits perfectly with the 21 Day Fix nutrition plan.

A little warning – this soup has some kick. If you are sensitive to spice or have little ones who go crazy with the slightest hint of heat, sub the Rotel for another can of diced tomatoes. You may also consider cutting the chili powder to a half tablespoon and the pepper to a half teaspoon. As for me, I love a lot of flavor in my recipes so I love all the spices.

Check out my video on how to make this soup:

This post contains affiliate links that help support my blog. When you make purchases using my links, you help me keep it afloat! All opinions are my own and I only recommend products I actually use.

Print Recipe

Modern Day Fox Instant Pot Tortilla "Dump" Soup

Course

Soup

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

15 min

Passive Time

8 min (time to pressure)

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh chicken breast
• 1 can black bean drained and rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can Rotel (Mild) (Rotel is diced tomatoes w green chile peppers
• 1 TBSP Cumin
• 1 TBSP Salt
• 1 TBSP Chili powder reduce to 1/2 TBSP if sensitive to spice
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if sensitive to spice
• 1 TBSP minced garlic heaping
• 6 cups Chicken broth

Course Soup Prep Time 5 min Cook Time 15 min Passive Time 8 min (time to pressure) Servings servings Ingredients 1 lb fresh chicken breast 1 can black bean drained and rinsed 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can Rotel (Mild) (Rotel is diced tomatoes w green chile peppers 1 TBSP Cumin 1 TBSP Salt 1 TBSP Chili powder reduce to 1/2 TBSP if sensitive to spice 1 teaspoon Black Pepper reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if sensitive to spice 1 TBSP minced garlic heaping 6 cups Chicken broth

Instructions

1. Dump in all ingredients and stir.
2. Set pot to manual HP for 15 min. You can either do a quick release or let steam release naturally. I find the chicken is a bit more tender with a natural release.
3. Remove chicken and shred well.
4. Return to broth and stir.
5. Serve with tortilla chips! Or, save the calories and just sprinkle on cilantro, a little cheese, and a slice of avocado!

Recipe Notes

If you use frozen chicken, I would do 20 min HP to be safe (although 15 min has worked for me in the past. I've found it depends on whether I laid my chicken flat to freeze.) Note that if your chicken is frozen in a big ball, it may not cook thoroughly in the center. If you find your chicken is not cooked through, my quick trick is break it apart and set pot to Sauté. Chicken will finish cooking in the boiling broth.

Share this Recipe