Tumeric Chicken (Pressure Cooker)

I got this recipe from Six Sisters (<--click link) Dump & Go Instant Pot Recipes.

I added a few more ingredients to our liking. 

The two thigs I love about this recipe is that it is really fast to make & it tastes really good!

My Instant Pot makes it really easy to make this!

      Ingredients

• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. tumeric
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. redmond sea salt
• 2 lbs. chicken breast or thighs
• 3 cups of Jasmine rice

    

       Instructions

1. Rinse and clean 3 cups of Jasmine rice and cook according to directions.
2. Add coconut milk, turmeric, brown sugar, and salt into instant pot and stir until combined.
3. Add chicken and turn over a few times in the sauce. 
4. Put lid on and move valve to sealing. Press manuel pressure and set timer for frozen (7-8oz each) chicken 12 mins. or 7 mins for fresh chicken on high pressure.
5. When the time is done let it sit for 5+ mins before releasing pressure. Make sure internal temperature of chicken is at 165deg. It'll probaby be higher.
6. Get your hand mixer and use it to shred the chicken. Be very careful because it is hot and the juices will splatter. It's also best to wear an apron beacause tumeric will stain. Or you can pull the chicken out and use two forks to shred. If your using a cutting boards the tumeric will stain it. 

You'll love the aroma of this dish! 

I love the way coconut smells. So divine.

Serve it over rice with a side of your favorite veggies. 

Add some fresh cilantro or basil for more flavor!

Enjoy!!

Hoisin Chicken Stir-fry

I bought some small chicken cuts at a local Japanese grocery store and fried them up with some homemade hoisin sauce. This meal turned out great and was quick and easy to throw together!

Homemade Hoisin Sauce:

• 4 Tbps. Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp. Black Bean Paste
• 1 Tbsp. honey or molasses
• 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 20 drops hot sauce
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper 

Combine all the ingredients together!

I fried up some garlic and onions. Then added the chicken and cooked for about 5mins and then added the last of the sauce that I had. Maybe about 1/8 cup or a little more and it thickened up really well. Add some green onions to brighten up the dish! Maybe next time I'll have to marinate the chicken in my homemade hoisin sauce. Yum!

The results were all thumbs up! 

The Fish Fam really enjoyed this dish over rice!

Chicken & Onions In White Sauce w/ Quinoa

This dinner was really quick and easy to make and most importantly the Fish Fam loved it!

My youngest loves loves quinoa, so I decided to do quinoa instead of noodles or rice. If you haven't had quinoa I highly recommend you try out this awesome superfood filled with lots of health benefits!

I'm always changing up recipes to adjust the dairy content (besides the butter) and this time I used a gluten free flour too....

White Sauce Ingredients: 

4 tbsp. butter (can sub with Ghee for dairy & casin free)

4 tbsp. flour (can sub. w/ gluten-free flour)

2 1/2 cup milk (we like our rice/coconut milk mix) warm

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Directions:

• Melt the butter in a saucepan
• Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles (don't let it brown)
• Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens
• Bring it to a boil
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Lower the heat, and cook, stirring for a few more minutes
• Remove from the heat

*I didn't know how the gluten free flour would change the recipe, but it came out really good and all I heard from my husband and the kids of how good it was.

*If the sauce isn't think enough, in a separate pan heat up a tablespoon of butter and then add a tablespoon of flour and stir. Add the mix into the sauce and keep stirring. 

While the sauce was cooking I stir-fried some red onions and garlic in grapeseed oil and then added some diced chicken and cooked thoroughly. Let it sauté and brown to bring out more flavor, just make sure there is enough oil in the pan so it doesn't burn. 

I steamed some broccoli and cut up some bell peppers and cucumber and whala dinner was done!

Simple Sesame Noodles

The Fish Fam said these noodles were pretty good. One of my kids tried a tasted and said, "Yum, this tastes just like seaweed salad!"

Yes, they liked it, but the husband said maybe next time don't do spaghetti noodles.

I was thinking the same thing. I'll have to try flat rice noodles or some other Chinese noodle. But this recipe was quick and simple. I also added leftover shredded chicken.

Simple Sesame Noodles

By Pioneer Women

• 12 ounces, fluid Thin Noodles, Cooked And Drained
• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons Pure Sesame Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Hot Chili Oil
• 4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 4 whole Green Onions, Sliced Thin

Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.
Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.
Sprinkle with green onions and toss.
Serve in a bowl with chopsticks. Yummy!

Chicken & Cilantro Wonton Soup

My boys love their Chinese soups and homemade is so much better than take out.

Well, it's mostly homemade. Gotta work on those wontons.

So, for now these Cilantro & Chicken Wontons from Costco will do...

When it comes to buying prepared foods I like when I am able to read the ingredients list, know what they are, and really it should be way way way less than a paragraph long. It'd be awesome if it was organic. The couple no good ingredients are: Carrageenan (thickener/stabilizer/sneaky MSG ingredient) and soy/soybean oil (GMO)/don't overlook the "*No MSG added" (I like their honesty on this one). 

When we lived in China at my sons preschool we made homemade jiaozi/potsickers. It was fun and easy! All the kids got to help and they loved it. So for a family night we'll definitely be making some!

This dinner was quick and easy because I pre-make my bone broths in my instant pot pressure cooker and have them ready to go in the freezer. The broth consists of...

Grass-fed Beef Bones (bought locally)

ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar)

Carrots

Onions

Parsley

Celery

Sea Salt

I pull it out of the freezer and depending on what you froze the broth in and the size of your pot, you put it into a pot and let it cook/melt. I also had frozen chopped onions and garlic to throw in. Then my Little Chef grated fresh grated ginger and chopped green onions. He threw it all in with some sesame oil once the soup become liquid. Once the soup is about to boil add the wontons and whalla, it's done in about 5mins (once the wontons are floating, a helpful Chinese cooking tip)!

Mine is pretty similar to this Wonton Soup at Damn Delicious.

Which I'm saving to make the wontons! 

So, for now these will do...

Enjoy!

Green Curry

We had a bunch of friends over for dinner the other week and I made this green curry and everyone approved and said how delicious it was. People were like, "Whoa, what did you put in this? It tastes so good!" Unfortunately, I can't eat it because it has plenty of things on my cannot eat list. Sigh. But, I'm super glad everyone liked it because there was some things I didn't different from the recipe because either I didn't have it or I used something different.  

Easy Thai Green Curry with Chicken Recipe | แกงเขียวหวาน

By The Thai-Foodie: Recipe Here

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. cooking oil of your choice
• 2 cans of coconut milk (14 ounces), the Chao Koh brand is my fav
• 1 c. water (I used my homemade bone broth, which I know made the biggest difference)
• 3-6 tbsp. Thai green curry paste, Mae Anong is a good one
• 1.5 lbs of pork or chicken breasts, thinly sliced
• 1 c. frozen or fresh shelled peas, or small pea eggplants
• 1 lb. small Thai eggplants, cut in quarters, or 2 long Asian eggplants cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves
• fish sauce to taste (used Red Boat Fish Sauce = the best, yes good fish sauce matters!!)
• 1-2 tbsp palm sugar, or brown sugar, to taste
• 1 c. fresh Thai sweet basil with flowers, or sub with other basil you have on hand (Used my friends fresh basil she is growing)

Instructions

1. Add cooking oil to large pot and warm it.
2. Be careful not to shake up your coconut milk because you want the thick cream to stay on top. Spoon out the thick cream from each can into the large pot and heat over medium-heat.
3. Reduce until it looks bubbly like melted marshmallows.
4. Add curry paste and fry for a few minutes until its fragrance soothes your soul and makes you smile.
5. Pour in the rest of the milk, and water and bring to a boil.
6. Add the meat and pea eggplants, if you somehow found them (I never have). If using fresh or frozen peas, don't add them yet or they will disintegrate, lesson learned.
7. Return to a boil.
8. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes uncovered.
9. After simmering, add the Thai eggplants, frozen or fresh peas (if using) and kaffir lime leaves.
10. Taste the curry. If you think it needs more salt, add fish sauce to taste. I like to add palm sugar because I like my curry a bit sweeter since coconut milk lends itself to that.
11. Simmer a few more minutes until the eggplants and peas are tender.
12. Stir in the basil and cook one more minute and turn off the heat.
13. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.
14. Enjoy!

Notes

I think curries always taste better the next day because all the herbs got to mingle and get to know each other over night. If I'm having guests over, I like to make green curry the night before and warm it up before they arrive.

This recipe is adapted from Kasma Loha-Unchit's wonderful cookbook, "It Rains Fishes."

Enjoy Enjoy!!

Instant Pot

This was my Christmas present an Instant Pot aka pressure cooker!

But, this isn't any regular old pressure cooker this is an awesome 7-n-1...

Pressure Cooker

Slow Cooker

Rice Cooker 

Saute/Browning 

Yogurt Maker

Steamer/Warmer

Reviews are great on this check it out at Amazon.

We've been using it and I love it.

It is very time and energy efficient.

Here's a great review from Whole Health Source.

I make lots of bone broths in this in the fraction of the time it takes in the crock pot or stove top.

Our soups always turn out so yummy!

So check it out it's totally worth it.

If you end up with one on your counter you'll enjoy it :)

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken

This curry smelled so delicious!

In the morning I chopped up everything and then put it all in the crock pot.

Then when my kids came home they sniffed their little noses and said, "Is that curry??" Yay!"

I used chicken drumsticks, so it may not look like curry, as the meat slow cooks it just falls off the bone and shreds so nicely!

The Fish Fam ate most of it, but we had a little bit left over and were going away for the weekend so I passed on all my leftovers to my neighbor. She then wanted this recipe. Here it is Rebecca...

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken:

Recipe by Kristy

From Sweet Treats & More

Ingredients

• 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, cut into cubes
• 5 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I used a green pepper)
• 1 (5 oz ) can tomato paste
• 1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and halved OR 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

• 1
  Grease your slow cooker with Pam. Place the chicken and carrots on the bottom of slow cooker.
• 2
  Place the rest of the ingredients (except water and corn starch) in a food processor and process together until mixture is mostly smooth. ***If your food processor is too small to hold everything, process everything but the coconut milk. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl then mix in the coconut milk.
• 3
  Pour the sauce over the chicken and carrots, mix well, then cover and cook on low for about 6 hours.
• 4
  An hour or so before serving, mix cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour mixture into the slow cooker, stir to combine, and continue cooking for another hour. **This will thicken up the sauce. When the sauce is to your desired thickness, turn slow cooker to warm setting until ready to serve.
• 5
  Serve over rice, with Naan, and garnish with cilantro.

Notes

• *if you want you can chop the bell pepper into larger pieces and place in with the chicken and carrots rather than processing into the sauce. This is what I did and we loved the different textures of the carrots, chicken, and pepper in the sauce.
  
  
  Plenty more for leftovers...
  
  
  
  
  
  Enjoy!
  
  

Sticky Sesame Drumsticks

Another good chicken marinade!

Sticky Sesame Chicken Drumsticks

Austrailian Good Taste (magazine)

Recipe by Michells Southan

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 T sesame seeds

Directions

• Combine the tomato sauce, soy sauce and honey in a glass or ceramic bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to marinate.

• Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Place the chicken on the tray and bake in oven, turning once, for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and bake for a further 15 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked through. Place on a serving platter and serve with sweet chilli sauce.

*I didn't follow the cooking instructions. I just baked all the chicken together in a baking dish for 25-30 mins 375 degrees. Checking the internal heat, which shouldn't be all the way cooked through yet. And then placed them spaced out on a baking sheet lined with tin foil for 10 mins. Then turning on the broiler to get the charred look for a minutes watching them and then flipping them and broiling for another few mins.

Next up…

Soy and Chile glazed Brussels Sprouts...

Better Home & Garden Recipe

Ingredients

• -1lb Brussels Sprouts
• -4 green onions
• -2 T orange juice
• -1 T soy sauce
• -1 1/2 tsp honey
• -1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• -1 clove of garlic minced
• -1 1/2 tsp oil

Directions

• Trim Brussels sprouts;** cut lengthwise into quarters. Finely chop one of the green onions; cut the remaining three green onions diagonally into 1-inch pieces. In a small bowl stir together orange peel, orange juice, soy sauce, honey, serrano pepper, and garlic. Set aside.
• Working in a well-ventilated area, in a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and green onions. Cook and stir for 8 to 10 minutes or until sprouts are blackened in places and are nearly tender.
• Pour orange juice mixture over sprout mixture; toss to coat. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes more or until sprouts are tender.

*To trim Brussels sprouts, cut off the stems just at the spot where the leaves start to grow. Remove dark green outer leaves until the tender, light green leaves are uniformly exposed.

I used cauliflower and not mushrooms and baked it in the oven. At first The Fish Fam didn't really enjoy the flavor of the Brussels Sprouts, but said it was just weird at first and then got better.

Last but not least I cooked the brown rice in my amazing pressure cooker.

It was done in about 30mins. Wow!

Usually, cooking time fore brown rice is hours!

Enjoy :)

Maple Peanut Sesame Chicken

This meal was awesome!

Following a low fodmap diet can be oh so tricky and confusing, but I'm working on it and finding some good meals to make. Kate Scarlata is a well know Fodmap expert and she has plenty of great recipes. Including this one...

Maple Peanut Sesame Chicken

By Kate Scarlata

From Well Balanced

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken tenders (boneless, skinless)
• 2 Tablespoons all natural peanut butter
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 Tablespoons reduced sodium tamari (soy sauce)
• 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

Instructions

1. Wash and pat dry chicken.
2. In medium casserole dish, add peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger and maple syrup whisking to blend.
3. Add chicken and toss to coat with mixture.
4. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes-several hours.
5. Keep chicken in 'marinade' and place casserole uncovered in oven.
6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice vermicelli noodles or baby salad greens.
   
   
   I made this meal to feed to our sister missionaries and they loved it. We have them over often and finally I made something that we could all eat. Yay!
   
   
   I also make my own dressing, which I pour a little bit of this and that in.
   Depending on how much you need make accordingly and let call it...
   
   
   Garlic Infused Ginger Dressing
   
   
   

   -Garlic Infused Olive Oil

   -Coconut Aminos
   -Sesame Oil
   -Squeezed Lemon
   -Ground Ginger
   -S&P
   
   
   I've also added some vinegar, just a little bit, and maple syrup to sweeten it up for guests. Infused oils are delicious a must do in cooking! Add the most of the olive oil, then just a bit less of coconut aminos or soy sauce, a little bit of sesame oil for that toasted sesame flavor, as little or as much fresh squeezed lemon as you like, prob less though, about a pinch of ground ginger, and salt and pepper to taste.
   
   
   We also had this oh so good...
   
   
   
   
   
   Which I was also able to enjoy for the first time in who knows how long!!
   
   
   I made Against All Grain Paleo Pie Crust.
   (gotta buy her book for the recipe.)
   
   
   
   
   
   Beans are used as my "pie weights" while baking.
   
   
   Then find my previous Lemon Meringue Pie post for the filling.
   
   
   Oh happy day :)