Instant Pot Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry

I wanted to use my new instant pot some more and Jeremy has been craving Chinese food.  We settled on this one.  I had to go to the store for the first three ingredients listed!  I also think that you could just as easily cook the whole thing in a wok, but it was fun to try out my new appliance.  We thought that it was a bit too salty as written, I think I would just not even season the meat next time and use water instead of chicken broth.  We served it with chow mein noodles and cashews, but mostly just to get the girls more interested in eating it.  Stella liked it but Leila and Henry did not.

Instant Pot Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry

6 T gluten free tamari (or soy sauce)

1 1/2 T oyster sauce

1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

dash ginger

dash red pepper chili flakes

2 cloves garlic - minced

1/2 cup water

1 1/4 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 T cornstarch

2 T water 
3 1/2 cup broccoli florets
1/3 cup grated carrots (3-4 baby carrots sliced with a potato peeler)

In a medium bowl, combine the tamari, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, ginger, red pepper, garlic, and 1/2 cup water.  Set aside.  Turn your Instant Pot to Saute then add in oil. Once oil is hot, add the chicken and 1 T sauce mixture.  Cook for 1-2 minutes.  Pour in the remaining sauce.  Cover with lid and set to high pressure cook for 4 minutes.  It will take some time to come to pressure. Use a wooden spoon to push the valve for a quick release.  Once all the pressure is released, remove the lid.  Cancel the keep warm are set to Saute.  In a small bowl whisk the corn starch with 2 T water and add to the sauce.  Add the broccoli and carrots and cook for 4-5 minutes.  Serve with rice.

Instant Pot Macaroni & Cheese

I got an electric pressure cooker aka instant pot for Christmas and decided to break it in with some macaroni and cheese.  The top recipe in the google search was from The Salty Marshmallow.  I did not have elbow macaroni in the house, so I used farfalle but it was a 12 oz box instead of 16 oz so I adjusted the rest of the ingredients accordingly.  It was a bit too much garlic flavor, so I cut that back as well as the milk as there was already plenty of liquid.

Macaroni & Cheese

12 oz pasta
3 cup chicken broth
1-2 T butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese - shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese - shredded
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk

Place pasta, chicken broth, butter, garlic powder, pepper, and salt in the instant pot.  Place the lid on the pot and set to sealing.  Cook on manual function, high pressure for 5 minutes.  Do a quick release and stir in the cheeses and milk until smooth.

Pumpkin Pie

I decided to try out a new pumpkin pie recipe this year.  I found it on Sally's Baking Addiction.

Pumpkin Pie

1 pie crust
15 oz can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1 T cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp black pepper

Bake pie crust according to box directions.  In a large bowl, beat together pumpkin, eggs, and brown sugar. Add the cream and milk and mix.  Add the cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper. Beat well, then pour into pie crust.  Bake at 375°  for 50-60 minutes or until the center is almost set.

Cinnamon & Sugar

Anytime you want cinnamon & sugar on toast or for baking, the best ratio is this.

Cinnamon & Sugar

1/2 cup sugar
2 T cinnamon

Whisk together and store in an air-tight shaker container.

Chicken Hashbrown Casserole

I was making Sunday dinner today and was planning to make something else, but I didn't have any sour cream so I went through my recipes in search of something new.  At some time in the past I found this on allrecipes.com and saved it but never made it until now.  I made a few adjustments based on what I had in the house, it turned out great!  I forgot to take a picture, so I stole this one from the source.

Chicken Hashbrown Casserole

1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
3 cup hashbrowns - shredded - thawed
dash onion flakes
4-6 chicken breasts - cubed
dash seasoning salt
1 cup colby jack cheese - shredded
1 can corn - drained
6 oz french fried onions, divided

In a large bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup and milk. Stir in hashbrowns and onion flakes.  Season chicken, then add to soup mixture.  Stir in cheese, corn, and half of the french fried onions.  Bake at 350° for 35 minutes.  Top with remaining french fried onions and bake for 25 more minutes.