Name: Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 Russet potatoes; 3 Carrots (sliced); 3 Celery stalks (sliced); 1/2 Small Cabbage (sliced); 1 14.5 oz diced tomatoes (canned); 1/2 TBSP kosher salt (Add more after cooking, if needed); 1/4 tsp Black Pepper; 1/2 TBSP minced garlic; 6 cups Chicken broth; 2 Bay Leaves; 10 oz Canned Chicken (drained); 1 can Green Beans

Good Eats

Modern Day Fox Mashed Potatoes (Vegan, Dairyfree)

Taters!! No holiday is complete without potatoes. Obviously, we know traditional mashed potatoes are full of butter, milk and/or heavy cream. It’s time to get back to the POTATO without all the dairy!

First, a tip from Fork Over Knives:

An Ingenious Hack for Super-Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes

“Here’s the most important thing you need to know about making vegan mashed potatoes: Even if you decide to vegan-ize your favorite recipe, skip all the non-dairy milks. Don’t run around town looking for oat milk (it always seems to be sold out anyways), don’t be disappointed by pea-protein milk, or overwhelmed by the flavor of coconut milk. Instead, reserve a few cups of the cooking water used for the potatoes before draining them. Then, when you go to mash, add a little bit of cooking water to give the finished mashed potatoes their creamy texture. Keep adding until you reach your desired consistency.”

And here is my healthy take on a mashed potato recipe:

MODERN DAY FOX MASHED POTATOES

DIRECTIONS:

Water (reserve 1 cup of cooking water after potatoes are boiled)
2 tsp plus 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
4 large russet potatoes, peeled
1 tablespoon vegan butter (I recommend Earth Balance)
1 tsp salt (more or less, if desired- I used 1.5 tsp)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Peel and chop potatoes into 3 inch chunks.

Bring water to a boil in large sauce pan.

When water comes to a boil, add potatoes, 2 tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp onion powder.

Boil potatoes for roughly 15 minutes, or until softened and easily to break apart with a fork.

Remove from heat. Before draining, remove about a cup of cooking water and set aside.

Drain remaining water from potatoes and return to sauce pan.

Using potato masher or ricer, mash potatoes until smooth. Be careful using a mixer as it can make your potatoes gummy. Add 1/2 cup cooking water as you mash, and then add in 1/4 cup increments as needed.

Stir in one tablespoon vegan butter, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Make sure seasonings are completely blended into potatoes. Add additional salt, if desired.

Serve, and enjoy!

Here is a video tutorial for you:

XO Jaime

November 18, 2018 by Jaime Fox

Good Eats

Veggie Quinoa Lasagna (Vegan)

Some thoughts for the day:

I’m learning it is ok to be vulnerable. Trying to keep it all in all the time is emotionally exhausting. Not to mention, when it does finally come out, it will be ridiculously dramatic at the perfectly wrong time in front of the worst possible person to see it. Who’s been there?

Find a way to communicate your feelings with the people you love. It’s unfair to them not to understand what you’re feeling and yet be held accountable for not being supportive. It’s unfair to you feel like you have to lock your pain inside to protect someone else. That pain comes out anyway, in some form or fashion, so you’re really not doing anyone a favor.

I feel like we create these scenarios in our head that things will be so horrible if we admit our feelings out loud. But, think back to the last time you had a hard conversation. Was it really as bad as you imagined it would be? And even if it was bad, guess what … you’re still here.

Trust in your ability to navigate hard situations and let yourself be vulnerable. Like I tell my kids, use your words.

Now, let’s talk this delicious casserole dish of yumminess…

I ate something similar to this at a party recently. It wasn’t dairy-free, but the person who held the party went out of there way to buy something vegetarian for my husband and me. It was absolutely delicious and I knew I would need to recreate a vegan version pronto. Last night I did just that, and I want to share it with you! You can easily use low-fat cream cheese and real cheese if you are not cutting dairy. I’m not gonna lie – it’s hard to give up cheese. The vegan kind only barely cuts it for us, if I’m being honest. But, wrapped up in this casserole, it was truly delicious and hit the spot!

Veggie Quinoa Lasagna (Vegan)

Ingredients:

One cup quinoa

2 cups Vegetable Broth

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 TBSP Oregano

1/2 TBSP Minced Onion

1 Jar Chunky Vegetable Marinara Sauce

4 Zucchini, coined

2 cups spinach, chopped

1/2 cup Vegan Cream Cheese (I used Go Veggie!)

1 1/2 cups Vegan Shredded Cheese (I used Aldi brand)

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Instructions:

If using Instant Pot, add quinoa, broth, tomato sauce, oregano, minced onion, and salt to liner pot. Stir, and replace lid. Set pot to 2 min manual high pressure. Allow a natural pressure release. Remove lid when timer reads 20 min.

Preheat over to 400.

Stir cream cheese into warm quinoa until it is well combined.

Time to build your lasagna! In a 9X13 casserole dish, spread a layer of marinara sauce. Line sauce with a layer of zucchini coins. Spread layer of quinoa (about 1/2 of it) across zucchini. Spread all of the chopped spinach over quinoa. Spread another layer of marinara sauce. Spread a layer of cheese. Add another layer of zucchini coins. (This should use up all your zucchini.) Add another layer of quinoa (using the rest of the quinoa), followed by a layer of sauce and then cheese. Finally, sprinkle the bread crumbs across the top of your casserole. (If your bread crumbs aren’t seasoned, add some salt, pepper, and oregano to them.)

Bake for 30 min. Then, raise the temp to 425 and bake for another ten minutes.

Serve with some crusty bread and salad. Enjoy!

September 28, 2018 by Jaime Fox

Good Eats, Uncategorized

Air Fryer Roasted Tomatoes

I feel like I just had a stroke of genius. I have a surplus of garden cherry tomatoes and needed to do something with them fast. It occurred to me to pop them in my air fryer like I do everything else!

Sadly, my chest puffing over my great idea didn’t last too long. After I made these delectable little bites, I googled and found that some other smart cooks had already thought of this.

So, alas, I’m not doing anything totally revolutionary here, but maybe here is the first time you have heard of doing this. That’s enough for me!

Here’s what I did:

Air Fryer Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Line your fryer basket with foil. This is of course optional, but highly recommended. Tomatoes pop and they are messy.

Toss tomatoes in a bowl with all other ingredients.

Pour into lines fryer basket.

Set fryer at 400 for ten minutes. You will hear some popping! That is normal.

When timer goes off, your Roasted Tomatoes should be done! If you desire more roasting, add an extra few minutes.

Enjoy! I served some over spaghetti with portobello mushrooms and topped with pine nuts! Yum!!

September 22, 2018 by Jaime Fox

Good Eats

Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup

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!

Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup

Course

Soup

Cuisine

American

Servings

servings

Ingredients

3 Russet potatoes
3 Carrots sliced
3 Celery stalks sliced
1/2 Small Cabbage sliced
1 14.5 oz diced tomatoes canned
1/2 TBSP kosher salt Add more after cooking, if needed
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 TBSP minced garlic
6 cups Chicken broth
2 Bay Leaves
10 oz Canned Chicken drained
1 can Green Beans

Course

Soup

Cuisine

American

Servings

servings

Ingredients

3 Russet potatoes
3 Carrots sliced
3 Celery stalks sliced
1/2 Small Cabbage sliced
1 14.5 oz diced tomatoes canned
1/2 TBSP kosher salt Add more after cooking, if needed
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 TBSP minced garlic
6 cups Chicken broth
2 Bay Leaves
10 oz Canned Chicken drained
1 can Green Beans

Instructions

Add all ingredients except canned green beans to pot. (I find the green beans sometimes get mushy, so I like to add them to the hot soup at the end.)
Stir well.
Replace lid, and set pot to manual high pressure for 20 minutes.
When timer goes off, use a quick release.
Remove bay leaves.
Stir in one can of drained green beans.
Add additional salt and pepper, if desired. Serve and enjoy!

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January 17, 2018 by Jaime Fox

Good Eats

Modern Day Fox Roasted Winter Vegetable Medley

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!

Modern Day Fox Roasted Winter Vegetable Medley

This gorgeous medley of winter vegetables is not only healthy and delicious, but also lovely to present on your holiday table! Serve warm with pork tenderloin, or cold over a bed of arugula!

Course

Side Dish

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

servings

Ingredients

2-3 lb Butternut Squash peeled and cubed
1 Apple (large or 2 small) cubed (Fuji or Honeycrisp are good options)
2 bulbs Fennel sliced (remove ends and outer leaves)
3 Red Beets peeled and cubed
2 TBSP olive oil or avocado oil
2 TBSP Maple Syrup
1/2 tsp sea salt plus a dash
1/4 tsp pepper plus a dash
2 TBSP Pecan Pieces optional

Course

Side Dish

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

servings

Ingredients

2-3 lb Butternut Squash peeled and cubed
1 Apple (large or 2 small) cubed (Fuji or Honeycrisp are good options)
2 bulbs Fennel sliced (remove ends and outer leaves)
3 Red Beets peeled and cubed
2 TBSP olive oil or avocado oil
2 TBSP Maple Syrup
1/2 tsp sea salt plus a dash
1/4 tsp pepper plus a dash
2 TBSP Pecan Pieces optional

Instructions

Preheat over to 400 degrees.
Peel and cube squash. You may want to microwave the whole squash for 3 minutes before peeling. It makes it so much easier!
Peel, core, and cube apple.
Remove outer leaves and trim ends off fennel. Cut in half length wise, and then slice. Soak in water for a few minutes to remove any dirt. Drain.
Peel and cube beets.
Add squash, apple and fennel to large roasting pot. Toss in 1.5 TBSP olive oil, 1.5 TBSP maple syrup, salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl, toss the beets with another 1/2 TBSP olive oil and 1/2 TSP maple syrup and a dash of salt and pepper.
Carefully add them to the roasting dish by placing them on top of the other veggies. You don’t want to stir them in as the color will bleed. That’s going to happen anyway, but this helps cut back a little on the color bleed.
Sprinkle pecans over mixture.
Roast in oven for one hour.
Carefully stir halfway through.
Serve, and enjoy! These are also delicious served cold over arugula.

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November 30, 2017 by Jaime Fox

Good Eats

Roasted Butternut Squash with Spinach and Sausage

I stumbled across a really tasty looking recipes on the Wegman’s website for Roasted Butternut Squash with Baby Spinach and Cranberries. This looked like the perfect side dish for fall or for the Thanksgiving table, but I felt like it could also be turned into a delicious one pan dinner.

These day I’m loving nitrate-free Apple Chicken Sausage. It’s one of the meats that my husband (who has UC) can handle in small doses. I love slicing the sausage and throwing it on top of roasting vegetables. Food prep doesn’t get easier than that. When I saw the Wegman’s recipe, I knew the Apple Sausage would compliment this dish perfectly, and walnuts would take it over the top. I was right! We loved this fall-inspired dish!

Here’s a bonus tip – While you can certainly buy butternut squash that is peel and cubed already, it’s cheaper to buy a whole squash. Microwave your squash for three minutes and then it will be so much easier to cut and peel. I use a peeler and it was easy, peasy!

xo Jaime

Roasted Butternut Squash with Spinach and Sausage

This one pan dinner was inspired by a recipe posted by Wegman's. See the link in my post. I bulked up the dish with some natural apple chicken sausage and walnuts, making it an easy fall-inspired meal!

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

American

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

American

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel and cube butternut squash.
Thinly slice onion.
Toss in olive oil.
Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Roast in oven for 40 minutes.
Slice sausage and add to roasting vegetables for the last 15 minutes of roasting.
When vegetables and sausage are finished roasting, place into large bowl.
Toss with spinach, cranberries, and walnuts.
Serve end enjoy!

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November 12, 2017 by Jaime Fox

Good Eats

Modern Day Fox Instant Pot Curried Carrot Soup

“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.

Modern Day Fox Instant Pot Curried Carrot Soup

A rich and velvety carrot-based soup. Paleo friendly, gluten and dairy-free!

Course

Soup

Servings

servings

Ingredients

17 whole cashews soaked in 1/2 cup water for at least 30 minutes
8-10 whole carrots washed and peeled, remove ends
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 can Coconut Milk full-fat or lite
1 TBSP curry
1 TBSP minced garlic or, 3 smashed cloves
1/2 cup diced onion or, 2 TBSP dried chopped onions
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Cashews for garnish (optional)
Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Course

Soup

Servings

servings

Ingredients

17 whole cashews soaked in 1/2 cup water for at least 30 minutes
8-10 whole carrots washed and peeled, remove ends
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 can Coconut Milk full-fat or lite
1 TBSP curry
1 TBSP minced garlic or, 3 smashed cloves
1/2 cup diced onion or, 2 TBSP dried chopped onions
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Cashews for garnish (optional)
Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Soak cashews in 1/2 cup water for at least 30 minutes.
Chop carrots in half.
Drain water from cashews after soaking.
Place all ingredients into Instant Pot and stir.
Set pot to 15 minutes Manual High Pressure.
Use a quick release to release pressure when timer goes off.
Allow to cool for a few minutes, and then transfer ingredients into blender.
Puree until smooth.
Pour into serving bowls. Garnish with chopped cashews and cilantro, if desired.
Enjoy!

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October 5, 2017 by Jaime Fox

Get Fit, Good Eats

Waldorf Brussels Salad

I just wrapped up week one of the 21 Day Fix on Beachbody on Demand. I’ve done that program quite a few times and I love that I can fall back on it whenever I need fast results. I especially love that the workouts incorporate ab exercises into some of the rounds. Many of the Beachbody programs require you to do a second shorter ab workout in addition to the main workout for that day. I’m just gonna be honest and say that doesn’t happen with this girl. I typically only have 30 minutes to squeeze in the workout and that’s all I’m going to do. Every 21 Day Fix workout is thirty minutes and that fits the bill for me perfectly.

When I’m on the Fix eating plan, I try to keep the green containers (vegetables) interesting so I don’t skip over them. Since it is getting warmer outside, I’ve been craving raw salads so I threw together this light and fresh Waldorf Brussels Salad. I used the shredded brussels sprouts so that you can now conveniently find in the produce section. If you can’t locate these, you can simply throw the Brussels Sprouts into your food processor to shred them.

I hope you enjoy this unique salad as much as my family did!

xo Jaime

This post contains affiliate links for Beachbody as I am an active coach and firm believer in the Beachbody products. My proceeds from Beachbody directly support this blog! Join my monthly challenge group!

Waldorf Brussels Salad

Prep Time

Cook Time

Passive Time

1 hr Chill in fridge

Servings

Ingredients

6 oz shredded Brussels Sprouts
1 cored and chopped apple
1/3 cup diced celery
1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries plus 1 TBSP reserved for garnish
1/4 cup chopped walnuts plus 1 TBSP reserved for garnish
Dressing:
2 TBSP Avocado oil
2 TBSP Apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP Honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Prep Time

Cook Time

Passive Time

1 hr Chill in fridge

Servings

Ingredients

6 oz shredded Brussels Sprouts
1 cored and chopped apple
1/3 cup diced celery
1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries plus 1 TBSP reserved for garnish
1/4 cup chopped walnuts plus 1 TBSP reserved for garnish
Dressing:
2 TBSP Avocado oil
2 TBSP Apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP Honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

Toss salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients.
Shortly before serving, stir in dressing. You may want to use your hands to really get the dressing mixed in well.
Garnish with additional walnuts and dried cherries or cranberries.
Chill, then serve.

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May 9, 2017 by Jaime Fox

Get Fit, Good Eats

I Tried It! PaleOMG’s Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Soup

It’s hard to get vegetables into this body of mine. I do my best, but a disguised vegetable is my favorite vegetable. That’s why I drink Shakeology religiously, and that’s also why I was super intrigued by this recipe from my favorite blogger, Juli Bauer at PaleOMG. The recipe for Juli’s PaleOMG’s Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Soup caught my attention because I love any and everything “buffalo,” but the soup base consisted of nearly all vegetables pureed into a smooth, velvety soup. To make it even better, it came with Instant Pot directions. After a long drive back from a very short trip to Charleston this weekend, this easy soup fit the bill. Stay tuned for a post on what to do with one day in Charleston. I was in foodie heaven in that gorgeous town!

Check out the ingredients below direct from Juli’s recipe and head over to her blog for the full recipe and instructions. Juli also has three incredible cookbooks with tasty Paleo recipes.

Ingredients (copied from PaleOMG)

2 tablespoons ghee (I used butter)
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
½ white onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups cauliflower florets
32 ounces chicken bone broth
⅔ cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (or less, to taste)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 rotisserie chicken, pulled and shredded
fresh cilantro, for garnish
chopped green onions, for garnish
Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Ranch, for garnish

I counted this as 1.5 green and 1/2 red per serving. Great way to get those green containers in!

Happy food prepping!

xo Jaime

This post may contain affiliate links which directly support this blog. Thank you for supporting Modern Day Fox!

April 23, 2017 by Jaime Fox

Good Eats

I Tried It! Chef Buck’s Best Brussel Sprouts

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: