Instant Pot BBQ Chicken with Ranch Spice

• 2 1/2 pounds of chicken, I used a mix of thighs and breasts.  I cut my breasts in thirds because they were HUGE
• Package of Ranch Seasoning Mix
• 1/4 cup Mayo
• 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 tsp of white vinegar
• 1 bottle of BBQ sauce (I used something both sweet and spicy)

This was easy -- and OH SO QUICK.   Threw the chicken in the IP, in the measuring cup I used to measure out the Heavy Cream I added a couple scoops of Mayo (I'm terrible about measuring exactly) and the vinegar.  Stirred that round to get out lumps - poured it over the chicken, poured in the entire bottle of BBQ sauce, gave the entire mess a big stir, making sure all the chicken was coated.  Put the IP lid on, locked it, and cooked it at High Pressure for 6 minutes.  I did a natural release (as down in about 7 minutes ... I probably would have done a quick release if I had to wait much longer)   

Used the hand held mixer to "shred" the chicken -- fun but MESSY if you take the mixer out of the pot while it's going.  STAND at arms length  !!  Then grab your rolls, and finish how you'd like.  I topped mine with provolone cheese and then stuck it in a 400 degree toaster oven for about 3 or 4 minutes.   Yum, Yum, Yum.  And yes, I hate that word LOL

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

This was the first year I grew Patty Pans out in my garden.  I bought the seeds because the squash looked so pretty - I didn't have a clue what I would do with them !

After some online searches - I knew I'd be making my own recipe up - most everything I found online used bacon, and we do not eat pork in my family.

This turned out SOOOO well - even the kids loved it.  I had leftover rice - so it worked out perfectly - so schedule this on your menu a day after you serve something with rice !

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

4 Patty Pan Squash
1 Onion
3 cloves of Garlic (I used 5)
1/2 pepper  (any type - I used a semi-hot pepper sliced really thin)
salt and pepper
1 LB ground lamb (you could use beef or turkey)
1 bunch cilantro
Cumin
Turmeric
1-2 cups precooked rice
Parmesan Cheese




Cut the tops off your squashes, - I threw mine away, but I guess you could save it for a garnish?  I hollowed out the seeds with a spoon, then took out most of the flesh in a separate bowl to cook with the stuffing.  I coated the insides of each squash with olive oil, flipped them upside down on a cookie sheet (with the hole facing down) and stuck them in a 350* oven - for about 20 minutes.  While they were cooking, I sauteed an onion, then added some garlic, and 1/2 a pepper sliced very thinly.  After they were soft, I added Cumin and Turmeric, the flesh from the squash cut into small bite size pieces,  then I added a pound of lamb meat (plenty of filling for 4 large Patty Pans).  After the lamb meat was cooked through, I added in the rice until it was all combined.  After everything was cooked and well combined, I turned off the heat and added the chopped cilantro.   Once the Patty Pans felt soft and the outside edges were browned, I took them out of the oven, stuffed them, sprinkled some Parmesan Cheese on top - and threw them back in the oven - which I then turned off - I let them sit for about 15 minutes while the oven cooled - and when I took them out - they looked just like the picture above, and tasted delicious.

Squash in the Crock Pot

Tons of squash coming in

- figured I'd try something new.  I took one of my smaller banana squashes, washed it, sliced and seeded it - and threw it in the crock-pot with some mango juice, cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg.  I sprayed the crock-pot first, but left the peels on the squash - so it doesn't fall apart.

I'll give feedback after it's done !

EDIT #1 - with the Mango Juice - it was awesome - the hubster couldn't get enough.  I made it again the second time and used Orange Juice - failure.  I could tell he didn't like it, he didn't go back for seconds, it sat in the fridge for a couple days so I discreetly threw it out.  I have plenty more to experiment on - but won't be using OJ again !

Day One - Cleanse and Green Food

To cleanse I'm using Senna I purchased at Amazon.  I've heard you can also buy fresh Senna leaves at health food stores - but since we don't have any of those - I did my research and these seem to have the best feedback.   Now on the bottle it says to only take 2-3 each day - but that's to relieve constipation.   I'm leaning more towards detoxing - check out this bodybuilding site - I doubt if I'll go as high as taking 5 tablets every three hours, but until I'm feeling "cleaned out" - I'll keep taking the Senna.

Also - I'm not real big on fruits and veggies.  I love a salad with grilled chicken, but I still want some dressing on it.  So - to supplement getting enough fiber - I did more and more research, and the very best substitute turns out to be Green Superfood.   I purchased this large jar for daily use, but I also purchased I'm just trying my first one now - although the powder was green - it does taste like Orange Creamsycle - I mixed mine with skim plus milk (lactose free) and ice and use my The smoothie does have a hint of orange creamcycle taste to it, and no grittiness using the ninja blender. Speaking of..... I love the ninja because my daughter goes to lots of away swim meets and it's much easier to take on the road. I have a Vitamix at home for larger smoothies and bigger jobs at home. If I didn't have the Vitamix, I'd probably have purchased the kitchen set Ninja. There was also one that shredded veggies - a great idea - but I have an attachment for my Kitchen Aide mixer for that !! I'll report back later as to how I'm feeling !

Electric Garlic Roaster

One of my most used small appliances is this  Electric Garlic Roaster    This is so easy to use - pour a little water in the clay ring, put some olive oil in the tray, place your heads of garlic right on top of the olive oil (slice of the ends first so you can just squeeze the roasted garlic out once it's done) and then plug in and push the button.  It automatically will time the roasting - about 25 minutes, and it's done.  When I'm roasting lots of garlic - I don't even bother to clean the tray - it's just garlic olive oil, as long as I don't store it somewhere warm, it won't go bad.   Today I am making hummus, so roasted a few heads of elephant garlic - I can get 2-3 heads of those in - the hubster likes to spread it on his bread like butter ....  he's still sickish --- so I'm sleeping in my office .... if he's going to eat garlic, nows the time !!!

Menu Planning

One of the most important things in my weight loss journey is going to be menu planning.   There are tons of Apps out there - some free, some pretty costly.  I use Plan To Eat --- and when I use it, I know what's for dinner each night of the week, I keep a couple "quick meals" in the freezer if my day doesn't go as planned, and I can grocery shop and know I have everything I need - which ends up saving me money in the long run. 

I'll mention Plan To Eat often throughout my weight loss journey - I know they have a 30 day free trial, so if you are living a hectic, crazy life like mine, give it a shot !!  Let me know if it works for you, and please share any awesome recipes that you've tried or have been handed down to you.  This blog may be new ... but I expect it to be around for a long, long time.

Honestly - Deb