Instant Pot Bacon Cauliflower Soup

It's been a long time since I've touched this blog. Approximately three years ago, I became very burnt out with blogging. It started out as fun, and then it wasn't. It took hours to take photos, edit photos, learn SEO, coding......it all became about being noticed and getting paid. I was spending too much time on something, that honestly, didn't really matter at the end of the day. And so I walked away. I loved blogging when I started, it felt like a community. Until it wasn't. When I left it had become more about making money and less about sharing. I found myself being critical of food photos and always comparing myself to everyone else. It became something that wasn't the release from everyday stress that was the reason I started blogging in the first place.

So I'm back, but this time I'm older and wiser. I don't intend to make money off this blog, I have found that over the last two years the Internet is full of horrible food recipes. If I have to throw away one more inedible meal, I might scream. So this is my recipe book. Using my iPhone 6 (gasp, that's right my Canon Rebel hasn't been out of the closet in 2 years), I will be documenting the food I make so I can have a place to go back and try recipes that I liked in the past (or avoid recipes that were horrible).

Honestly, I don't care if anyone reads or cares about any of my posts. This is about my food journey so I can remember that I can be a pretty decent home cook, even if my photos didn't take 3 hours to stage, capture, and edit. If you're looking for glossy food magazine photos, they won't be here. I don't have the time or patience for that rat race any longer. So here goes.

Instant Pot Bacon Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients

• 6 slices chopped bacon
• 1 chopped onion
• 6 cloves minced garlic
• 2 chopped green onions
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 head cauliflower
• 2 chopped red potatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup heavy cream

Cooking Directions

1. Saute the chopped bacon on the saute option on the instant pot. Once crispy remove from pot.
2. Add the onions to the Instant Pot and saute for 2 minutes. Then add the garlic and one of the chopped green onions.
3. Add the chicken stock.
4. Add the potatoes, bay leaves, and cauliflower.
5. Close the lid and set on the high pressure cooker option for 5 minutes. Do a quick release once it beeps as done.
6. Remove bay leaves and then add the heavy cream. Cook on the saute setting until the soup thickens.
7. Top with bacon and chopped green onions.

This recipe need a lot of additional salt at the end of cooking. It turned out really well though, it might benefit from a little spice (maybe crushed red pepper. 

Adapted from Instant Cookbook by Monet Chapin.

Gluten Free Jalapeno and Cheddar Cornbread

I really love bread and baked goods. As far back as I can remember I have wanted donuts over potato chips, bread over Cheetos. My mother on the hand had a rather large potato chip and popcorn obsession. She could take or leave bread, but anything salty she would go to town on. When I had my doctor confirm my fears that gluten was the reason I was having a vast array of problems I had my food life flash before me. No more bread or baked goods, I was devastated. However, I then got determined. There was no reason I couldn't still eat the foods I love with a few changes. So I set about re-working recipes to be gluten free. I have been lucky that I have had far more successes than failures. Next week is Thanksgiving and then Christmas will be here before you know it. I am a little nervous about dealing with being gluten free during the holidays. I have a major sweet tooth and I know that almost all the food will be things I can't have. So I have been making all my favorites at home modified. Last week I made pumpkin bread and muffins and they were delicious. Next week I am going to attempt a gluten free pumpkin pie. One of my favorite baked goods is cornbread. Cornbread with butter and honey is so good! Last month I tried a new recipe for Gluten Free Jalapeno and Cheddar Cornbread from the November issue of the Food Network Magazine, which looked easy and flavorful.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes a total of 1 hour, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 6 to 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and I made no ingredient modifications. I found a great gluten free flour that uses coconut flour. It is perfect for gluten free baked goods, my two boys can't tell that they are eating gluten free. I have a horrible time with cast-iron skillets. Growing up in the Northwest I never owned one until I moved to West Virginia. The first year my husband and I were married my mother-in-law gave me a cast iron skillet. I washed it and it rusted. That was a lesson I learned quickly. I also decided that I am horrible about keeping cast iron seasoned. So I rarely use cast-iron skillets, I just can't seem to get the hang of them. For this recipe I made muffins instead. The recipe made a total of 12 muffins, which I cooked at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Make sure not to overly stir the batter. Stir just until combined, it will make your cornbread rise more effectively. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

For gluten free cornbread this turned out pretty well. I would suggest a few changes though. First, I would not seed the jalapenos. The cornbread needed more flavor and keeping the seeds would definitely provide this. Second, I would add more fat into the batter. I always use bacon grease melted into the bottom of the pan or muffin tin. This method would definitely help this recipe. Most cornbread recipes have at least 1/4 cup of butter, so the fat in this recipe needs to be increased. Finally, instead of cheddar cheese I would use Monterey Jack. The cheddar cheese just ends up tasting a little on the bland side. With these changes I think this recipe could be a great gluten free option.

For the recipe go to Gluten Free Jalapeno and Cheddar Cornbread.

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa

My oldest son starts school on Monday and I thought that everything was going well. That is until he started crying last night because there apparently was a boy last year that was mean to him. It broke my heart. I wish that he had felt comfortable enough to tell me last year instead of dealing with it on his own. Today he told me that he is nervous about his new teacher, classmates and that he won't have any friends in his new class. I wish that I could make him feel better, but I know that after his first day of first grade on Monday everything will be fine. He is very smart and everyone loves him once they meet him. I just need to make him feel better until then. So yesterday I decided to make enchiladas. Both of my sons love enchiladas and I found a great recipe in the August issue of Southern Living for Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa which looked like perfect comfort food for a nervous soon to be first grader.

This recipe has 11 ingredients in the enchiladas and 7 in the salsa. It takes a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 6 to 8 servings. I made a few major modifications to this recipe. When I went to the grocery store I believed that I had bought reduced fat cream cheese. When I started to make this recipe I realized that I had accidentally purchased full fat cream cheese. So I decided to make a substitution. Instead of cream cheese I used a combination of smashed canned reduced sodium black beans and goat cheese. In total I used approximately 2/3 of a can of black beans and 2 ounces of cheese. I mashed the beans and cheese together with a fork and added them instead of the cream cheese in the recipe instructions. For the shredded cooked chicken I grilled chicken thighs with a paprika rub, cooled them and then shredded. Instead of using all mild or hot green chilies I used a can of each. Finally, I forgot to spray the tops of the tortillas with cooking spray, but they came out fine. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If you like your enchiladas mild I would suggest using two cans of mild green chilies. With one can of hot and one can of mild this recipe had a slight kick. However, these were delicious. The modifications worked perfectly and I love the added nutrition from the black beans instead of cream cheese. My two boys ate more than half of the enchiladas and even though they drank milk since they were spicy, they loved them. I would definitely make this recipe again and the salsa was great as a steak topping the next day.

For the recipe go to Chicken Enchiladas.

Parents Chipotle Sweet-Potato Pigskins

I'm not a huge fan of regular baked potatoes. When everyone else at a restaurant is ordering a baked potato I am eating a salad. Growing up my mom never really made potato dishes. It was my dad who would wake up early on Sunday mornings and prepare a huge breakfast with a large helping of fried potatoes. I still love those fried potatoes whenever I go home. While I might not love regular baked potatoes, I do love sweet potatoes. I could devour pretty much any dish or recipe utilizing sweet potatoes. The February issue of Parents Magazine had a recipe for Chipotle Sweet-Potato Pigskins which promised to be low in fat and have a smoky heat from the chipotles.

This recipe has six ingredients. It takes 1 hour and 40 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active, and makes 8 servings. There are very few ingredients in this recipe and I had no problems finding any of them at my local grocery store. Make sure to pick small to medium sweet potatoes in order for them to fully cook in the amount of time suggested. If your sweet potatoes are on the larger side it could take up to a half hour longer than the suggested time. Additionally, be careful when you are scooping out the sweet potatoes to not scrap all the way through the skin or they won't hold up to be re-stuffed. For the potatoes for my two kids I   left off the onions and Greek yogurt since they can be hit or miss on what they will eat. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written. 

The chipotles in this recipe create a delicious smokey flavor, with a little bit of heat. Sweet Potatoes are a great source of vitamin C, which is great for this time of year when everyone seems to be fighting off some sort of cold or sickness. My husband loved that these sweet potatoes had a different type of taste than your run of the mill variety from steak houses. Overall, an easy recipe with great flavor.

For the recipe go to Chipotle Sweet-Potato Pigskins.