Red Curry Meatballs

Red Curry Meatballs wrapped in lettuce with a bunch of vegetables. So yum and Whole 30 compliant.

These Red Curry Meatballs are easy to make and Whole 30 compliant,but so full of flavor. Tender, spicy, and so good. They also freeze well for quick meals and to pack in lunches. I love meals that can do double duty and freeze well! It saves time and saves me when I don't feel like cooking but we all need to eat.

Creamy Swiss Chard

You should stop whatever you are doing and make this. Or at the very least put Swiss Chard on your grocery list and read on. I love this, the coconut makes the chard a bit sweet, and so creamy with a spice from the pepper flakes. I usually use ground dried Thai chili powder but red pepper flakes are great and I have used them also. I've had this for dinner, for breakfast. It's so yummy. You won't even miss the cream!

Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

It's the warmer weather that's got us eating more salads! I love fresh crisp salads. I don't use a lot of dressing, I used to drench my salads in dressing as a kid. Now I like just a little for flavor. Because I don't use a lot I like the flavors to be bold. This Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette is just that, bold, spicy, and flavorful.
It is whole30 compliant so it has no added sugar, no dairy, no soy, no gluten, no grains. It keeps well in the fridge and if you get the emulsion right it's nice and creamy. If you like a thinner dressing, add a little more vinegar or water.

Sesame Ginger Salad and Kabobs

Whole 30 Sesame Ginger Skewers.

This meal is pretty quick to put together. The marinade doubles as a salad dressing that we just love. Because this is a Whole 30 complaint meal there is no soy, dairy, gluten, grains, or processed sugar. I promise you won't even miss them! My oldest kids and I have this favorite Korean BBQ place that we used to go to before I started Whole 30. They have this salad that is so good, it's light but flavorful. We ask for 3 bowls to share each time we go! Each bowl has a few servings. One day I was making this marinade and my oldest child walked by and goes "Mom, what is that smell! It smells like my favorite salad from the Korean place!" So I asked her to taste it and she said it's even better because the ginger has a kick. The restaurant doesn't use ginger. She asked me to not use all of it for a marinade so she could have it over salad. That is how this Sesame Ginger Salad came about.

Oven Roasted Crispy Chicken Thighs

These Crispy Chicken Thighs are much like the ones posted HERE, the only difference is that I was too lazy to de-bone them and I didn't want to fry them on the stove splattering grease. So I put them in the oven. It worked beautifully. I love cooking chicken with the skin on then cranking up the heat to get a good crispy skin. So follow the link or scroll on down for the recipe.
This chicken is Whole 30/Paleo/Primal compliant that means it's also sugar, dairy, and gluten free. Because I serve it to my kiddo it's also nut free.

Green Chile Chicken Soup

Whole30 Green Chile Chicken Soup

This soup is just something that you can do with leftover chicken. I use the bones to make a stock and build the flavors from there. You can find my stock method here.  I have green chile roasted in my freezer. If you can not find Hatch Green Chile, you can substitute roasted, peeled Poblano peppers or Anaheim peppers. They won't be the same but they will be good. I actually ran out of what is pictured below and had to order some online.

Once you have those ingredients on hand it's really easy. There's only a ten minute cooking time in the Instant Pot, plus about 5 minutes resting time. You can get this on the table in under 30 minutes even if you use a pot on the stove though.

This isn't an authentic Green Chile Stew, it's a quick complaint Whole30 soup that is flavorful and delicious though. It's perfect to have for leftovers also.

Click to find more Whole 30

Paleo

Primal 

recipes here on Give Peas A Chance, or use the search function. 

Here's a quick video I posted on Instagram.

Green Chile Chicken Soup

(5-6 servings)

Ghee or oil to saute

1 small onion, chopped

3 medium sized red potatoes, chopped or whatever kind you have

2 garlic cloves minced

3 tomatoes, chopped

3/4-1 pound roasted, peeled hatch green chiles chopped

1 tablespoon homemade taco seasoning*

Salt

Pepper

4-5 cups stock

Shredded chicken

Serve with:

Cilantro- chopped

Lime juice

Chopped avocado

*If you don't have this taco seasoning made up use

1/2-3/4 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon marjoram

Instant Pot Method

1. Hit the SAUTE button and set it to high.
2. Add ghee or cooking oil to the pot, about 1 tablespoon.
3. Add onion, garlic, potatoes. I add them as I chop them.
4. Stir occasionally, cook until onions begin to look translucent.
5. Add remaining ingredients.
6. Cancel the SAUTE mode and set the Instant Pot to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE for 10 minutes. After the cooking time is over let this set for 5-10 minutes. 
7. Slowly release the remaining pressure.
8. Season to taste.
9. Serve with cilantro, lime wedges and chopped avocado.

Stove Top Method

1. Add oil or ghee to a pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.
2. Add onion, garlic, potatoes as you chop them to the pan.
3. Cook until the onions are almost translucent.
4. Add remaining ingredients and bring the pot to a boil.
5. Turn the flame down to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Season to taste.

Serve with cilantro, lime wedges, and chopped avocado.

BLT Salad With Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

I love when the weather gets warmer, I tend to crave crisp lettuce greens and fresh vegetables more. I call it salad weather. I'll eat salads in the winter, I just crave them less when it's cold out. This BLT salad is simple and the vinaigrette can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator.  The whole salad is a great for meal prep, keep all the vegetables washed and ready, the bacon can be made ahead of time, the steak is optional but it can also be made ahead.

Chicken Chicharrón

I'm not sure Crispy Chicken Chips, Chicken Chicharrón is a thing, but this is good and it now is a thing right here, right now. Like bacon good to me. Maybe better because it's so crispy. They are like Chicharron/Chicharrón but different animal. It's wrong, you say? Then I don't want to be right.

Geang Phet Thalei (Red Curry Seafood Soup)

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I wasn't sure what to call this so I names it Geang Phet Thalei, which is spicy seafood soup in Lao, or literally geang "soup", phet "spicy", thalei "sea". Sounds legit right? Let's roll with it. This is one of the quickest, yummiest Whole30 lunches I threw together so far. The beauty is that it has 3/4 can of coconut milk so I didn't even have to add a plated fat. If I had more/different vegetables I would have thrown them in. I don't really consider mushrooms a vegetable but, let's just go with that also. They are really good though. A creamy pumpkin would be so yummy in this though. I ate this whole recipe like a soup. By myself. I suppose it's two servings if you serve it with rice, cauliflower rice. with a sweet potato. But nope. I. Ate. It. All.

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Here is a quick Whole30 Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs for you. I find the easiest way to cook the spaghetti squash is in the Instant Pot. It can be cooked ahead of time and heated in the oven while the meatballs cook in the sauce. I prep the meatballs ahead of time also, they can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days or put in the freezer. I have not baked the meatballs from frozen, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. You would have to adjust the time and add a little water to the sauce so it doesn't burn or dry out.
This was a big hit with my family. Everyone loved the meatballs. They aren't as tender as meatballs that have a bread crumb in them to me, but no one in my family said a word about it. My youngest isn't the biggest fan of spaghetti squash though. The meatballs would work with zucchini noodles also.

Fusion Seen Dat (Lao BBQ)

This isn't a true Lao Seen Dat, the marinades and sauces I developed from flavors we enjoy. It's more a fusion I guess. But Seen in Lao is "meat", Dat means to sear. This method is used to cook meats to wrap in lettuce or rice paper wraps. It's so yummy.

Masala Chai

I have for you a Whole 30 Masala Chai. Because it's a cold rainy day, and cold rainy day's call for a lovely cup of tea. Okay, any day in my book. But here we are. This original recipe can be found HERE. If you are eating paleo, add a little sweetener.

This recipe is easily scaled down to make one cup. It's about 1/4 cup water and the rest milks. I use one tea bag. Put everything in and cook in the Instant Pot for 5 minutes.

Click to find more Whole 30

Paleo

Primal 

recipes here on Give Peas A Chance, or use the search function. 

Spicy Sausage Seasoning

Gluten Free Spicy Sausage Patties

Gearing up for another attempt at Whole30 maybe Paleo for this May. Eek. So that means some meal prep. You may think I am constantly eating three square meals a day, but really I sometimes forget about lunch and breakfast during the week. I don't get around it eating sometimes, and I know that's horrible for me. I usually get tired, or end up eating a billion calories late at night. This time around I am going to try to prep some (more) meals ahead of time and see if it helps me be more successful.

Seafood Stock

Instant Pot seafood stock.

Here's a an easy seafood stock to make whenever the stock bags in your freezer get full. You have stock bags right? Labeled seafood, beef, chicken, veggie... pork? If not start some. Put vegetable scraps, stems of cilantro and parsley in them. Chicken bones, beef bones. Once full, pull them out and make a stock.
Things I don't put in there

organ meats

broccoli

cauliflower

potatoes

onion skins

asparagus

peppers

cabbage

There's probably more, but I can't think of any right now.

Instant Pot Collard Greens

It's a shame that not more people in this house like Collard Greens. Just my oldest and I really like them, my middle and youngest will eat a serving, it it's not too spicy. Other than that DH doesn't really like them. Too bad, they are good for you. I usually make up a big batch and keep a few servings in the freezer at a time. When I get the craving, want some for dinner or over cornbread I pull it out. I have used different methods to make this, they all work fine and each one is a little different. My kids really the the creole seasoning so this one is a favorite.

What about your household? What are foods you love, but don't always make often?

Instant Pot Vietnamese Chicken Curry (Cà Ri Gà)

Vietnamese Chicken Curry (Cà Ri Gà)

This is the same recipe that is posted here, I just adapted it for cooking in my Instant Pot. I'm using the same picture because I forgot to take a picture before dinner. The picture below, is what's leftover from last night. Oops. It's leftovers from dinner and leftovers from after packing my kids lunches. Just not as pretty a picture is it, no carrots, etc? I will say though that it tastes even better today! No complaints here on flavor.

Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

Instant Pot Stuffed Bell Peppers

There are some meals around here that I only make once in a blue moon. One of those is stuffed bell peppers. Besides me, there's only one other person here that likes them. How sad is that? They are so yummy. It's just one of those recipes I don't make often because when I do, I make two meals. Which is something I rarely do, who has time for that? The good thing is I can make a double batch
The original recipe I was given for these uses minute rice. I never have this on hand. I usually have to buy rice just for this. Which isn't wise, because this would be the only recipe I use it in. I asked around about using regular white rice. Some people said they used raw rice, some used under cooked, some used cooked that was day old. Because I like to keep the meat raw and not precook it in a skillet, raw or under cooked rice works best. Fully cooked rice gets a bit mushy. I also discovered that we much prefer the peppers roasted first. The flavor reminds me of roasted Hatch Green Chile. So good, and there's no skin on the peppers which I don't really like. It's perfect.

Fantastic Five Grain Porridge

Instant Pot Five Grain Porridge

I'm on a porridge, congee, steel cut oats kick. I think it's the cool weather. Someone mentioned Pret a Manger the other day and how they had the best porridge. So I looked it up on their site and they have a five grain porridge, the site lists the grains, but not the recipe, though they have recipes for other things on there. The grains are what I had on hand so I set off to find a recipe or at least some clue on what to do. My search lead me to Bon Appetite. They have a recipe for this 5-Grain Porridge Bee Pollen with Apples and Coconuts on their web page. It has brown rice, quinoa, millet, wheat bran, and amaranth. Well I didn't want rice. I love steel cut oats. I didn't have millet. I don't really like bee pollen, I used to take it as a kid for allergies, so it's just not my thing now. I still wanted to pull grains from my pantry and see if I could make a mix of my own up. So you should use any grains you have also, just like the Bon Appetite recipe says, "Use what you have". Just pay attention to cooking times and water ratio.

Five Grain Porridge.

One Minute Quinoa (Pressure Cooker)

Looking to make Quinoa in your pressure cooker? This method has worked so well for me, I won't make it any other way now. I used to make my Quinoa in the rice cooker which also came out perfect, but my rice cooker has a non stick coating on the insert so I am not using it as much.
This method is simple and easy. As long as you keep the water to liquid ratio you can change out the liquid to suit your needs. Stock, water, broth, juice, tea. This does require soaking the Quinoa, but it's for only 5-10 minutes. I put the Quinoa in water then gather remaining ingredients. There's really no wait. Season it up and serve it how you like! Try my Southwest Quinoa Pilaf, or serve it with these Easy Peasy Curry Chickpeas, I'll be adapting this to Instant Pot cooking also, but believe me it's so easy.

Tacos and Taco Salads

Taco meat from the Instant Pot means less hands on time!!

Sooo. Christmas has come and gone, leftovers are eaten up. How about something simple and easy? Tacos? Taco Salad? How about in the Instant Pot? Taco meat? In the Instant Pot? Yes. I was skeptical but this works. I know that taco meat is so easy to do on the stove. My kids have been doing it since eight years of age. But, why not try something new. I have not let me children use the Instant Pot yet.

This method for making taco meat isn't necessarily a time saver. But it takes less hands on time. While the pressure cooker is doing it's thing vegetables can be prepped, the internet can be surfed. Christmas decorations can be put away. So there's that.