Instant Pot Braised Kale & Carrots

I warned you about the Instant Pot recipes! I can't help it. I'm friggin obsessed with this thing. And then when paired with the crockpot, you have a whole meal in under 10 minutes....

Could it get any easier!?!?

It has snowed a bit in Ohio, and it's starting to look and feel more like winter. Cold and flu season is upon us in full force, and comfort food is a must. Especially comfort food that packs a punch of nutrients and antioxidants.

Say what you will about Kale, but there is no denying it's health benefits. Kale is high in vitamins A, K and C. It is also a great source of calcium, magnesium, iron & antioxidants. And then there's carrots with beta carotene and fiber.

Hello!? This side dish is a no-brainer. With this delicious recipe from Nom Nom Paleo, you will have no problem going back for seconds. Cooking the ingredients in the Instant Pot leaves the kale tender and flavorful. You could also try cooking it a little longer in the Dutch oven as well, if you don't have a pressure cooker.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! | Instant Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage Recipe

HAPPY NEW YEAR Foodies! Another year has passed, and I must say, it's been a good one. I cannot believe we are moving on to 2016. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was staring at the computer waiting for the world to end NYE circa Y2K. Remember that?

Anywho, I hope you all had a great holiday. It can be rough coming back to work or school or just getting back to normal life after the holidays. I thought I would lighten things up with a new recipe to start off the new year. :)

We had a great Christmas at the Kinder house. We traveled back to Indiana for a couple long weekends with family. We have a nice schedule worked out for Christmas Eve and Christmas that leaves our day stress-free, and we get to see most of our family. We are truly #blessed. I received many amazing gifts this year. My family really knows me. The best gifts that I always get are the "surprises." Every year since I was little, I make my list, but I always ask for surprises! The stuff that I don't even know I want.

This year, J did really well. He got me something that I really didn't even know I needed/wanted. He got me an Instant Pot! Have you heard of these things!? I mean I think I had heard maybe something here or there, but they are all the rage in the Paleo community apparently. They are truly one pot wonders. The Instant Pot is a pressure cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker, slow cooker, and even more. I was so pumped about this gift that I have already used it about 5 times in less than a week.

I was particularly excited to break this baby out on New Years Day. Another tradition we have, is eating corned beef and cabbage for good luck on NYD.  So I broke out the (FREAKING AMAZING) Instant Pot, and made the recipe below. Guess what? Delicious. The flavors that came through were just great, and in basically no time, with little work.

Breakfast Stuffed Acorn Squash

This past weekend, we celebrated Friendsgiving here in Cincinnati. It was, as always, so much fun and so delicious. It's nice to celebrate with friends. I had a hard time at first, when we moved to Cincinnati. It wasn't that far from home, yet I felt that it was impossible to meet new people. Luckily, that didn't last too long. I made instant friends when I started working at Caribou Coffee that year, and I added to that as I got to know J's colleagues.

We ate many glorious dishes at Friendsgiving. I made the turkey, using the Rosemary Apple recipe from my Thanksgiving Roundup. Oh man. Yeah you guys have to try that one. There was salad, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pies...just about everything you can imagine. Mmm Mmm.

Anywho... onto the recipe. I made this squash last week. It was a little chilly outside, and this dish definitely hit the spot. I don't think I've ever made anything with acorn squash. It smells a bit like pumpkin when you cut it open, but it's a little sweeter in taste. Man was it good. I loved the breakfast flavors that accompanied. This recipe is from paleOMG. This lady has some great stuff!

HAPPY FALL! | Paleo Pumpkin Turkey Chili Recipe

Another long break between posts... Sorry guys! Fall is always crazy, schedule wise. Work, family, friends.. It's a busy time of year, but I'm extremely thankful!

The weather has been so nice recently. A little rain here and there, but for the most part, it's been gorgeous. Beautiful fall days are just the best. The leaves are so pretty, and everyone is in a good mood.

Fall is also a WONDERFUL time for food. Oh man...All of the warm, delicious recipes pop up during this time of year. Pumpkin everything. I'm one of those pumpkin freaks. Yep. Not at all afraid to admit it. I love cooking with pumpkin. It's so creamy, and it brings out some delicious flavors in your food. There's also sweet potatoes, squash, apples, etc... Yum!

I've been playing around with my pumpkin turkey chili recipe for some time, and I think I've finally got it down. The fire-roasted tomatoes really compliment the pumpkin well in this recipe. I also love adding cinnamon. It's such a great flavor. This chili is PERFECT for leftovers. Make up a huge batch, and eat this throughout the week :) It's also a one-pot meal, and super fast to make!

Busy Weeknight Dinner Recipe : Ground Turkey & Veggie Skillet

This week has been a little crazy. Monday was Labor Day, and that was actually pretty relaxing in the morning. However, then we had to run errands and do all of the weekend stuff that we had neglected to do earlier. Over the past couple days, I've been running errands, teaching, and packing and prepping for this weekend (when I haven't been working).

This weekend, one of my VERY best friends is getting married! I have known her for about 8 years now, and I could not be happier for her. I'm a bridesmaid in the wedding, so it's extra special that I can stand by her. :) Ahh I just can't wait.

Anywho, J and I are taking the day off tomorrow to head to Indianapolis, so our nights have been pretty packed. I wanted a quick weeknight meal, that could be made in less than 30 min. This one came in around 15! Perfect.

Easy Weekend Salad Bar Lunch

Labor Day weekend was just wonderful. My parents came to Cincinnati to visit us, and we had a blast. We did things around town, ate at some delicious restaurants, shopped, and spent some quality time at home as well. By the time Monday rolled around, it was nice to have a relaxing morning at home.

I thought that, because we had spent (a little too much) money over the weekend, it would be good to make something at home for lunch.

I had bought all of the ingredients, and some I had at home, for this DIY salad bar towards the end of the week. Everything was basically ready. I just had to throw the chicken in the crockpot in the morning, and pull everything out of the fridge when we were ready to eat! Simple and easy peasy.

Delicious Slow-Cooker Green Chicken Curry

The University of Cincinnati semester has started, and I am back to teaching Piloxing! Gosh, it feels so good to get back into that routine. Group fit is so incredibly fun for me to teach, and I have a great group this year!

With new group fit classes, comes late dinners. My schedule this year is a little later than I've had in the past. It's in kind of an awkward time, where I can come home from work, but I basically have time to change, turn around and leave. So, it's nice to have some crockpot meals ready to go. When I get home from teaching, dinner is ready. I know my muscles are grateful!

This curry had the most amazing flavor. The base of this recipe is from a wonderful paleo recipe blog called Rubies & Radishes. There are some really awesome things on this site. AND, I found that, like most crockpot meals, the leftovers from this meal were even better than the original meal. All of the spices seep into the chicken and veggies, and you're left with a great lunch the next day.

Farmer's Market Pick! | Paleo Stuffed Peppers

Farmers market season is upon us! This is the best time of year for your local market. There is always fresh produce just begging to be cooked up in a healthy meal.

Jeremy and I love going to the farmers market (Dizzy too!). It's so fun to walk around and see all of the stands and all of the gorgeous colors. I usually have to plan my meals out, but sometimes I let the market decide what's for dinner. You will find that dinner always tastes better, when it's made from local, fresh ingredients.

Recipe! : Simple Paleo Fajitas || Bonus Tortilla Recipe

First of all, sorry about the quality of the photos coming up over the next few weeks. My trusty good camera has pooped out for the moment. I'm hoping to get it fixed, but until then, I will be using my iPhone. Hey...it gets the job done right?

I don't know if this has become apparent over my last month of blogging, but I LOVE Mexican food. I mean I love it. I could eat it for every meal (even breakfast) every day. There's so much you can do with so little ingredients.

Another thing I've been loving lately are spices. We have a specialty spice and tea place here in Cincy, and it's literally right down the street from my house. I have so much fun picking up and smelling all of the different spices. I think about how I could use it in recipes, and new ideas to come up with. We also have a Penzey's right down the street. Yep, I'm screwed. Ever since I was little, I have loved spices. The spice cabinet used to be my favorite smell in the world...I'm not kidding...It was my comfort scent...and still kinda is to this day.

The last time we were in Penzey's I picked up their Southwest Seasoning. I was already planning on making fajitas for dinner, and it was a match made in heaven!

Paleo Chicken Parmesan

Hello friends! I'm back with another healthy recipe to add to your arsenal.

Pasta has always been one of my favorite foods. It's satisfying, comforting....And Italian food in general is just good. Well last week, I made this Paleo Chicken Parmesan from Fed & Fit. The first time I made the recipe, I make the sauce as well. Oh man it was so good. However, this go-around, I didn't have as much time to make everything from scratch. Which is okay. I know, I like to be that wiz in the kitchen too, but sometimes, we just have to take the easy road to keep sane. Trust me.

One thing I was hesitant about was the absence of cheese in this dish. Obviously there is no cheese in the paleo diet. But, I was still a little shocked when it wasn't in the ingredients list. I am happy to report, though, that I didn't particularly miss the cheese. Really! The nuttiness of the almond meal gives this dish plenty of flavor. Oh, and if you've never had the pleasure of making zoodles before, you're in for another carb-saving treat :)

New Recipe! / Paleo Chicken Chow Mein

It has been a very busy summer. I mean busy. Just about every weekend, we have something planned. Whether it's in Cincinnati (our current location) or in Indiana (Muncie is home, Indy is where my very best friends live) we have been pretty much booked solid through August, and even some into October. Needless to say grocery shopping has been difficult. I like to go to the farmers market, but when my favorite one is on Sundays from 9:30-1:30p, it's hard to get there. I've been trying to come up with low-key meals that don't take many ingredients and do not take a lot of time. If you'll remember from a previous post... I'm lazy ;)

Anyway, last week, I made Chicken Chow Mein adapted from Little Bits Of. It made plenty of food. I heart leftovers. I mean most of the time, it's just Jeremy and I eating the food that I make. But, I'll make tons of leftovers, so that we can grab some for lunches later on. They are WONDERFUL for lunches during the week. And a welcome break between salads. It keeps me on track health-wise, and it keeps me from buying something at work. Win win!

SUPER Easy Side Dishes

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love to cook. I love finding new and exciting recipes that will challenge my skills and my taste buds. However... sometimes, especially during the week, I am tired and lazy. Shocking right!? My go-to side for those lazy nights (and sometimes regular nights, because of their yumminess) is roasted vegetables!

You can use any vegetables for this side. My absolute favorite is oven-roasted green beans, but you could literally use just about any vegetable. It's always great to check out your local farmers market for the freshest and tastiest items. Here's how I typically roast veggies:

1.  Set your oven to 400 degrees F.