Instant Pot Beef & Portobello Mushroom Stew

There's not much I can say about this recipe that you wouldn't already know - it's hearty, simple, and basically the perfect meal to fill your tummy on a cold winter day (I ate mine on a snowy afternoon while sitting on the couch wearing thick wool socks, and watching Chronicles of Narnia 😍). Pair it with some crusty bread to soak up the stew, and it's pure heaven!

Instant Pot Beef & Portobello Mushroom Stew

Serves 4-6 

2 tbsp butter
2 lb beef chuck, fat trimmed & cut into 1 inch cubes (I prefer doing this because it results in much tenderer beef than using pre-packaged stew meat)
1 tsp dried crushed rosemary
1 medium yellow onion
2 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups no sodium added beef or chicken stock
8 oz portobello mushrooms, sliced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2-3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp water

Place butter in Instant Pot, and press Saute function. In two batches, sear the beef cubes on two sides. Don't crowd the beef, or it will steam instead of brown. When finished, turn off the Saute function and add all beef back into the pot.

To the beef, add the onions, celery, carrots, dried rosemary, stock, and pepper. Stir to combine, and then toss the sliced portobello mushrooms on top. Close the lid, and cook on Manual for 15 minutes at high pressure. When the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally (otherwise you'll have to attempt eating boiling lava stew). If after 15-20 minutes the pressure hasn't fully released, open up the valve to release any remaining pressure.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and water with a fork to remove any lumps in the flour and create a slurry. Stir into the stew, and then turn on the Saute function. Let come to a boil for about 5 minutes in order to thicken the stew. Serve with Whole Wheat Skillet Focaccia.

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Curried Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Veggies & Peanut Sauce

I found the basis for this recipe in a little magazine our grocery started sending out to regular customers, and reworked it to make it a little more heart-friendly. I cut back on the red curry paste (which is slightly high in sodium at 15%DV for 1 tsp) and noticed no difference in taste, and pretty drastically reworked the Peanut Sauce recipe because the one they published was so thick and gloopy, you couldn't even toss the vegetables in it.

Ingredients
serves 4-6

Turkey Meatballs
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 egg
1/3 cup oatmeal, ground
1 tsp Thai red curry paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried onion flakes
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Roasted Vegetables
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
2 medium sweet potatoes, spiralized
Olive oil, for drizzling

Peanut Sauce
3 tbsp creamy low-sodium peanut butter
1 tbsp honey
2-3 tbsp rice vinegar (depends on how thick you'd like your sauce)
2 tsp sesame oil
2-3 tsp Sriracha

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375. To make meatballs, place oatmeal in a food processor and pulse until it's fine-ish like a flour (it's okay if it has a few small pieces in it). In a large bowl, combine egg, oatmeal flour, curry paste, garlic, onion flakes, and pepper. Stir to combine, and then work in the ground turkey. Shape into golf ball size meatballs, and then transfer to a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-16 minutes.

While meatballs are baking, on a separate rimmed baking sheet, toss vegetables with olive oil until evenly coated. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

To make the Peanut Sauce, add ingredients to a small bowl, and whisk well to combine. Place roasted vegetables in a large bowl, add peanut sauce, and toss well to combine. Serve meatballs over vegetables.

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Ground Turkey & Sweet Potato Taco Bowl

This recipe is incredibly easy to make, and comes together in a pinch. Whenever I lose track of time (because toddlers) and have to throw together a quick meal, this is my go-to. We eat this almost every week, because let's face it, it's yummy, and I lose track of time A LOT #momlife

Ingredients
2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 cubes
1 pound ground turkey
1 medium onion, diced
1 red or green bell pepper, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
2-3 tbsp chili powder, to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, minced
Avocado, cut into thin slices

Instructions
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper, and cook until onion is slightly translucent and softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, and then add ground turkey. Use a wooden spoon to break apart meat, and continue cooking until browned.

In a small bowl, combine spices and sprinkle over meat mixture. Stir and let cook for about a minute to fully incorporate spices. Add diced sweet potato and water, stir, and cover with a lid for approx. 6-8 minutes until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.

Remove lid and serve into bowls. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and avocado slices.

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Chickpea & Sweet Potato Vegetarian Curry

I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the crummy picture - I tried my best, but there was no way to photograph this meal that didn't make it look like cat food. Sorry about that 😬

I promise it's delicious though! And it's also vegetarian, so bonus points for healthy, yummy, low-cost meals.

Ingredients
1 tbsp avocado or olive oil
1 large red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 tbsp garam masala (if you don't have this blend on hand, you can make your own using this recipe)
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 1/2 cups diced tomatos (equal to one 14 oz can; drain before using)
1 1/2 cups coconut milk (equal to one 14 oz can)
1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas (I rehydrate dried chickpeas, but you can substitute a 16 oz can, and drain before adding)
1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2 cubes
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Chopped fresh cilantro
Brown rice, cooked according to package directions

Instructions
In a large pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the red onion, and cook stirring frequently, until the onion is softened and starting to brown. Reduce heat to medium, and add the garlic and ginger. Stir and cook for 60 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in the garam masala, turmeric, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cook for 30 seconds more to toast the spices.

Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir well. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3-5 minutes or until the tomatoes are starting to break down and dry up a little bit. Stir in the coconut milk, chickpeas, and sweet potatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low.

Simmer the curry for about 10 minutes or until reduced slightly and sweet potatoes are fork tender. Stir in the fresh lime juice. Serve hot over rice, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

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Asian Sweet Potato Noodles with Pork Meatballs

This has become a weekly staple in our house since I first made it this past summer. It has tons of flavor, texture, and can even be kid friendly! I make a small, separate batch of the sweet potato noodles for our kiddos without the spicy sauce, and steam them in the microwave instead of cooking on the stove. My son loooooves to eat his "curly noodles and meatballs", as he's dubbed it :)

And just a general warning on ground pork - make sure you check the Nutrition Facts, because they love to add tons of sodium to raw ground pork. I usually buy all our ground pork in bulk from a local butcher shop that adds zero sodium to their meat, but if I'm in a pinch and have to get it at a regular grocery store, I alway buy it from the small organic section of meat, because the organic pork usually has only 5-6% DV of sodium per serving, versus the non-organic kind that has anywhere from 20-40% DV of sodium per serving.

Ingredients
Pork Ginger Meatballs
1 pound ground pork
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger (don't skip this ingredient if you aren't familiar with it - it really shines in this recipe!)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbsp Panko crumbs
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

Sweet Potato Noodles
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and spiraled into noodles (if you don't have a spiralizer, you can cut them into matchstick size pieces instead)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar with a dash of garlic powder whisked in
3 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp Sriracha
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

In a large bowl combine all of the meatball ingredients, mixing the meat and everything else together well. Form the meat mixture into about 16 meatballs and place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

In a large dry pan or skillet over medium-high heat, add the sweet potato noodles, tossing them with tongs as they start to soften. Cook for about 1 minute and then add the sauce to the noodles. Toss and cook for another minute or two until the noodles are just slightly softened and well coated with the sauce.

Dish the noodles into bowls and add a heap of fresh spinach or kale, and then top with a few meatballs.

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Slice It Up Wrap + Tex Mex Yogurt Spread

My husband has a really sweet coworker at his gym who's one of the RDN's for the facility, and she has a food blog + does cooking demonstrations at the local Whole Foods. I swiped this from her, and tweaked it to amp up the Tex-Mex flavors and reduce the sodium even more (we're kind of obsessed with cumin, and all things spicy). And bonus - if you cut up extra veggies like I did, it's a great 5 minute meal since you can grab all your Tupperware bins out of the fridge and whip up a wrap in minutes for a speedy lunch or dinner (which is great for me, since I usually eat my meals standing at the kitchen counter while the kids are trapped in their high chairs 😆). 

Slice It Up Wrap

Serves 1

1 whole grain tortilla

2 tbsp Tex Mex Yogurt Spread (see recipe below)

1/4 bell pepper of choice (red, orange, yellow...)

1/4 cucumber, thinly sliced

4 oz rotisserie chicken 

2 oz baby kale or baby spinach

On the whole grain tortilla, evenly spread on the Tex-Mex yogurt spread. Layer on the veggies and chicken, and top with kale. Roll the tortilla into a wrap, and slice into 1 inch sections. Stand each piece upright to resemble sushi rolls.

Tex-Mex Yogurt Spread

1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt (I used 0% Fage)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 bell pepper, roughly chopped

1/4 onion, roughly chopped

1/4 jalapeño, cored and seeded

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp skim milk

1/2 lime, juiced

1/2 tsp dried cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried parsley

Sriracha sauce, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients and blend until coarsely puréed together. 

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Whole Wheat Chicken & Veggie Pasta Salad

Pasta coated with just a drizzle of oil doesn't cut it for me. I need a full-bodied *sauce* that has a flannel shirt and a beard. Problem is, all the delicious sauces out there have oodles of sodium...and after spending about an hour searching the internet for a low-sodium pasta salad that had more than just a wimpy oil/vinaigrette dressing, I gave up, and came up with my own. 

Whole Wheat Chicken & Veggie Pasta Salad

Serves 6-8

16 oz bag whole wheat bowtie pasta

2-3 chicken breasts

1 medium garlic clove, minced 

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 small green pepper, diced

2 medium yellow squash, roughly chopped into 1/2' pieces

1-2 tbsp olive/avocado oil 

1/4 cup 5 Minute Avocado Oil Mayo 

Pepper, to taste

Sodium-free Tony's (optional)

While water is boiling for the pasta, grill chicken breasts and cut into strips or cubes once fully cooked.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions (usually 10-11 minutes). While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a pan and toss in garlic, onion, pepper and squash. Cook about 8 minutes, or until veggies are soft. 

Drain pasta, add veggies, grilled chicken, and toss with mayo to coat. Season with pepper and Tony's as desired. Can be served hot or cold - if serving cold, you might want to "refresh" the pasta with a tablespoon or two of mayo before serving, because the pasta will absorb it overnight in the fridge (and it might be a little dry). 

Tip: If your pasta finishes cooking before your vegetables, you can toss it with a tiny bit of olive oil to keep if from sticking together before you add the remaining ingredients 

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