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Instant Pot Whole Chicken

August 22, 2021 by Bethany Lotulelei Leave a Comment

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Did you know you can cook a whole chicken in your Instant Pot? This is one of my favorite time savers!

Instant pot Whole Chicken Recipe

Instant Pot Whole Chicken

by Bethany Lotulelei

Once upon a time, I was afraid of the whole chickens at the store. I wasn’t sure how to cook them properly, so I avoided buying them. Then one day, I got my courage up, and I purchased one. I stuck it in the oven, following a recipe I’d found online, and cooked it until I was sure it was done. The result? A sad, dry chicken that would have greatly benefited from some gravy.

I didn’t buy another whole chicken for quite some time, until I read a recipe that promised a moist, delicious rotisserie-style chicken with crispy skin. All from cooking it in the Instant Pot.

Could it be true? Would the Instant Pot deliver me a beautiful roast chicken in less than an hour? My curiosity was piqued, and I gave it a go.

This recipe has changed my life.

We routinely eat roast chicken, thanks to the ease of making it in the Instant Pot! It is seasoned, delicious, and (thanks to a secret which I will share with you in this post) the skin is nice and crispy! Win-win-win!

If you, too, are avoiding whole chickens, because of less-than stellar experiences in the past, might I encourage you to give this recipe a go?

A few tips:

Only buy a chicken that will fit in your Instant Pot. If you have a smaller Instant Pot then you’ll need to purchase a smaller bird as well! I was gifted some beautiful, free-range chickens that were double the size of the grocery store version, and none of them fit in my Instant Pot! Sob! I use Laura’s method to cook them, rotisserie-style, in the oven instead!
Stuff your chicken with something delicious–lemon slices, sprigs of herbs, onions, garlic, all of the above!
Season your chicken liberally. Add your favorite herbs + salt, and don’t sprinkle it lightly! You want a well-seasoned bird!
Save the chicken broth in the bottom of the Instant Pot, and mix it into your Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or make a delicious gravy out of it!

How to Give it Crispy SkinYum

Are you ready to hear the secret of how you are going to ensure your chicken has beautiful, delicious, crispy skin? Step in closer. I’m about to reveal all…

I LOVED cooking the whole chicken in the Instant Pot: it was easy, it was fast, it was incredibly moist. But what I didn’t love? The skin. I missed the crispy skin the oven would give a whole chicken.

Then I discovered this tip: after you have finished cooking your chicken in the Instant Pot, pull it out, set it on a cookie sheet in the oven, and broil it.

Broiling it after it has already baked will give you an amazing, delicious, crispy skin paired with the moist, flavorful meat from the Instant Pot.

So good, and so easy!

Instant Pot Whole Chicken

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Delicious, moist whole chicken cooked in the Instant Pot!

Author: Laura

Recipe type: Main Dish

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1 whole chicken with the innards removed
2-3 T of melted butter
1 lemon cut in half
4 cloves of garlic
1 onion, quartered
Seasoning of choice

Instructions

Place trivet in the Instant Pot
Pour 1 cup water into the bottom of the Instant Pot
Rub melted butter over chicken.
Stuff chicken with lemon, garlic, and onion.
Season the outside of the chicken liberally with your seasoning of choice.
Place chicken in the Instant Pot, and close the lid.
Set on high pressure for 7 minutes per lb.
Once cooking time is finished, allow pressure to release naturally for 15-20 minutes.
Remove chicken from the Instant Pot, place it on a cookie sheet, and broil it for a few minutes until brown.
Enjoy!

Seasoning Ideas:

What’s your favorite Instant Pot recipe? Share below!

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My Favorite Way to Eat an Apple

August 18, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

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I’m afraid I’ve never shared my favorite way to eat an apple. You’ve been missing out! Come, let me tell you my ways…

You know me. I’m all about simple food, simple cooking, and simple meals. So this idea is as simple as the rest, but it does, in fact, involve a somewhat gourmet food item. Fancy much, Laura? Well, only when I eat apples.

This specialty item is this amazing little square of delight called Gjetost, and it is a game-changer when eating apples.

I’m linking it to Amazon so you can see it and read about it. But please don’t buy it from Amazon. It’s not nearly that expensive in stores!!!

What is Gjetost?

Gjetost (please don’t ask me how to say it) is a Norwegian cheese, and it tastes amazingly like caramel. How does it taste like caramel when it is in fact made from whey, cream, and milk? I do not know. I am not in charge of making Gjetost, nor have I ever been to Norway. But oh my goodness, this cheese! It is amazing!

But only with Apples

At least that is my personal preference. I’m not a fan of Gjetost by itself and a stand-alone cheese snack. It has a strong flavor, and when paired with apples, it is incredible! Most people in my house agree – Gjetost is amazing with sliced apples, but not really by itself. But then again, my very picky five-year-old likes chunks of this cheese without apples – who can predict the ways of a picky child?

How to Eat Apples and Gjetost

Our favorite way to enjoy apples and Gjetost is to slice apples into thin slices. Then we cut very thin slices of Gjetost. We make little apple and Gjetost sandwiches and we smile and eat and smile some more. I slice and slice and we can barely keep up because of all the slicing and the smiling and eating. Pink Ladies are our favorite variety of apple to eat with this cheese.

Where to Get Gjetost

I am unable to find this wonderful cheese in a regular grocery store. But then again, I live in a small town. When I’m in Lincoln, I can find it at Whole Foods or Hyvee. My guess for all of you who live wherever you live is that if you have a large-chain grocery store in your area that has a specialty cheese section, you are likely to find it there. Look for the little red wrapped cube of delicious cheese and give it a try!

Have you tried Gjetost before?

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The Easiest School Morning Breakfasts

August 15, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

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I can barely get my kids dressed on school mornings. So breakfast? Good luck. School morning breakfasts have to be the easiest of the easy.

Last year I shared a basic plan for how to make breakfasts simple on school mornings (no matter if your kids school at home or away). I’m reworking these ideas and reposting them because these ideas come in so handy!

Basically, to save me from having to think too hard, I have created a basic breakdown of what I now make or serve each weekday:

Monday – Muffins
Tuesday – Toast
Wednesday – Oatmeal
Thursday – Eggs
Friday – Granola or Cereal
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS – Protein Bars (because some days there’s no time to stop and eat so I have to send the kids out the door with one of these)

With this skeleton plan, I can now make fun adaptations each weekday to keep our menu fresh and fun! (I save pancakes or waffles or other special breakfast ideas for Saturdays.) :) And now I will give you more specifics about how this works for us…

The Easiest School Morning Breakfasts

Monday – Muffins

I can choose from these 40 recipes so that Mondays are never boring. I shall call this “Muffin Monday” because cuteness in the kitchen is underrated.

Tuesday – Toast

Let’s hear it for “Toast Tuesday.” Though now I have to admit, my cute names for days of the week have now run out. Anyway though, we can make this Stir and Pour Bread (or buy bread from the store, can I get an amen?) and then top it however we like. Peanut butter and honey is a favorite for most of us. Bagels fit into this category too and a toasted bagel with cream cheese is perfection.

Wednesday – Oatmeal

I try to keep this Homemade Instant Oatmeal on hand, but I often now splurge and buy these too. Either way, this makes for a fast breakfast!

Thursday – Eggs

We mostly prefer scrambled cheesy eggs, but occasionally we’ll fry them. I love how easy eggs are to make. And all my kids love them and eat them so well. Try them in a Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches. Make Eggs in a Nest. Make Warm Chocolate Soother, Warm Pumpkin Custard, Warm Vanilla Soother – all of these include eggs.

Friday – Granola or Cereal

We like different kinds of homemade granola like:

Or, I can make these Homemade Chewy Granola Bars for a fun change of pace. Or I buy granola or cereal at Costco to keep on hand for quick breakfasts. If I have these Giant Breakfast Cookies in the freezer, even better! See also: Breakfast Cookie Cups.

Always serve fruit

Fruit at breakfast is a given at our house. So with all of the above day-of-the-week breakfast ideas, everyone can choose what fruit they like best. I try to keep a variety on hand, depending on what is in season. Our favorites for breakfast are:

Applesauce
Blueberries
Apples
Oranges/Clementines
Bananas
Pears
Strawberries

What do your school morning breakfasts look like?

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10 Favorite Back-to-School Instant Pot Meal Ideas

August 11, 2021 by Bethany Lotulelei Leave a Comment

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Looking for a way to shorten your dinner prep? Try these 10 back-to-school Instant Pot ideas!

10 Favorite Back to School Instant Pot Dinner Ideas

10 Favorite Back-to-School Instant Pot Meal Ideas

by Bethany Lotulelei

It is so hard to get dinner on the table in super busy seasons!

I find, that if I don’t have a plan in place, then I resort all too often to frozen pizzas or fast food. Everybody in my family needs to eat, multiple times a day (you too?!), and when we throw in extra activities, new schedules and our calendar gets full then it is even trickier to make several nourishing meals per day.

Enter: the Instant Pot!

Laura purchased her own Instant Pot a few years back (here’s her review!), and since then, she has provided so many wonderful recipes!

Why I Love the Instant Pot

I received an Instant Pot as a wedding present, and I am sad to say that it sat in our closet for years. It was a little intimidating: I’d heard that pressure cookers could be dangerous! My husband started using it to cook rice, and seeing it on my counter pushed me to finally figure it out for myself.

Once I realized how easy, and safe it was to use–I was kicking myself for not trying it sooner! I really thought it couldn’t take the place of my beloved crock pot, but I soon realized that there are some recipes that work so much better in the Instant Pot! It speeds everything up, and helps me get supper on the table on nights in which I would not have had time to throw together a full meal otherwise.

Did you know you can cook a whole chicken in the Instant Pot in a little over an hour? Amazing! Magical! Stupendous! I could go on and on.

There are still a few recipes I only make in my crock pot, but I’ve found that my Instant Pot has become a heavy lifter when it comes to my meal planning. I’ve even considered buying a second one.

My absolute favorite ways to use my Instant Pot, and cut back on dinner prep include: making ground beef ahead of time in bulk (it’s SO nice to have cooked meat ready to go for the week!), cooking a whole chicken in less than an hour, and making mashed potatoes (the Instant Pot makes mashed potatoes SO easily!).

Here are a few additional recipes that I have grown to love, and use often!

10 Favorite Back-to-School Instant Pot Meal Ideas

A few extras:

What are your favorite Instant Pot recipes? I’d love to know! Share in the comments below.

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How to Eat Paleo on a Road Trip

August 8, 2021 by Tasha Hackett 1 Comment

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How to Eat Paleo on a Road Trip

by Tasha Hackett

Hi everyone! Before you skip this because you’re not a fan of paleo diets. WAIT!! STOP!! This is still for you. Just pretend you like to eat fresh, wholesome foods. Foods that give you fuel and energy and build you up instead of tear you down. Paleo, or any special diet, or budget, or lifestyle that includes not eating fast food junk can be overwhelming at home. But eating paleo on a road trip? Is it even possible? Yep. It is. I’ll show how!

Here’s how I survive road trips eating paleo:

Eat a solid breakfast and plan ahead.Yum

If you’re anything like me, you might be used to making sure all the kids have breakfast and snacks available, but you forget to feed yourself? Okay! If you’re on a special food plan, that’s not going to work anymore. I fry up a great skillet of eggs and fresh onions, toss in a few cups of spinach at the end to wilt, mix in an avocado and salsa… yes, it takes at least 15 minutes. But so totally worth it.

No chance of stopping for donuts on the way out of town because I have great food for fuel in me and I feel great! I plan ahead when possible. Am I going to still be on the road for the next meal? Where can I get food? The answers to those questions will guide what I bring with me and where I plan my longer stops.

Stop at grocery stores and canned meat is OK!

If I’m going to be on the road during the next meal and I haven’t already packed food, then I stop at a grocery store! Ben and I started doing this for budget reasons when we were first married and we loved it. We could spend $25 on “luxury” food items, and it would last us a meal and snacks or more. We’d grab fresh deli meat and cheese, fruits, veggies, and other fun snacks. But now that I’m driven by my health and not by the budget, grocery stores are still the place for me to go to find food. (Pre-made salads, guac, Nut-Thins, meat, fruit and veggies, Larabars.) And here’s a neat tip… canned meat. Though it’s not amazing, it’s protein and calories and energy. Ever tried opening a can of chicken and digging in? I dare ya. It’s a meat source that you can bring along that doesn’t need refrigeration.

Travel with the blender.

Likely, you’ll be traveling to a place to stay for a few days and you’re going to get hungry while you’re there. If possible, I bring my Blentec with me. Working in the kitchen at a camp earlier this summer was a blast. Baking with everything I needed was purchased for me and staff to wash dishes and someone else to hold my babies? Yes, please! But I knew I’d be surrounded by traditional camp food, and I didn’t want to be grumpy and hungry. Obviously, I needed my chocolate. Therefore, I brought the Blentec and whipped up my go-to chocolate shake for the meals I needed to avoid. (Pizza, lasagna, pancakes, pot pie, etc.)

Know your boundaries and don’t make excuses.

If you’re eating paleo because you want to lose weight… well, you get to decide how strict you want to be. If you’re celiac and you will break out in a terrible rash or be sick the rest of the day if you eat pizza, that requires more careful planning. Road trips can be difficult for elimination diets. I eat paleo for a lot of reasons, but the easiest to explain is the migraines. When I switched to a paleo diet, I very quickly stopped being in pain. They went from 17 days a month to 3-4 days a month. I tolerate oats and other gluten-free grains in moderation. I don’t react to corn chips or small amounts of cheese. But ice-cream? No way. Because the headaches are so severe I don’t even crave tasting the “banned” foods anymore. Clearly, I’m human—I have my moments when I’m sad about not being able to enjoy a cinnamon roll, but then I remember the amount of pain I used to be in and I go make myself a batch of homemade chocolate and all is right with Tasha’s world again.

Know your WHY.

If you’ve been following Laura for a while you’ve seen the progression from homemade foods, low-sugar foods, organic or non-organic, simple meals, we love people more than food… and it’s all wonderful! And Laura knows her why. If I was on a diet for the fun of it… I would have a hard time following through. But knowing that I’m on a “diet” for very specific health reasons makes a huge difference. Otherwise, why would I bother with paleo on a road trip? Whatever the reason you’ve made it this far into this article: Do you know why you eat the way you eat? Why do we stop at a fast food restaurant? Do we think it’s going to be cheaper? Faster? Tastier? I challenge you to think about why you eat what you eat and what you might want to change. Depending on your why, you might be able to splurge and have a treat on a road trip! Have a treat and enjoy every bite of it.

Traveling soon? Whatcha gonna eat?!

Tasha Hackett is friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie. Tasha spends most of her time with four chatty children that she homeschools and a fun-loving, supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. Find out more about her and her historical Christian romance at www.TashaHackett.com. Her novel is available wherever books are sold and she loves to speak about the novel at libraries and other bookish events.

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School Morning Routine – One Way I CHEAT!

August 4, 2021 by Laura 12 Comments

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I’m about to tell you a big way that I cheat on our school morning routine. Think you can handle this truth I’m about to share?

I’m new at this “send your kids to school” thing. We homeschooled our kids for 17+ years. But now here I am, getting kids up and out the door for school every morning.

Early. After being up with a baby at night for feedings.

If you’d like, I can keep giving you more reasons to justify this lovely way I cheat in order to get my kids out the door to meet the bus on time. But none of us really needs reasons and excuses, right? Because getting kids ready for school on time IS A THING, am I right?

Or is it just me?

Are my kids the only ones who stare with dull eyes at the sink when I say, “Please hurry and get those teeth brushed!”

Blank. Stare.

“Please hurry and go get your shoes on!”

Walks. Slowly. Tooooo. Theeeee. Shooooooooes.

What in the actual world?

Why do I even use the word hurry? WHY?

I try not to say the word “hurry” anymore when giving instructions to my kids because it seems so pointless. But shucks if I don’t find myself saying it every time anyway. I am holding onto a nugget of hope that maybe one day it will work? They’ll be like, “OH!!! I was going to freeze myself by this closet door and not get out the backpack I obviously get out every single morning. But Mom told me to hurry! So I’d better go fast!!”

Hurry is not a word that helps the children find speed. Mom sheds a tear.

Perhaps your kids get up early, dress themselves, eat a full breakfast, fix their hair, brush their teeth, gather their school belongings, and have so much time to spare that they read a book until it’s time to go. If so, please know how happy I am for you. The rest of us are over here just trying to help our kids remember that their shoes are right where they left them last night and that said shoes are to be put onto their actual feet.

School Morning Routine – One Way I CHEAT!

Yes, we put shoes and backpacks by the door each night. Yes, we eat a simple breakfast. Yes, coats and jackets and teacher notes and homework is all taken care of before we go to bed the night before. So what else is there?

This:

My children sleep in their school clothes.

Allow me to explain.

My school children are currently 5 and 7 years old. They are slow to get dressed, which makes me appreciate dealing with this need at night before bed instead of in the morning when the bus is almost here and the word HURRY isn’t helpful.

They don’t wear fancy clothes. My children and their clothes are always clean and fresh. Nothing is wrinkled in the morning when the kids roll out of bed because my 5 and 7-year-olds wear non-wrinkly clothes like joggers or leggings and pullover shirts.

At night while we brush teeth, potty, make sure shoes and backpacks are ready by the door – we also choose and put on our “tomorrow clothes.” This includes clean underwear, and the entire process also often includes a bath. So they are nice and clean, they put on clean underwear and clothes, then we finish our bedtime routine and head to bed. Wearing tomorrow’s clothes.

The Next Morning

I wake up the kids and would you look at that?? They are already dressed for the day!

This is a beautiful thing because instead of telling my kids to hurry and get dressed, I can say hurry and do all the other things because we aren’t spending a solid ten minutes staring at the tags in our shirts instead of putting them over our heads – for the love of my sanity.

Keith is wearing jammies as we get ready for bed.
This is because he doesn’t have to leave tomorrow morning.
Brayden though. See how he’s wearing tomorrow’s shirt?
Though I just noticed that it’s on backward. Here’s hoping we fixed that.

Have you ever done this?

Do you think I’m a weirdo? I mean, well, yeah. But I mean about this new weird thing I just told you about.

I used to do this with my older boys on Sunday mornings when they were little. They’d bathe on Saturday nights, put on their church clothes, go to bed, then roll out on Sunday mornings with a polo and khakis already on their cute little bodies.

I’m telling you, it’s an amazing time and stress saver if you have little ones to get out the door for school or for anything you need to get out the door for in the mornings.

What are your secrets for getting kids ready on time in the mornings?

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The Easiest Way to Make Steak Gravy

August 1, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

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Have some leftover steak? Here’s the easiest way to make steak gravy!

Did you see my recent post about making biscuits with one hand? It’s by far the easiest way to make biscuits! Very little mess!

That day, while I was only interested in the biscuits so that I could slather on the butter, I knew that Matt and our big boys would be looking around for some gravy to put on them. (Seems that I should write a book called “If You Give a Boy a Biscuit”…)

I remembered that I had some leftover grilled steak that we needed to use up. And so, I used it to make Steak Gravy.

No one complained. No, not one.

The Easiest Way to Make Steak GravyYum

The Easiest Way to Make Steak Gravy

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Author: Laura

Serves: 2-3 servings

Ingredients

2 leftover cooked steaks
¼ cup butter
3-4 Tablespoons cornstarch or flour
2 cups of milk (more if your gravy seems too thick)

Instructions

Cut leftover steak into small bites. (I use kitchen shears to make this easier!)
Put the bites into a skillet.
Add butter.
Melt the butter while heating the steak.
Sprinkle in cornstarch or flour to make a paste.
Add milk.
Cook and stir over medium to high heat until mixture is thick and bubbly.
Salt and pepper per your preference.
Serve over biscuits

If your gravy fails to thicken, mix a “paste” of 2 Tablespoons flour with 3 Tablespoons of water. Stir the mixture into your gravy, little bits at a time until the gravy thickens to desired consistency. Do NOT sprinkle flour directly into the gravy. That’s how lumpy gravy is made. :)

Prefer to make sausage gravy? Here’s our easy and delicious Sausage Gravy Recipe.

Steak Gravy over Mashed Potatoes

Yes, please.

What an amazing meal this will be! Here are our easiest methods for making mashed potatoes:

Making mashed potatoes with either of these methods creates so little mess to clean up!

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19 Treats to Help You Cool Off!

July 28, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

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We’ve put together a tasty list to help you cool off during these super hot days!

This list is in no particular order. The ideas are simply tasty and fun! Make smoothies. Make frappes. Make fruity sweet teas. Make pudding pops. Make ice cream.

These are all made with real food ingredients. And if you know me at all you know that all of these recipes are easy to put together!

19 Treats to Help You Cool Off!

TIP: I’ve been making smoothies almost daily this summer with lots of fresh greens in them like this. Matt and I love drinking our salad this way! But the kids? They don’t like them with as many greens as we grown-ups do. BUT! The kids will drink them with some greens. So I make a separate batch for the kids with more fruit, some yogurt, and a couple of small handfuls of fresh spinach. They drink them right up!

TIP: If I put the kids’ smoothies in cups like this, they aren’t turned off by the color created by blending in spinach. Mwuhaha. I have my ways. :)

TIP: However, my kids are onto me. So I don’t try to sneak the spinach into the blender. I have them wash their hands and help me put the leaves in themselves. That way they feel proud of the spinach in their smoothies. Mwuhahaha, again.

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Simple Coconut Blueberry Lime Smoothie

July 25, 2021 by Tasha Hackett Leave a Comment

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Another great smoothie!

by Tasha Hackett

You’re surely not tired of them yet, are you? This coconut blueberry lime smoothie is going make you do a little hula dance right there in your kitchen. Or in your friend’s kitchen when you make it at her house. Or in the camp kitchen you’re working at this week.

Simple Coconut Blueberry Lime SmoothieYum

I (Tasha) have been on a paleo diet since before Christmas. You could say it’s been the year of the smoothies. Even more than most years. It’s just so easy to get in the vegetables this way! Ack… this one doesn’t even have vegetables in it. I’m sorry. But you can go drink your salad another time.

While I’m at camp this week, I brought my Blentec—blender snob alert… yes, it’s me. High calorie smoothies like this one keep me from starving to death when not eating camp mac-n-cheese and chicken nuggets.

I did say simple smoothie, didn’t I?

If my daily chocolate shake has too many ingredients for you, try this one! The recipe is in the title… Ding-a-ling! Easy peasy. It’s coconut milk, frozen blueberries, and the juice of one lime. You can stop there, or you can add a touch of sweetener:

13 oz. can coconut milk (I currently use Nature’s Greatest Organic 17% Coconut Milk Fat)
2 cups frozen blueberries (Or other berries, but then it wouldn’t be a Coconut Blueberry Lime Smoothie now would it?)
Juice of 1 lime (Or 2-3 tsp of lime juice if you don’t have time for the squeezing of the lime… but I recommend the real deal.)
Blend until smooth****

****If your kids are, well, you know, average kids, you may need to add a touch of a sweetener of choice. I use 1/2 teaspoon of THM Super Sweet stevia blend.

Put the lime in the coconut…

If you’re looking for more great smoothie ideas, search smoothie over there on the search bar on this sight and be wowed by the variety. How about this cinnamon one? And a homemade Orange Julius. Remember your high protein chocolate shake here. And lastly, don’t be scared to throw a few goodies in the blender and see what happens! Just PLEASE and I mean, PLEASE stay away from arugula in smoothies. Spinach and maybe some kale, but arugula does not play nice in a smoothie. That is my best advice to you. And beets… unless you like eating pink dirt. Haha. Some people will fight me on this one, but that’s a topic for another day. For now, go enjoy this fresh summer treat.

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Instant Pot Bacon Chicken Pasta

July 21, 2021 by Laura 4 Comments

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Want to know what my husband said when eating Instant Pot Bacon Chicken Pasta for the first time?

“People pay big bucks for food like this at a restaurant!”

What went through my mind all at the same time when he said that is:

Aww, shucks.
But this didn’t cost big bucks to make.
Why eat out when we can make this at home in 30 minutes, start to finish?
Instead of paying $15/plate, this cost less than $15 for all of us!
I pretty much threw this together last minute.
My husband likes me more than Olive Garden.

But out loud, I simply said…

Ok, I totally said almost all of that out loud in one sentence without taking a breath and with additional thoughts and twenty to forty more words.

What can I say? I’m home with a bunch of small children all day, which means that for around 10 hours every day my conversations consist of saying things like, “Come over here so I can change your diaper” and “Please don’t let Sissy put that in her mouth.” By the end of the day, I HAVE A LOT OF WORDS LEFT and I love it when they have more to do with grown-up subjects instead of choo-choo trains and wet wipes.

Ultimately though, when Matt said, “People pay big bucks for food like this at a restaurant!” I knew I’d found a winner. It’s so, so true. This meal is restaurant quality for a sweet at-home price. It’s perfect for company and completely easy to make.

If you have an Instant Pot.

Don’t have one yet? Here’s what I have and love and use all the time!

And now, it’s time to get out the simple ingredients that you likely already have on hand and make this awesome “restaurant food.”

Instant Pot Bacon Chicken PastaYum

Instant Pot Bacon Chicken Pasta

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Author: Laura

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
3 Tablespoons homemade dry Ranch Dressing mix
16-ounces pasta, any shape, uncooked
4 cups (32-ounces) chicken broth
1 cup shredded cheese (Colby jack is our favorite)
8 ounces softened cream cheese
3-4 handfuls of baby fresh spinach
8 slices cooked bacon, made into bacon bits

Instructions

Use kitchen shears to cut chicken directly into your Instant Pot.
Saute chicken in olive oil for a few minutes until chicken is no longer pink.
Add ranch dressing, pasta, and chicken broth. Do not stir.
Put lid on Instant pot and seal.
Cook on Manual, High Pressure for four minutes.
Quick release the pressure (I usually hold a towel a few inches above the valve to keep steam from spraying all over my kitchen.)
Open the lid and add cream cheese, shredded cheese, spinach leaves, and bacon bits.
Stir until creamy.
Serve!

You are going to love how flavorful and easy this is!

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