Insta Pot Beans

 Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried beans rinsed and sorted (this is equal to 2 measuring cups full of dried beans)
• 8 cups water
• 1 bay leaf optional
• 1 onion, sliced optional (I was lazy and used 1 tablespoon of onion powder)
• 2 teaspoons salt

Put everything into insta pot and set for 30 min. Came out great! I like to make this and then put in 2 cup containers and freeze so I can use later (makes about 3 of those containers) and don't have to dirty the insta pot every time I need beans. When I'm ready to use, I just microwave beans for 2 min and then use in whatever.

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

 Ingredients 

• 1 cup light brown sugar packed
• ⅔ cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 can pure pumpkin 15 ounce
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• Handful of chocolate chips (I usually just dump in half a bag of the mini ones)

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch loaf pans generously with baking spray, and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, and eggs until blended. Add in dry ingredients and canned pumpkin. Mix just until blended. Fold in shredded zucchini and chocolate chips
3. Divide batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake for about 60-70 minutes, until toothpick poked in center of bread comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

This comes out so moist and delicious!

Adapted from: https://www.shugarysweets.com/pumpkin-zucchini-bread/ 

Pizza dog treats

Modified from this recipe: https://www.thecookierookie.com/cheese-dog-treats-recipe/ 

Ingredients

• 1 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 large eggs 100 grams
• ⅔ cup water - I just added water till the dough was brownie consistency
• handful shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 pepperoni
• nutritional supplements (I used one glucosamine chew and one multivitamin chew)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Put eggs, pepperoni, and vitamins in the blender and blend till smooth-ish
3. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl to form a dough.
4. Fill baking molds with the batter
5. Bake treats for 20
6. Allow to cool completely before feeding to your dog.

My dogs loved these. They came out crunchy, in case your dog doesn't like crunchy treats.

Split Pea Soup - insta pot

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion diced
• 2 ribs celery diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 1 ham bone a smoked ham hock or 6 oz. diced deli ham can also be used
• 1 lb. dry split peas sorted through and rinsed
• 6 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth or veggie stock, water, or a mixture
• 2 bay leaves
• kosher salt and black pepper (see notes)
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional

Instructions

1. Turn pressure cooker to the "sauté" setting. Melt butter (3 tablespoons) and sauté onion, celery, and carrots for about 5 minutes, until softened.
2. Add the split peas, chicken stock (6 cups), ham bone (or hock or 6 oz. diced cooked ham), and the 2 bay leaves. Turn off the "sauté" function.
3. Cover pressure cooker and set to manual, high pressure for 15 minutes.
4. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10-15 minutes. Then, quick release the pressure valve.
5. If you used a ham bone or hock: remove the it from the soup and remove the ham meat that’s still attached to it. Add the ham meat back into the soup.
6. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary (see notes). Serve immediately, or store in your refrigerator for up to 1 week or freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Zuccini Brownies

Ingredients:

1. 1 ½ cups white sugar (I only used 3/4 cup so it wouldn't be as sweet)
2. ½ cup vegetable oil
3. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4. 2 cups all-purpose flour
5. ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6. 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
7. 1 teaspoon salt
8. 2 cups shredded zucchini
9. ½ cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan.
2. Mix sugar, oil, and 2 teaspoons vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Combine flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl; stir into sugar mixture. Fold in zucchini and walnuts; spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until top is dry and edges have started to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool, about 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make frosting by whisking 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine in a pan over medium-low heat until smooth and glossy; set aside to cool.

I made double of the recipe and then used a full on huge cake pan to make it and lined the glass pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup. I'm sure glad I did, because these came out so moist that I think it would have been difficult to get them out of the pan had I not. I also used a bit of almond milk when mixing to make the batter a brownie batter consistency, because I think that the zuccini I was using was not as wet as they sometimes are. These came out AMAZING and just the right amount of sweet. Very dark choclate tasting and would make them again for sure!

Original recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25112/zucchini-brownies/ 

Massaged Kale Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches kale
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil 
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 minced anchovy fillet or 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions:

• Take stems off of the kale, break kale up into smaller pieces. 
• Combine all ingredients
• Recipe says massage with hands, but I find that gross, so I put half the kale into a gallon ziplock and squeeze the air out and then knead it like dough, that reduces the fluff, and then I add the rest and do the same. Works nicely.
• "Massage" till the leaves have reduced the volume they take up in half and the leaves look shiny.

Christy's lazy way:

1. Juice of 2 lemons
2. splash of soy sauce
3. capful of truffle parm 
4. pour of olive oil
5. a sprinkle of pepper
6. 6 cloves of garlic through the garlic press
7. 1 bag of kale with stems removed

Mix everything together in a ziploc bag. Travels great for the airport (your seat mate might disagree - hahah) and great overnight - the lemon juice softens the kale up a bit more overnight.

Bacon roses

 Always use the thick cut bacon

Preheat oven to 375

Roll bacon into a rose shape then hold in place with a skewer or toothpick

I sprinkled on paprika for some extra color

Bake for 45 min in a cupcake tin

Remove and let cool slightly and remove roses from cupcake tin to get them out of the grease bath and replace in baking pan

Bake for an additional 10 min to crisp up the bottom

Let cool completely before removing the toothpick and placing on top of the rose stems (I trimmed the stems since the roses were heavy)