This girl is back on the Fix wagon. I finished up Hammer and Chisel a few days early so that I could join my rock star challengers with a new round on May 1st. Since I have a few newbies in the group, I decided to go to battle with them and do the 21 Day Fix again on Beachbody on Demand. I’m excited. I know this program gives me results and that is what I’m looking for! So many exciting things coming up this summer and I want to be in tip-top shape. My group truly inspires me to be better and to do better.

To celebrate my first week of the Fix, I am putting up a super easy breakfast recipe that you can make in your Instant Pot. Don’t have an Instant Pot? No problem. Make it on your stovetop. Then, go to Amazon and order your Pot! (I’m sorry, but I just love that thing.)

This recipe is a sweet twist on quinoa while still being clean and healthy. When served with berries and nuts, it makes for a hearty breakfast. Eat it up, then go get your workout done! Enjoy!

xo Jaime

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon and Beachbody, but this is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. When you use my links for purchases, you are directly helping to keep this blog afloat!

Print Recipe

21 Day Fix Approved Instant Pot Good Morning Quinoa

Servings

Ingredients

• 1 cups dry quinoa rinse well before cooking
• 2 cups Water
• 2 TBSP Maple Syrup or Honey
• 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/8 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• Dash Salt
• 3 cups Strawberries or Blueberries Use 1/2 cup per serving
• 3/4 cups Pecan Halves (roughly 10 pecan halves per serving)

Servings Ingredients 1 cups dry quinoa rinse well before cooking 2 cups Water 2 TBSP Maple Syrup or Honey 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract 1/8 tsp Nutmeg 1/2 tsp Cinnamon Dash Salt 3 cups Strawberries or Blueberries Use 1/2 cup per serving 3/4 cups Pecan Halves (roughly 10 pecan halves per serving)

Instructions

1. Pour all ingredients into inner liner bowl and stir well.
2. Set Instant Pot to one minute, high pressure. Allow a natural release.
3. Fluff with a fork before serving. Top 1/2 cup quinoa with 1/2 cup berries and 10 pecan halves.

Recipe Notes

21 Day Fix container counts: 1 Yellow, 1/2 Purple, 1 Blue

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I have been obsessively watching cooking YouTube videos lately. It’s amazing how engaging some of these people are and you can easily see why they have so many followers. Chef Buck is one that I really enjoyed. This guy is no-frills, sounds like he comes from NOLA, and used to be overweight and unkempt in his videos. That last detail made the videos even more engaging because it just seemed so backwards that this guy would be making cooking videos. The recipes he was dishing out, however, were top notch and his following grew over time. More recently, Chef Buck found a razor and found a new interest in cleaner cooking.  He clearly got healthier, lost weight and worked on his image, but he kept his same down-home charm.

One of his most popular recipes is his Best Brussel Sprouts. I just happened to have a bag in my fridge that I needed to use. He wasn’t lying when he said these would be these best Brussel Sprouts I’d ever put in my mouth. They were! I’ll be making them again and again.

Check out this video here and subscribe to his channel:

And here is how mine turned out!

My parents recently sent me a text that said a “Sushi Bazooka” was on the way and to watch for it in the mail. What the heck? A what?? My mom said that my dad saw it on television or Amazon or somewhere, and he decided that they needed one. He also decided that my brother and I needed one. Alrighty then! I can’t laugh at my dad too hard. My love for kitchen gadgets clearly comes from him. He texted me the other day to tell me he had just found a pressure cooker in the garage he’d never even used and forgot he had. I’m going for a visit to Maryland this weekend and though my parents will be out of town, I’m staying at their house. I might have to see what else in that garage!

Anyway, the “Sushi Bazooka” post will be coming soon since you know I have to review and link you up to this contraption. In the meantime, I want to share a 21 Day Fix Approved sushi “unroll.” This sushi bowl is sure to hit the stop for you raw fish lovers out there. I found my “sushi grade” tuna at Sprouts. The butcher recommended that I trim a very thin slice off each side of the steak and wash well before consuming. She said that although the tuna is “sushi grade,” it is still cut on the same board as the other fish. I’m very glad she told me that, and I certainly took her advice.

Now that I know I can successfully work with raw fish, I am ready to tackle my Bazooka! Stay tuned!

Wanna see me make it live? Check out my youtube video and make sure you subscribe!

Also, here is a link to Steve’s Kitchen where I found the great instructions for the sushi rice.

Want more info on 21 Day Fix! Hit me up with questions! I’d love to have you join my team. The fastest way to get a message to me is through my Facebook page! Hope you are following me!

You probably already know that I love my neighbor, Sharon, since I feature her on here frequently. She loves to cook just like I do and we have a blast texting each other recipes and swapping samples. Good neighbors make life so much more fun.

Sharon texted me the other night very excited about a steel cut oats recipe she saw on The Chew. Sharon never leaves a recipe the way she found it, and neither do I. So, I took Sharon’s recipe that she had adapted from The Chew, and I made my own changes based on the ingredients I had. Of course I also had to adapt it for the Instant Pot too!

What resulted was a breakfast dish that not only tasted good, but has incredible nutritional value. As Sharon said, “If I can get high fiber, anti-inflammatory antioxidants, and a proper glycemic index all in one bowl, I’m good!” Not to mention that steel cuts oats are very filling and help keep your bowels moving.

Print Recipe

Sharon's Dang Good Oats [Instant Pot]

Course

Breakfast

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

25 min including time to pressure and release

Servings

Ingredients

• 1 TBSP Tahini Butter
• 1 TBSP Butter
• 1 cup Steel Cut Oats
• 1 can Coconut Milk Lite or Full Fat
• 2 cups Water or fill your empty milk can
• 1 pinch Salt
• 3 TBSP Flax Meal
• 2 TBSP Maple Syrup or Honey Add more after cooking if you prefer sweeter oats
• 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Cinnamon

Course Breakfast Prep Time 5 min Cook Time 25 min including time to pressure and release Servings Ingredients 1 TBSP Tahini Butter 1 TBSP Butter 1 cup Steel Cut Oats 1 can Coconut Milk Lite or Full Fat 2 cups Water or fill your empty milk can 1 pinch Salt 3 TBSP Flax Meal 2 TBSP Maple Syrup or Honey Add more after cooking if you prefer sweeter oats 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract 1 tsp Cinnamon

Instructions

1. Set Instant Pot to Saute. Melt tahini and butter. Add oats and toast for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Add in remaining ingredients and stir well.
2. Turn off Pot and reset on Manual HP for 3 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally. Stir and add additional sweetener to taste. Serve hot and enjoy!

   

Recipe Notes

This recipe was adapted from one seen on The Chew.

1 cup of dry steel cut oats should only be considered 2 servings, but this is an extremely filling recipe. I could have easily fed my family of 4 and still had leftovers.

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Kale is not my favorite. I’m not gonna lie. However, bacon is my favorite. Bacon makes just about anything taste better.  Dare I say it even made the kale taste good. Dang good, actually! Have you tried making kale in your instant pot? It’s easy and rather quick. If you care to season it up with bacon, you can do that in your pot too!

I served this kale with one of my very favorite Instant Pot chicken and rice recipes that I’ve found online. The Budget Bytes blog featured this recipe and it was winner with all three of the men in my household! Even my 3 year old ate it, and lately that has been a challenge. (That’s a subject for another blog, maybe Scary Mommy!) The best part was that I was able to use the chicken quarters from our Kroger store that are always on sale for .99/lb. The whole meal cost me less than $8, start to finish and I fed 4 people plus had leftovers for lunch!

I’m not reinventing the wheel with this kale recipe. I’m sure you can find similar ones across the web.  This is the way I do it, and there is room for interpretation. Add onions, garlic, and additional seasonings if that’s your thing.

INSTANT POT BACON SAUTEED KALE

INGREDIENTS:

1.5lb Raw Chopped Kale (about 3/4 of the 2lb bag you find at most grocery stores)

1 cup water

1 TBSP cooking oil

3 slices uncured, nitrate-free bacon (you can use whatever bacon you like, but that’s what we use)

Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Rinse your kale if it is not already pre-washed. Put into your Instant Pot stainless steel pot. It should fill your pot about 3/4 of the way. Please do not fill past that point. Add one cup water. Set your pot on Steam for 12 minutes. Allow a natural release.

Drain water from kale. Place in a bowl and set it to the side. Put the stainless steel pot back in your Instant Pot.

Set pot to Saute setting on your Instant Pot and heat the cooking oil of your choice. Chop uncooked bacon and add to the heated pot. Cook thoroughly. You may also opt to add diced onion and chopped garlic at this point. I like to keep it simple, so I didn’t do that this time. When the bacon is completely cooked, add your kale back in. Season well with salt and pepper, to your taste. Saute for 5-7 minutes. Serve hot!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links that help support my blog. If you use these links to make purchases, you help me keep this blog alive! Yay!

Happy Sunday, all! This weekend I am full of mixed emotions – happy and sad at the same time. Why is so hard to let go of “stuff?” The husband and I are on a mission to plow through a list of things we want to do to our house. On that list, I begrudgingly agreed to sell my bedroom suite that we have been keeping in our guest room. We decided to sell it for $500 which was ridiculously cheap for such high quality furniture, but we needed it gone fast to get started on projects in that space. I put a post on Facebook and it was sold in less than two hours, and picked up and gone in less than 24 hours.

I got that furniture when I moved back to Nashville after a rough patch in my life in ’05. It went with me from my downtown Nashville apartment to crashing in a basement belonging to my late friend, Gary. From there, it went to a house that my best friend, Ted, let me pick out for him sight unseen in the Germantown district of Nashville (he was living in Africa). After three years there, it went to my future husband’s house. Finally, it ended up in the house I now call home with FotoJo and our two boys. Throughout a lot of changes in my life, that bedroom set was the one thing I “owned.” I knew I had a bed wherever I would land. It was kind of like the “everything’s gonna be alright” furniture. High quality and familiar no matter where it was. After settling in our new home, it was replaced by a bigger and better set and and sat pretty much unused for that three years except for the occasional house guest. We now have big plans for that guest room – a Murphy bed so we can utilize the room more efficiently and a place for a massage chair that we have always wanted to buy. In order to make room for change, I had to say goodbye to something I loved. Isn’t it that way with so many things in life? It’s hard to explain to other people why you hold so tightly to material things, but it shouldn’t make you feel bad to have those feelings. Only you understand why your “stuff” means so much. At the same time, you have to allow yourself to grow and change, and that means sometimes letting go and moving on. The lady that bought the furniture just bought a house in Nashville and I know she will take good care of the set. I hope it becomes her “everything’s gonna be alright” furniture too.

Geez, who knew I could get so deep about furniture? How about we lighten this post up with some yummy pancakes? I’ve been experimenting with these ‘cakes for quite a while and I think I’m pretty close with this recipe. Before you make these, however, I need to give you fair warning. If you are expecting these to be the same texture as your Cracker Barrel pancakes, don’t even bother. They are more egg-y than fluffy, but they are tasty and very moist. Best of all, they soak up your maple syrup in the most perfect way. I have even eaten them topped with some savory meats like Beef Barbacoa to add a unique twist to dinner.

Important note: Because these are heavy in the egg department, you absolutely must cook these at a medium temperature or they will burn.

Modern Day Fox Paleo Sweet ‘Tater Cakes

(Makes 10 – 3″ pancakes)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 mashed sweet potato (about one large potato)

3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 TBSP Tapioca Flour

2 TBSP Coconut Flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

Big pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

First, cook your sweet potato until soft and peel skin. I used my Instant Pot and put my potato in my steamer basket. I added one cup of water to the stainless steel liner pot, and set the pot to 25 min HP with QR. The peel slid off easily. Mash the potato until smooth and let cool.  When cooled, mix in eggs and vanilla extract in a medium size bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix the remainder of the ingredients. Then, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until thoroughly blended.

Preheat a lightly greased griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle forming 3.5″ pancakes, and cook until golden brown (approximately 2 minutes per side), turning once with a spatula. It is important to cook over medium heat so that pancakes do not burn. Recipe yields about 10 3.5″ pancakes.

If you like some crunch in your cakes, add pecans in the batter or on top! I love to top these with Enjoy Life dairy-free chocolate chips for a breakfast dessert!

21 DAY FIX counts – 2 pancakes equal 1 YELLOW, 1/2 Red

Oh boy. The hardest part for me about adopting a grain-free diet is the feeling I’m missing out on sweets. My mom doesn’t have a sweet tooth, but I’m pretty sure she gave me hers plus mine when she created me. Since I’ve also been trying to commit to a Paleo way of life this month and not just “grain-free,” refined sugar is off limits too.  I am always up for a challenge, so I have had a blast trying to create desserts and treats without using any refined sugar.

I recently had some neighbors over who both strictly follow gluten-free diets, so I needed to come up with something to accommodate all of our dietary restrictions. I was dreaming about Black and White cookies – you know, the delicious, flour-y kind you get in NYC – so I decided to make some Black and White Macaroons instead! These turned out perfectly with just the right amount of sweetness from maple syrup. When you haven’t eaten sugar in weeks, maple syrup can be pretty powerful to the taste buds. Although my neighbors enjoyed them, one said she felt like they could have been a touch sweeter for her taste. If you feel the same, you have options! If refined sugar isn’t a concern, use sweetened coconut flakes. You can also mix in a bit more maple or honey. If you love almond joys, stick an almond in the middle! Just remember when are adding to this recipe, these are supposed to be “clean treats,” and you want to train your taste buds to appreciate foods without added sugar.

Take these to your next party and indulge right along with your friends! Or better yet, make them at home tonight and guiltlessly munch while you watch TV!

Paleo Black and White Macaroons

INGREDIENTS:

4 egg white, whisked well

2 TBSP maple syrup

1/2 tsp butter extract

2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

Dash of salt

1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)

1 TBSP coconut oil

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Whisk eggs until they are light fluffy. Add in maple syrup and butter extract and whisk well.  To the wet ingredients, add the coconut and salt. Thoroughly combine. Use a tablespoon measuring cup to pack in coconut filling. Drop onto greased parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  (It is important to grease the parchment paper because they do stick.) Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden brown. Let cool and carefully loosen the cookies from the tray.

Add chocolate chips and coconut oil to microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds. Stir well. Immediately dip one half of macaroon into chocolate and lay on parchment paper. Chill in fridge to set chocolate. Enjoy!

xo Jaime

Happy Monday, Foxes!!

I love a good sale. I mean, I really LOVE a good sale. I love that “high” when I stumble on an amazing bargain. It happened to me twice in this past week. On Sunday, I took my boys shopping because my string bean six-year-old needed new pants. I started noticed $2.97 racks all across the JC Penney’s aisles and my heart started pounding with excitement. I asked the cashier if the same type of sales were happening in the women’s department and her response was “Yesssss, girl.” Clearly, she could read my enthusiasm. I walked out of there with $225 worth of clothes for, get this, $19!!!! On top of the sale, I used a 15% coupon off the mobile site. I almost felt embarrassed checking out. That didn’t last long.

The next sale I found was truly a “law of attraction” moment for me. I had been wanting to create a “Kitchen Sink Seasoning” to use in my recipes since so many call for the same type of spices. It’s a big pain to get out the seasonings every time I am making something. Problem was, I didn’t want to use up all my individual bottles to make this seasoning. Lo and behold, I walk into Wal-mart and there in the spice aisle was almost every single seasoning I needed marked down to 50 cents… and, ORGANIC! I literally could not believe my eyes. I made the seasoning for less than five bucks!

To celebrate, I’m sharing this seasoning mix with all of you. You can change this up however you would like, but here is what I put in mine:

KITCHEN SINK SEASONING

1.5 TBSP Onion Powder

1 TBSP Garlic Powder

1/2 TBSP Chili Powder (optional if you are sensitive to heat. I barely notice it.)

1 TBSP Cumin

1 TBSP Sea Salt (You can omit if you don’t like salt, or start with a teaspoon and work up to a TBSP. I love salt.)

1 TBSP Ground Coriander

1 TBSP Paprika

1/2 TBSP Black Pepper

1 TBSP Italian Seasoning

2 TBSP Parsley

Make this recipe your own! I have found that many recipes call for salt, pepper, garlic powder, and powder so I think that is a good base mix to start with. If you don’t like Cumin, for example, then leave it out! I’d love to hear what you put in  your own “Kitchen Sink” seasoning! Let me know in the comments below!

See me using my Kitchen Sink Seasoning in action on this weekly food prep!

xo Jaime

Last week I voluntarily ate beets. The apocalypse must be coming. When you see a beet in the grocery store, they do not look appetizing. They look like they were literally pulled out of the ground and stuck on the produce shelf. My memories of beets are from when my parents would buy them in cans,  heat them up and throw them on my plate. I had no idea what they were or where they came from, and certainly no clue that they came out of the ground. I guess I just always thought they came out of a can!

My friend, Kelley, had been trying to convince me to incorporate them into my diet, but I told her I’d rather eat dirt. It was not until I found a recipe for Honeyed Beets in my new Paleo Cooking in the Instant Pot cookbook that I decided to give it a try. I was blown away. Yummy!!! This fresh salad was inspired by the recipe in the cookbook.  This would be wonderful with a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some candied pecans sprinkled on top! If you are dairy-free, skip the cheese!

Instant Pot Burgundy and Gold Candied Beet Salad
INGREDIENTS:

3 Burgundy Beets

3 Golden Beets

2 TBSP Honey

2 TBSP Maple Syrup

1.5 TBSP Avocado Oil (or oil of your choice)

Dash of Sea Salt

Crumbled Goat Cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Wash, peel, and chop beets. I would advise cooking each color beet separately to preserve the beautiful colors. The burgundy beets spread their color like crazy!

Place beets in the inner pot of the Instant Pot, add remaining ingredients, and stir well to coat beets.

Place lid on Instant Pot and set Manual HP for 5 minutes with a quick release.

Serve on a bed of greens like arugula, and sprinkle goat cheese over beets.

Stir and serve warm or chilled!

(This post may include affiliate Amazon links for products that I use and love! All opinions are 100% my own, and proceeds support this blog!)

I have a love/hate relationship with Brussels Sprouts. Plain steamed Brussels Sprouts? Ugh, no thanks. Brussels roasted with bacon? Oh yeah, now, we’re talking. By the way, am I the only one who didn’t know that it was Brussels with an “s” on the end instead of Brussel? Probably. Learn something new everyday.

Anyway, I digress. I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram the other day when a food post stopped me in my tracks. It was Brussels Sprouts of all things, and it looked damn good. When I went to click that little heart, I realized the poster was none other than my niece, Ali! She got herself an immediate invitation to share this delectable dish with my readers. I knew that Ali was becoming quite the talented photographer, but I had no idea she was also so creative in the kitchen! We made a deal. She said she would share her recipe and photos as long as she didn’t have to write. No problem-o. Hopefully this will be the first of many posts from Ali – and one day maybe I’ll get her to say hello too!

Ali’s Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Dried Apricots

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ lbs fresh Brussels Sprouts, washed and cut into quarter spears

1- 6 oz Package dried Apricots, julienned

½ lb Bacon, thinly sliced (julienned) width wise.

1 tsp refined coconut oil (or any cooking oil you prefer)

2 TBSP water

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Prep Brussels sprouts, apricots and bacon.
2. Add coconut oil to skillet over medium/high heat, add bacon and cook until almost crispy.
3. Add julienned apricots to pan with bacon and continue cooking until bacon is crisp, about another minute.
4. Remove bacon and apricots from pan using slotted spoon or mesh skimmer. Reserve 2 tsp of bacon drippings for later, drain pan, but do not rinse.
5. Return pan to stove over medium heat, add Brussels sprouts and water, cover and cook until tender but not soft, should take about 4 minutes but adjust time if necessary.
6. Once sprouts are tender, add the reserved bacon drippings and the cooked bacon and apricots to pan and turn heat to high.
7. Sauté sprouts, bacon, and apricots until most of the sprouts have some color. Add salt and pepper as desired, (Ali recommends using a lot of pepper as it adds another layer of flavor)
8. Serve immediately.

**If you don’t like apricots or can’t find them, substitute with cranberries!

This dish is a great side for pork or chicken.  Thanks for sharing, Ali!

xo Jaime