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!

The holidays have finally come to an end! Shewwwww! Don’t get me wrong, I loved the last month and a half. I put a special focus on reconnecting with more old friends than I could count. It was just what my soul needed. And, my kids had a blast! My six year old son exudes the holiday spirit more than anyone I’ve ever met. Both of my sons were full speed ahead soaking in every bit of Christmas joy they could muster. But, all of that – woah. It is a LOT. I am whipped. I’m ready to get back to routines and healthy eating. While I did manage to get through the holidays without gaining any substantial amount of weight, my jeans are starting to get a little tight from the endless amounts of party foods I shoved in my mouth over the last couple weeks. Time to make it stop!

I kicked off a Beachbody fitness challenge in my private accountability group on Facebook, and I have around 15 women who are committed to finishing a program this month. The majority, myself included, are doing the 21 Day Fix. I’ve done the Fix three times, but it’s been nearly a year since I last completed a round. It seemed like the perfect program to kick the year off for me. Today I spent my time food prepping for the week. I find that if I have some meals ready to grab and reheat, I’m much more apt to stay on track. I’ve been scouring the internet for clean eating recipes for my Instant Pot and stumbled around two that were perfect for this week.

The first was from Nom Nom Paleo – Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup. Check out the recipe here!

The second was from This Old Gal – Salsa Lime Chicken and Rice. Check out the recipe here!

I made a video of the prep and even included my “fail” when I tried to do a pot-in-pot preparation of the chicken and rice. I should have known better not to try to swap out brown rice for white without adjusting the cooking time. My rice was undercooked and required another 8 minutes of cooking time. Both dishes turned out fantastic, and I’m looking forward to enjoying them throughout the week.

Here is the video:

I also figured out container counts for these meals:

Pork and Napa Cabbage Soup – I made the serving size 1.5 green. Container counts would be: 1.5 green, .5 red, .5 (if that) yellow, and 1 teaspoon as I didn’t drain the pork fat. I’m not scared of fat! Fat makes you feel satisfied.

Salsa Lime Chicken and Rice – 1 Red, 1 Yellow, and 1 Green if you add the arugula like I did.

Happy prepping!

xo Jaime

There is nothing like hanging with the friends with who you have real history. Last week I jumped at the chance to go visit my besties, Kelley and Jake, in Fort Rucker for a quick 36 hour stay. We all went to college together and I remember when they first met. I even sang “Sin Wagon” at their wedding reception like a true friend should. When we get together, laughter ensues. It is like we never miss a beat. This visit was no different.

One thing that Kelley, Jake, and I have always had in common is our love for food. We can pig out like nobody’s business. In honor of the holiday, Christmas Eve Eve (yep, the day before Christmas Eve), we prepared a feast. Jake slapped chicken on their fancy Traeger Smoker, and Kelley and I prepped the sides. I had seen a beautiful post by one of my favorite bloggers, Juli Bauer, of PaleOMG, for her Sweet Potatoes and wanted to give it a go. It was a super easy recipe, and fit the dietary needs of Kelley’s family who try to steer clear of gluten and dairy.

Check out the full recipe here!

First, we thinly sliced the sweet potatoes which probably would have been easier with mandolin.

We arranged them around the cast iron skillet.

Meanwhile, Kelley mixed the maple syrup, sugar, oil, and ghee for the glaze. She also chopped fresh rosemary which offered a wonderful holiday aroma.

She drizzled them on the taters.

And had a little company while she did it!

We placed them in the oven to bake.

I mixed up the pecan yumminess that would be the topping.

We pulled the skillet out and added the pecan topping, and then placed back into the oven to bake. The smell was heavenly!

Rosemary made a beautiful garnish!

This made a lovely dish, both aesthetically and in flavor. The peels left on the sweet potato were a little chewy, so I think made next time I might do a partial peel just to tone it down a bit. That didn’t stop me from devouring a couple servings along with the some of the best smoked chicken I’ve ever eaten.

I hated that I had to eat and run, but right after dinner I had to hit the road back to Tennessee to prepare for Santa. Friends and fabulous food- it was worth the six hour drive!

Check out PaleOMG for thousands of wonderful Paleo and/or gluten-free recipes peppered with a lot of hilarity in Juli’s writing! She also has three wonderful cookbooks available on Amazon. Thanks, Juli, for yet another wonderful treat!

If you try Juli’s recipe, let me know what you think in the comments!

xo Jaime

You guys really inspired me after your response to my last meal prep post on social media! Apparently, there is demand for this type of content so I happily made another post.
Here is a link to a video I created documenting the whole process:

Here are the instructions for cooking:

Hardboiled Eggs (using This Old Gal recipe)

1 cup water, eggs in steamer basket 2 min High Pressure, NPR, and Done!

Whole Chicken (modified from Healing Gourmet recipe)

Remove gizzards and season well on both sides.

Using Sauté setting on Normal, place breast side down and brown in 1 TBPN coconut oil for 6 minutes.

Flip chicken and add one cup chicken stock to the pot.

Manual High Pressure for 25 min (although I might do 24 min next time) with NPR

(Reserve your broth!)

Yukon Gold Potatoes

Pour 1 cup broth from your chicken into pot.

Add Potatoes in your mesh steam pot (or on trivet) inside pot.

Manual High Pressure 10 min with NPR
Cooked Carrots

1 cup broth from your chicken

1 bag of carrots in your mesh steam pot

3 min Manual High Pressure with QR

Divide into your Tupperware using your color-coded portion containers!

1 Red (chicken), 1 Yellow (potato), 1 Green (carrots) and 1 teaspoon if you add butter or oil to your potato

I used the hard boiled egg for a snack. One egg is half a Red and I will eat it with a piece of fruit which is one Purple!

What’s in your pot??

As always, hit me up if you want to know more about 21 Day Fix! Let’s get in shape together!

xo Jaime