Hello My Friends,
Here we go again! Another Monday. I hope this finds you all well and rested from the weekend.
So I was going through some photos over the weekend and came across this one of my pitiful Poppy that made me smile and LOL. I have included it and hope it brings a smile to you too… (Please don’t judge my dirty rug 😉 Ha!ha!)
And I absolutely adore the photo at the top. That is Lucy and Poppy on my bed with a toy. If you knew their personalities, you would totally get why this is so dang cute.
They love to play/fight over the toys. They can get pretty rowdy but are definitely loving every minute of it. In this photo, I caught them “fighting” over this toy and when they saw me, they instantly tried to look so innocent.
It was a really cute moment! 🙂
I think I have cooked more in the past 6 weeks than I have in the past 2 years. Not even kidding! So as you can imagine, the family has been favoring “comfort foods” right now. Not dishes I typically make but I have been trying some new recipes with my Instant Pot and I thought I would share one of our favorites.
Instant Pot® Garden Vegetable Soup
This flexible “clean out the refrigerator” recipe can be adapted countless ways to include whatever fresh vegetables and herbs you happen to have on hand.
Tip: Tougher herbs, such as rosemary and thyme, can be added prior to cooking, while more tender options, such as basil and parsley, should be stirred in when the arugula is added. (Discard the woody stems for the tougher herbs before serving).
Prep time: 20 minutes
Active cook time: 7-8 minutes (+ time to come to pressure)
Natural Release: 10 minutes
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
4 large stalks celery, chopped
4 large carrots, sliced
1 medium red onion, chopped
¼ t. crushed red pepper flakes
Sea salt & black pepper, to taste
6 c. chicken or vegetable broth, preferably organic
1 lb. red potatoes, quartered
2 whole bay leaves
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, chopped
2 c. fresh arugula
2 T. fresh lime juice
Parmesan cheese, freshly shaved or grated
Directions:
Add olive oil to Instant Pot® and select the “Sauté” function. Add garlic, celery, carrots, red onion, and crushed red pepper flakes. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste, and stir to combine.
Sauté, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and the vegetables start to develop some color, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add broth and stir to combine, scrapping any brown bits off the bottom of the pot in the process. Turn the unit off.
Add potatoes, bay leaves, and chopped tomatoes to the pot. Add lid and lock into place. Switch the vent to “Sealing” and set the “Manual” setting to 3 minutes.
When cook time is complete, allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
Remove lid and discard the bay leaves. Stir in fresh arugula and lime juice, and season with additional salt and black pepper, if desired. Stir to combine.
Serve immediately topped with freshly shaved or grated Parmesan cheese, if desired. Enjoy!
With the extra “home” time, I have also been preparing some extra treats for the pups. I ran across a list of crock-pot
recipes for dogs and there are several I want to try. I plan on whipping up a few this week so check back next week and I will let you know if I had any success. I will share my results.
But for now, I have included one of my babies (Lucy and Poppy) favorites.
Bacon Bits for Dogs
6 slices cooked bacon — crumbled
4 eggs — well beaten
1/8 cup bacon grease
1 cup water
1/2 cup powdered milk — non-fat
2 cup graham flour
2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup cornmeal
Mix ingredients with a strong spoon; drop heaping tablespoonfuls
onto a greased baking sheet. Bake in a 350 oven for 15 minutes.
Turn off oven and leave cookies on baking sheet in the oven
overnight to dry out.
My girls L-O-V-E bacon…
And I think these treats are probably a little healthier than store-bought biscuits and cookies.
So I guess that’s it for now. If you try either of the recipes, shoot me a message and let me know how it turned out.
Just ask my family, when I am experimenting in the kitchen, they never really know what to expect.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. ???? I just keep telling myself to breathe.
’til next time,
