Instant Pot Spicy Beef Stew

I don't know about you but as a mom of two busy littles I find I am always scrambling to get dinner on the table before the children get hangry or their bedtime arrives. Enter the Instant Pot. It is an electric pressure cooker and probably by far the best machine I have ever bought for my kitchen since the KitchenAid mixer came out.

I was able to make this wonderful Beef Stew in about 45 minutes tops including prep, cook, and dishing up time. The meat falls apart, the carrots are cooked through, the potatoes tender, and the flavor is like you slow cooked it.

I will probably continue to share my favorite things to make in my lovely Instant Pot in the future here but feel free to comment with questions about this nifty device. Keep an eye on online retailers as I have seen it go on sale multiple times in the last year.

Bonus points as this is a Whole30 compliant meal. If you are unfamiliar with Whole30 you basically remove all processed foods and sugar. Meats, veggies (aside from legumes like peas), fruit, nuts (except peanuts) and oils, eggs are on the menu for Whole30 meals. That excludes grains, legumes, sugar, alcohol, carrageenan, msg, or sulfites,and dairy. Also off the list are baked goods/treats make with approved items like banana pancakes or ice cream. paleo pizzas. I have completed two 30 day whole30 challenges and am gearing up for another.  For more information click here.

Instant Pot Spicy Beef Stew

3 lbs beef stew meat
2 -3 tablespoons of coconut oil
4-6 garlic cloves, minced (I use a garlic press)
1/2 large onion, chopped
5 good size carrots, chopped to 1 1/2 inch pieces
5-6 medium Yukon potatoes, chopped to 1 1/2 inch pieces
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2-2 1/2 cups broth/beef broth
2-3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of chipotle paste (go easy )
2 teaspoon oregano
salt
pepper

Turn Saute button on and add coconut oil. While it heats salt and pepper the meat. Once melted add beef stew meat and brown on all sides (as best as you can with that much meat. Roughly 4-5 minutes.) Add garlic, onions, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, chipotle paste, broth, and then spices. Stir up to combined and put the lid on. Make sure steam valve is set to seal. Turn on to meat/stew button for 35 minutes. When 35 minutes is up, turn off Instantpot and quick release the valve. Be careful of the steam. You are also welcome to just let it naturally release if you have the time. I did not tonight.

Serve.  Delicious. This was slightly spicy. Some may find it too spicy. If you are that person then just leave off the chipotle paste.

I hope if you try my recipe you come back and tell me how you liked it, or how you modified it for your family!

Cheers!

My New Go To Chili Recipe

Holy Cannoli Batman!  I've been itching to make chili now for more than 2 weeks. It just sounds good. Maybe I am feeling sympathy for all my friends and family in the Midwest where the temperatures are negative. (Did I mention how happy I am to be out in the Pacific Northwest!)

Anywho, So tonight I decided to actually get off my butt and make it for dinner. I had previously looked at recipes the last two days for one that I liked but I came up with things that just looked ok, but not "Oh my heavens, I HAVE to make that."

sort of like this little beauty...that is currently on my list of things to drool over everyday until I make it. If I just made your mouth water...here is the link for the recipe:
Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake

Seriously...when I have a stressful day I'd like a couple of these puppies to make things so much better, wouldn't you?

So anyway...my Husband and I ate this chili for dinner, The seasonings were all eyeballed so the following recipe was the best guess. The Rotel tomatoes and green chiles do have a heat to them (in case you need to cut out all spice).  The review from the husband was: "zomg that's good." He gobbled the entire bowl up. He also attempted to downplay how good it was so he could have more (to save others from having to have a bowl).

 My Chili

2 packages of sirloin tip steaks, chopped into bite size pieces

1.25 lbs ground beef

2 green peppers

10 mini sweet peppers (or 1-2 red, yellow, or orange peppers), diced

1 medium onion, diced

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies

1 can tomato sauce

1 can butter beans (could use two) drained & rinsed

1 can tri-blend beans (kidney, black, and pinto) drained & rinsed

1 can sweet corn, drained

1 can of water

Chili powder

Cumin

Oregano

Salt and pepper

Garlic powder

Onion powder

1 can of Guinness beer

1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Cornstarch

1 scallion, chopped (greens only)

In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add steak pieces (do two batches if you need to) Brown pieces, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Meanwhile in a second pan, brown beef, season lightly with chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Once steak pieces are cooked, sauté onions in stock pot with a splash of oil. Add green peppers and sweet peppers and garlic, deglaze with the beer. Add tomato sauce, 1 can of water, add both beans, add corn, and both meats. Stir to combine.  Add 1 ½ palmfuls of chili powder, 2-3 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder and onion powder,  1-2 Tbsp oregano. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper.  Stir to combine spices. To thicken. Take ¼ to ½ cup of just the liquid part of the chili into a bowl or cup. Add generous sprinkle of cornstarch (maybe 3-4 Tbsp) and whisk until combine. Add back to chili. (I did this twice).  Cook for 15 minutes on stove top to meld flavors.  Serve with shredded Pepper Jack Cheese, garnish with chopped scallions and tortilla chips on the side.


And in case you don't like my recipe and are still searching for your favorite chili recipe Check out this one:


 

Chicken & Rice Wrap with Peanut Dip

Tonight I tried a new recipe to "get me out of lunch time rut" from a book I picked up last weekend called:

The Lunch Box: Packed with fun, healthy meals that keep them smiling.

<~~~~~~~~ Here is the cover of the book
The book itself covers sandwiches, wraps, salads, snacks, smoothies, dips, and soups/warm meals. It's very clever and has ideas for using leftover food from dinner in a new and exciting way.

Tonight I used things I had in my fridge/or shelf to make 4 wraps for my husbands future lunches. I used Rice, tortillas, 2 cutie clementines (the original recipe calls for canned mandarin oranges), 3 mini red peppers, 1 left over rotisserie chicken breast, and chopped baby spinach. I also used staples from my pantry to create a peanut dipping sauce. If you don't like oranges you could just use the peppers, if you don't want meat you could canned, drained chickpeas or cooked tofu, and if you can't do nuts (like at my toddler school) you could do hummus or Asian sesame dressing.

The peanut sauce itself is peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and water. Interestingly enough if you asked my parents if these things would be in my cabinet as an adult they would probably not hesitate to say an emphatic NO (except the peanut butter and water). But I have grown and learned to really enjoy cooking with the other items in Asian cooking.

Here it is all prepped: Chicken, red pepper, spinach chopped, Rice - cooked and cooled, oranges peels, and way in the back peanut sauce mixed and ready.

I laid a piece of foil down, then put the tortilla in the center (could probably work 2/3rd down from the top too.) I added a dollop of peanut sauce across the middle horizontally. Then piled on the rice, peppers, chicken, spinach, and oranges. Then I folded the wrap in thirds from the top and bottom. While holding them in place I folded over the left and right sides of the foil. Then rolled the bottom over the wrap and the top over that. In retrospect my tortilla was way too small, but I made do because it's what we had on hand.

This is where I have to end my post as I was preparing these for tomorrow. I will attempt to heat these tomorrow morning at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes (enough to heat it through). The book talks about putting it in a insulated container to keep it warm. I might just leave it un-heated, depends on what time I wake up and how long it takes my oven to heat up to 400.

I will post what my hubby thought of the wrap as soon as I know...He did have a small taste of the peanut dip...he said it tastes good at first bite but after the initial taste it's very peanut butter-y then the aftertaste is as good as the first bite.  I hope he likes it...crosses my fingers!

Quinoa and Beef Stuffed Peppers

Tonight's dinner was suppose to happen last night but in a moment of weakness I caved and we went for burgers and chicken nuggets. So I made Stuffed peppers tonight. I had 5 peppers in my fridge from my produced co-op basket from before new years (shame..shame shame). I also had a yellow squash (my personal preference is for zucchini) and some carrots and onions.  I pulled some meat out of my freezer to thaw and picked up a zucchini from the store because once I started thinking about it, I had to have it in this meal.  Aside from the zucchini everything in the meal was from my produce basket or from my shelves/freezer.

Look at the yummy veggies sauteing! Smelled so great!

Once the veggies were done sauteing, the meat was browned, and the quinoa cooked. It was time to assemble the stuffed peppers. I baked them for 15-20 minutes in an oven set to 350 and let them rest for about 5 minutes while I finished the dishes.

After I pulled them out of the oven.

Don't they look wonderful? I added cheese to only three since my husband is lactose intolerant.

And I dressed one up pretty with the melted and browned delicious cheese:

Can you see a butterfly?

EDIT: did the family like them?  My little man had a small two bites from the spoon before he didn't want any more (that's actually really good). My husband had one half pepper serving, my brother had two half pepper servings, and I also had one. The best was my brother saying that the extra left over filling would go well with the leftover refried beans and tortillas in the fridge. Guess we'll have to make this again.

So here's what you scrolled through my post to find.  The recipe:

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients for 2-4 servings with enough for left overs:

5 bell peppers of your choice, one chopped the others halved and seeded
1 zucchini, diced
1 med yellow squash (I used 1/2 a large one)
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 a medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chiles, drained(this brand gives the mixture a nice heat)
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup quinoa rinsed
2 cups water


Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350. Heat a medium pan on med-high with a tablespoon or two of your favorite cooking oil. Added onions and carrots. Saute for 2-3 minutes then add garlic. Cook another 2-3 minutes then add the zucchini and squash. Cook until all veggies are tender and browned a bit. Meanwhile brown your meat in a separate pan (adding salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you want while it cooks. I added a dash of onion powder, garlic powder, and Lawry's seasoning salt) and add the water and quinoa to a medium pot. Bring the water/quinoa mix to a boil, cover, reduce to medium low and cook for 15 minutes. Once veggies are cooked, add can of tomatoes to them and combine, add the meat and quinoa when they are finished. Stir until combined.

Take the mixture and spoon it into the cavities of the bell peppers and place them on a foil wrapped cookie sheet. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese if you prefer. Bake for 15-20 minutes for semi-crunchy peppers, or bake until the peppers are as soft as you want them. Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.