Family weekending

We finished off our 3rd/4th (?) loaf of persimmon walnut bread over the weekend and Kyle just asked if we had any more this Wednesday. Looks like I have some baking to do! I have four more persimmons left and thanks to Mr. P’s math skills, he informed me that meant “we” could actually make TWO more loaves. Isn’t math great! 😛

Thai salad love right here! And since the avo was the size of my head, I kept my serving size to 1/3 of it rather than the usual 1/2. But I’m going to have to start doing some research about off season avo consumerism after this article came out calling avocados the blood diamonds of Mexico due to the impact they have on the countries from which they come (deforestation in Chile and violence in Mexico). Luckily I live in California, so now I’m going to see if I can keep my sources local or reduce them over the off season months.

Speaking of articles relating to food policy…dairy. Oof.

Why is eating healthy so complicated??? So frustrating.

I wasn’t that hungry for lunch for some reason but we were heading off to my parents’ house for dinner so I needed to eat something first.

I wound up making a DIFFERENT kale salad. This one had toasted (almost burnt – oops!) walnuts, sun dried tomatoes with a ton of the oil, and capers. Plus some nooch I ended up adding at the end. That’s it!

It was perfect.

And then we had taco night with my parents and sisters and it was awesome. Because who doesn’t love football, new niece snuggles, and chips???

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It was a nice start to the weekend!

The next day was a perfect blend of low key productive. I cut everyone’s hair, cleaned out the pantry, took stock of the freezer, and did some food prepping, but still spent a decent amount of time sitting on the couch watching football. There are only a few games left so I need to soak it up, because once football season is over I’ll go into a depression for the rest of winter. There’s nothing exciting about the cold weather if you don’t have any games to watch.

Anyway, I made this loooovely open faced sando for my lunch. I pulled some seedy bread from the freezer when I was taking stock of everything in there. That bread is the best – just look at all those nuts and seeds!?! Yum.

I topped it with Organic Valley lactose free cream cheese and smoked salmon and had some carrots on the side. Such a dreamy lunch.

For dinner I used the instant pot to make a kind of pot roast stew dish. Ever since I saw this recipe I knew I had to try something similar. And then, oddly enough, I discovered a can of V8 (I know right?) in the garage fridge door and thought it might be the perfect thing to use. I didn’t have any onions on hand, so I just used the saute function of the IP to saute some minced garlic and sear the beef before dumping everything else in.

I added this ‘Mean Gator’ spice mix to the meat, too. It was a gift from my bestie, who knows food presents are the way to my heart. She has given me several of these Greenpoint Trading Co. spices because her cousin owns the business. They are all so good, but this was my first time trying ‘Mean Gator’ and I think it is my new favorite.

Looks good right?

Sedona Red and Coffee Rub are other favorites. The Sedona Red is SO good on ribs.

Anyway, so I just poured the can of V8 in after that, along with chopped carrots and celery, some tapioca pearls (to thicken), closed the lid and set it to the meat/stew setting.

Ta da!

It was perfection. I actually made this a day in advance and then re-warmed it in the IP right before we ate it that night and it was fall apart tender and the flavors were amazing.

I served it over rice along with the extra broth and then broke apart the meat to make it like a stew.

I added a bit of kale at the last minute, too.

The kids went WILD for this. The umami of the V8 and the spice blend did something magical in that pressure cooker, I tell you what!

Instant Pot Roast Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 lb cubed beef stew meat
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp of your favorite spice blend (anything with paprika, thyme, and oregano)
• 5.5 oz V8 juice (or 1/2 cup tomato juice)
• 5 carrots, cut into large chunks
• 5 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
• 2 tbsp whole tapioca pearls (optional, but I think they helped thicken the broth)

Directions:

Coat the meat in salt and spice mix. Saute the garlic in the olive oil, then add the meat to the instant pot and sear most sides.

Add the V8, carrots, celery, and tapioca and stir, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the instant pot to incorporate into the liquid.

Close the lid, turn the knob to the sealing position, and cook on the meat/stew setting. Let pressure release naturally.

Serve over cooked brown rice or chopped kale (or both). The kale will wilt quickly if you stir it into the stew a few minutes before serving. If you don’t do grains, you could add chopped potatoes in when you add the veggies instead.

Reason enough to have V8 on hand, I think!