Instant Pot Magic Chicken Wings (Whole 30)

Every other Sunday I join a group of young guys and play the Marvel tabletop role playing game, like Dungeons and Dragons but with superheroes.  It’s a lot of fun.  Everyone takes turns bringing a little snack food or drink for the other players.  Most of the time it is pure junk food.   I love junk food but when I decided to do another round of  Whole 30 I wanted to bring something the guys would like but I could have too.  I decided on chicken wings because who doesn’t like chicken wings?  It was something compliant I could make ahead and finish at the game place.

I started researching how to make chicken wings and found you could drastically cut the time it takes to make wings if you cooked them in the pressure cooker and then sauce and finish them under the broiler.   The first batch I tried was Nom Nom Paleo’s Magic wings.   Magic Mushroom powder has been a staple in my kitchen since I did my first round of Whole 30 last year.  I use it on everything and love it on everything.  The first batch I didn’t use any sauce, it was just a let the chicken marinated in the Magic mushroom powder for about an hour, cooked them through in the pressure cooker and crisped them up under the broiler.  The wings were so good just as they were but if you wanted to you could use Frank’s Orignal Hot Sauce, not the Franks Buffalo sauce, for sauce and be compliant and serve with Whole Sisters’ Dump Ranch.   You could use Olive You Whole’s BBQ sauce for sauce and be compliant.

Magic Chicken Wings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo

2 lbs chicken wings

1 TBS Magic Mushroom power

Place the wings in  bowl that fits in your pressure cooker liner.  Add the Magic Mushroom powder and gently toss with your hands until the wings are coated.  Cover with foil.  Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least one hour or up to twenty-four hours. A half hour before you are ready to cook them, preheat the broiler and move the rack to 5-6 inches below the broiler.  When you are ready to cook them, place the trivet in the bottom of the pressure cooker along with a cup of water.  Place the bowl of wings on the trivet.  Lock the lid and cook for 6 minutes.  10 minute natural pressure release.  Remove the wings from the pressure cooker and place them on a sheet pan.  Don’t crowd the wings on the pan or they will steam not get crispy.  Broil them for 10 minutes or until they are crispy.  Don’t leave the kitchen.  The wings go from crispy to burnt quickly.  How long they take depends on your oven.   To use sauce on your wings, take the wings out of the pressure cooker and mix them with the sauce, coating the chicken well.  Place the chicken on the pan and broil 5 -10 minutes.  If you use a sauce, it is even more important to watch them as the sugars in the sauce can go from great to burned quickly.

 

Instant Pot Beef Keema Meatloaf (Whole 30)

When I ordered my 3 quart Instant Pot back in March, I also ordered a 3 quart Instant pot cookbook for 2.  It was the worst cookbook, of any kind, I have ever seen.  The ingredient lists weren’t complete, the timing of the recipes was way off, and the none of the recipes gave the kind of pressure release needed, and there were obvious typos throughout the book.  I was so disappointed.  The book was obviously written, solely,  to take advantage of the instant pot craze, not to provide cooks with good recipes.  This recipe made me incredibly sceptical of ordering cookbooks without actually having seen them personally.

So when Dr. Urvashi Pitre started taking preorders for her new Indian Instant Pot Cookbook on her blog,  Twosleevers.com, I didn’t preorder, even though, I love Indian food and my instant pot.   I won’t make that mistake again.  Dr.  Pitre’s cookbooks are awesome.  Dr. Pitre has an incredible talent for taking complicated recipes and making them simple without losing the recipe’s heart.  Dr. Pitre’s recipes are accurate, from the ingredient lists, to the cooking times, to the type of pressure release needed.  Best of all, I have never made a recipe from her cookbooks or blog that didn’t taste amazing.

If Indian food isn’t for you, try the recipes in her Keto Instant pot cookbook or her blog, Twosleevers.com.  They both have recipes for airfryers, pressure cookers, the oven and the stove.  She also has recipes for food from all over the world.  It is easy to find recipes that will become regulars in your rotation.

Originally, this recipe was for the airfryer.  I don’t have one and I don’t want one but I love Keema and the idea of making it into meat loaf.  I tried cooking the meat loaf in the pressure cooker because I didn’t have time to cook it in the oven.  It turned out very well but it didn’t have that tasty crust most meatloaves have so I put it under the broiler.  You can skip that step if you want to.

Beef Keema Meatloaf

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted From Two Sleevers.com

1/2 lb ground beef

1 egg

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 TBS cilantro, chopped

1 1/2 tsp minced ginger

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch cardamom

Move the rack in your oven to 5-6  inches from your broiler.  Preheat the broiler. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well.  Spray a 5 inch spring form pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Pack the meat mixture into the spring form pan.  Smoosh it into the pan very well.  Cover the pan with a piece of foil.  Place the trivet in the bottom of the liner of your pressure cooker.  Add one cup of water to the liner.  Place the spring form pan on the trivet.  Lock the lid and cook on high for 6 minutes.  Let it natural release for 10 minutes then quick release the remaining pressure.  Remove the spring form pan from the liner and let sit a few minutes.  Remove the meat loaf from the spring form pan  and place under the broiler for 5- 10 minutes or until it crisps up and the top browns.  Serve.

Popcorn Cake

Gooey,  sweet and salty perfection — Cookies And Cups

Gooey gorgeousness —  Homemade Hannah

Yum — A Solitary Feast

Just so we are clear, this is not a traditional cake decorated to look like a box of movie theater popcorn.  This cake is actual popcorn held together with a stick of butter and a bag of melted marshmallows with some kind of candy thrown in just in case it isn’t sweet enough.

Do I really need to say anything more about this cake?  This cake has been in my family since I was a little kid.  You really can use any candy here but gummy candies or chocolate work the best. Yes, you can use microwave popcorn but why would you want to?  Stove top popcorn is so easy to make and tastes so much better.   By the way,  this recipe is not small batch.

• Difficulty: Medium
• Print

From A Recipe My Mom Gave Me

20 cups of popped popcorn,  remove unpopped corn kernels

1 stick of butter

1 16 oz bag of mini marshmallows or 1 12 oz bag regular marshmallows

1 10 – 12 oz bag M n M’s

Pop your popcorn and sift through it for any unpopped kernels.  Place in very large bowl.  In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, melt the stick of butter.  Add the marshmallows.  Stir the marshmallows until they are melted, smooth and mixed with the butter.  Let the marshmallows sit a minute or two, off heat, to cool.  Pour the marshmallows into the popcorn, add the M n M’s and mix, with hands coated in butter until well combined.  Pack into a well buttered Angel food cake pan or Bundt pan.   Let sit for 1 hour before serving. 

Egg Drop Soup (Whole 30)

The last week has thrown all sorts of nasty, stressful stuff my way and I dealt with it by eating all sorts of non Whole 30, not good for you stuff.  I have always been an emotional eater.  I thought I had that bad habit under control but, apparently not.   I am still eating mostly compliant but until some of this stress is resolved, I have decided not to worry about being completely compliant.  I just can’t give my Whole 30 the mental, emotional and physical attention it needs, right now.  I will try again, maybe in November or December.

In the meantime, enjoy one of my favorite new, Whole 30 recipes.  I make this soup for  a warm breakfast now that it is getting a little cooler here in North Dakota.  Yeah, soup for breakfast.  Who would have thought?  You can bulk it up by adding a little cooked chicken and some extra greens if you like.

Egg Drop Soup

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

From Eat Drink Paleo

2 cups chicken broth

5 dried shiitake mushrooms

1 tsp diced ginger

1 TBS fish sauce

1 1/2 tsp coconut aminos

1/4 tsp black pepper

any green you have available

2 eggs

Add two cups of broth, mushrooms and ginger to a 2 quart sauce pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduced heat to medium, add the fish sauce, coconut aminos, pepper and leafy greens.  Cook for a minute or so.  In the meantime, whisk eggs in a small bowl.  Turn the heat down so the broth is barely simmering.  Slowly, pour the eggs over the back of the fork into the pot.  The egg will cook immediately.

Brussels Sprout with Cranberries and Garlic (Whole 30 Day 3)

Perhaps looking for new cranberry recipes isn’t the best thing to do when you are on day 3 of your Whole 30.  Way to much sweet cranberry stuff out there.  But what am I supposed to do when pumpkin spice everything is everywhere?  You know I gotta try a cranberry recipe for every pumpkin recipe I see.

Fortunately,  I can try many of the savory cranberry recipes I find even when I am on round thanks to the juice sweetened cranberries I found at Natural Grocers.  I tried this recipe because it combines two of my favorite things,  Brussels sprouts and cranberries.

Brussels Sprouts With Garlic and Cranberries

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

From Eat Drink Paleo

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium brown onion, thinly sliced

3 cups shredded Brussels sprouts (about 15-20

sprouts)

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ghee

Generous pinch of pepper

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

⅓ cup dried cranberries, preferably unsweetened

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Shred the Brussels sprouts. Cut off the ends off the sprouts and slice them in half lengthways.   Slice each half into thin strips. Add to the onion together with garlic, salt and butter. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring a few times, and then add the pepper, vinegar and cranberries. Stir through and cook for a further 2 minutes. Serve while warm.