Instant pot yogurt...SO easy!

Hey all!  Do you still look at this page for recipes?  Sometimes I do!

If you have the yogurt setting on an instant pot and haven't tried yogurt yet,  please do! It's easy and saves plastic waste!
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Cold start yogurt

1/2 gallon ULTRA pasturized milk
3 Tbsp. Plain Greek yogurt with live cultures

Maple syrup, honey, fresh fruit,  jam, etc for toppings and flavors.
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Directions

In a cold instant pot, pour in 1/2 gallon Ultrapasturized milk (not Winco brand, sadly).  I use 2% Organic Bakery or Costco or any other is fine).
Whisk in 3ish Tbsp freshly opened plain Greek yogurt with live bacteria).

Cover with any lid (no pressure involved here).  Set yogurt timer for 8-9 hours.  I do this at bedtime so that when I wake up, it's ready to put in the fridge. Until I'm ready to strain it (we like Greek style) and divvy it up. 

When the 8ish hours are up, move it straight to the fridge.   After a few hours you can either eat it or put it in smaller jars/ containers or strain it through a good cheesecloth and strainer over a bowl until it's thick.   Sometimes I forget about  it for too long and it's like cream cheese.   I just whisk the whey (watery stuff) back in until it's the thickness I want. 

I then divvy it up into six or seven 8 oz jars with a little honey or maple syrup.  Sometimes we add jam or cooked frozen berries or fruit that I have cooked down either to the top or bottom of the jar.  It lasts 2-3 weeks in the fridge, if for some reason no one eats it.   ;)


Save a few tablespoons for next time in the freezer.   Just thaw and do it all again!   No plastic waste!  No weird ingredients!  :)

Creamy Chicken Florentine Soup - Jaci (from South Beach Diet Supercharged)

This was really good.  We all (2 kids included!) ate this and had seconds.  Glad I added to the recipe to make enough!  We were all full and this is a phase 1 (no carbs or sugars) meal, but we'll be making this a lot, forever, as it's fast and delicious!

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped (or onion powder, in my case)
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (YUM!)
1/8 tsp. salt (or, omit)
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 bonless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
2 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, cubed
3 cups lower-sodium chicken broth (I used the soup base from Costco)

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. 
Add onion, garlic, salt, and pepper;  cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 7 min. (?) 
Add chicken and spinach; stir for 1 minute. 
Add cream cheese and stir until melted. 
Add broth and bring to a simmer and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Serve warm.  I added a little parmesan cheese which was pretty tasty.  I also think that some gnocchi or pasta would make this even heartier, if you want to experiment.

Makes 4 (1 1/4 cup servings).

Delicous, Not-very hard Lasagna ~ from Jaci

I know, homemade lasagna sounds hard, but it really just takes a few steps without a lot of interruptions.  I've made it a few times recently and LOVE IT, as do my kids and hubby....Here goes....

Preheat oven to 375.

1 box whole wheat lasagna noodles (I don't know why they put so many in there, there are always 2 leftover when I make it.)
1 jar marinara sauce (my new favorite is Rinaldi sweet and tasty tomato)
1 pound ground beef, cooked with 1-2 cloves garlic
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese (buying it pre-shredded saves a lot of time)
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Mix:
1 large carton cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1-2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
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Directions:
1 - Cook the pasta until it is mostly done, but not so done it falls apart.  Drain.
2 - While the pasta is cooking, brown the hamburger and mix up the cheeses, eggs, and spices
3 - Pour just enough sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x13 in. pan
4 - Mix the meat and and the rest of the sauce
5 - Now, layer some noodles on (use 3 or 4 and overlap a bit), spread 1/2 the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles, then 1/2 the meat and sauce mixture, 1/2 the mozzarella, then repeat with the rest of the noodles, cottage cheese, meat sauce, mozzarella. 
6 - Bake, uncovered, at 375 for 30 minutes, or until heated through.  Remove from oven and allow to sit for a few minutes to firm up.  Serves 6-8.  YUM!

Frozen Crock Pot Meals/ Curried Chicken - Erin

Ingredient                     Unit per bag       10 bags

Onions, chopped              1 large                    10

Green bell pepper             1 chopped              10

Chicken breast, chopped   2 breasts                20

Salsa                                      1 cup              10cups

Ginger, fresh grated          2 tsp.               20 tsp.

Garlic cloves, chopped      clove           10 cloves

Red pepper flakes           1/2 tsp.               5 tsp.

Sugar                                   1 tsp.                10 tsp.

Curry Powder                 1 tsp.                10 tsp.

Fresh Cilantro               1/4 cup          2 1/2 cups

Salt                                  1 tsp.                 5 tsp.

Freezer Crock Pot Meals/ BBQ Chicken - Erin

Ingredient                                1bag/meal          10bags
Green bell peppers, chopped        1                   10
Red bell peppers, chopped          1/2                  5
Zucchini, sliced                            1/2                  5
Large yellow onion                       1                    10
Red potatoes, chopped                3                    30
Garlic cloves, chopped                 2                    20
Chicken breast, halved                 2                    20
Tomato Sauce, 15 oz can            1/2can           5 cans
Worcestershire                            1/2 Tblsp.    5 Tblsp.
Brown sugar                                1/2 Tblsp.    5 Tblsp.
Quick Cooking Tapioca               1/2 Tblsp.   5 Tblsp.
Mustard                                       1 Tblsp.     10 Tblsp.
Salt                                             1/4 tsp.       2 1/2 tsp.

*cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  Serve with rice.

Freezer Crock Pot Meals/Chicken Teriyaki - Erin

I just made 30 freezer crock pot meals out of part of the 80 lbs. of chicken we got from Zaycon Foods.  I made Chicken Teriyaki, BBQ Chicken and Curried Chicken.  First I labeled all the bags and added instructions.   Then I went shopping for all the fresh veggies.  I will post each recipe separately.

I enlisted some help...

Spread out the baggies and began dumping in each ingredient..

I like to squish up and then flatten freezer bags to freeze them.

Here is the recipe for Chicken Teriyaki.  For 1 bag or meal and for 10...

Ingredients                                                Per Meal or Bag       For 10 bags

Carrots chopped or 

       baby carrots to save time -                  1 pound          10 pounds

Red Onion                                               1/2 large onion         5 onions

Pineapple; undrained                                half a 20 oz. can       5 cans

Garlic cloves                                              2 chopped            20 chopped

Teriyaki Sauce                                           1/2 cup                5 cups

Chicken Breast; can leave whole or cut -    2 breasts            10 breasts

Cooking Instructions: Crock pot on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.  Make rice to go with.

Spaghetti Carbonara ~ Jaci

This is SO fast and SO yummy, and yet I always forget about it.  Hopefully you'll try it one of these nights when you're desperate for a good, fast dinner or lunch.  The leftovers are great, too.  By the way, I believe this is very close to the recipe Tom Cruise uses (he's quite the cook, and shares my b-day, which was a lot cooler before he jumped on Oprah's couch) that he learned from a real Italian guy who told him that real carbonara doesn't have cream in it....just a little trivia. ;)

• 1 pound spaghetti (I use whole wheat)
• 3-4 eggs
• 5ish strips of diced bacon - unless you really like bacon (duh!) and then however much you want (I keep my bacon in the freezer and dice it up frozen, then toss it in the pan - no thawing required)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to directions in well-salted water.  Meanwhile, cook the bacon in it's own grease with the garlic (don't let the garlic burn).  You may want to pour off some of the grease - I think 1-2 Tbsp is plenty to keep.  Beat the eggs in a separate bowl.  When the pasta is done cooking, drain it and quickly return it to the pan on the stove (turn off heat) and QUICKLY stir in the bacon, eggs, pepper, and about half of the parmesan cheese.  The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs.  Serve immediately.  Top with the remaining parmesan.   Buon Appetito!