Farmhouse Winter Veggie Beef Instant Pot Soup

 Boost nutrition while warming up from the inside out with my Farmhouse Winter Veggie Beef Instant Pot Soup – all in about 40 minutes! In the winter months, I absolutely love coming home from a long run or day’s work to a comforting, soul-soothing pot of soup, stew or chili. However, so many of my old family recipes take hours upon hours to complete — ain’t nobody got time for a slow-simmer these days!

 Farmhouse Winter Veggie Beef Instant Pot Soup

Farmhouse Winter Veggie Beef Instant Pot Soup uses the Instant Pot to cook quickly under pressure and replicate the deep, rich flavor of those traditional all-day dishes our grandmothers, mothers and other matriarchs so lovingly made. Read on to get all the details and full recipe:

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Baked Balsamic Beet Purple Sweet Potato Chips

When that craving for salt & vinegar chips strikes, make your own – they so much better for you than store bought! My Baked Balsamic Beet Sweet Potato Chips turn crunchy in the oven, rather than being fried in hot oil -that’s just some clean eating common sense.

Baked Balsamic Beet and Purple Sweet Potato Chips

My baked chips also avoid the super-processed way vinegar and salt are added to packaged chips (basically a vinegar powder is made and bound to a starch like maltodextrin and then coated on the finished chip). Instead, after slicing or spiralizing the roots and tubers very thinly, the “chips to be” are just tossed with a bit of quality balsamic, good EVOO and coarse sea salt. Read on the get the recipe and all the deets. Continue reading

Juicing Ginger Root and How to Use it in Recipes

Let me get right to the root (errr, rhizome) of the matter -you need to be juicing ginger. Just a small amount of ginger can create a big flavor and nutrient boost in any food or drink recipe and it also can be used as a natural “medicine” to help optimize wellness. It’s said to clear sinuses, improves digestion, quells nausea is a natural analgesic is ant-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. Ginger juice

I’ve written about the benefits of ginger in the past and shared ginger recipes using it in ground, dried “spice” form and also minced or grated. But juicing ginger is my favorite way to use this pungent little powerhouse. Read on to learn about ginger juicing, why you should drink ginger juice and suggestions on how to use it. Continue reading

Cocoa Chai Spiced Nuts {Paleo} for Holiday Gifts

I’m nuts about the holiday season – absolutely, positively, literally nuts! Pecans, cashews, almonds, pistachios, macadamia and more, it’s hard to name a favorite. Only chocolate rivals my passion for nuts, and this year, I’ve come up with an exotically-spiced nut recipe that incorporates my love for these two – Paleo Cocoa Chai Spiced Nuts.Cocoa Chai Spiced Nuts are an easy, yummy gift made with cocoa powder, date sugar and assorted raw nuts like pecans, cashews and almonds.

A jar full of Paleo Cocoa Chai Spiced Nuts makes an edible gift that most everyone (with good taste) will appreciate. Plus, the smell of roasting nuts is guaranteed to draw a crowd, so make a couple batches because you may just end up with an impromptu holiday party on your hands!  Read on to get this paleo diet friendly recipe that is fun, fit and frugal to give as a gift: Continue reading

Purple Sweet Potato Salad with Figs, Pomegranate and Balsamic Syrup

Nothing better than a beautiful salad alongside dinner and there have been so many fresh and colorful “fixings” at the market. In Texas, our seasons seem to not pay attention to the rules — they intersect and linger around, meaning lots of produce choices for me!Purple Sweet Potato Salad with Figs, Pomegranate and Balsamic Syrup.

 

For example, I’m still seeing fresh, summery figs in abundance, but also cooler weather fruits and vegetables like pomegranates and purple sweet potatoes. I can’t decide what to choose, so I choose it all and make a Purple Sweet Potato Salad with Figs, Pomegranate & Balsamic Syrup. Read on to get the recipe and (hello) learn more about these out-of-the-ordinary, colorific tubers! Continue reading