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

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

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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!