Cookie and Kate's incredibly delicious veggie sushi bowl recipe, with brown rice made in the Instant Pot

I might be a little late to hop on this train, but I am enamored with our new Instant Pot. I have to admit I was skeptical at first. I didn't have room for another kitchen gadget, and the claims my friends made about theirs felt slightly exaggerated. Hard boiled eggs in 6 minutes? Perfectly cooked chicken breasts (from frozen)? Even making cheesecakes?!

We got our Instant Pot from Kohl's during an online sale and it's been worth every penny. I have to say it has exceeded my expectations... so much so that I recently gave away our slow cooker because it's no longer needed.

My go-to lunch.

I haven't always been in the habit of eating healthy lunches. But I've found that when I make the conscious effort to do so - instead of just popping a frozen pizza in the oven - my afternoon becomes immeasurably more productive. I also think I'm much more likely to make a healthy dinner if I've already eaten a healthy lunch.

For the past year, these lentil tacos have been my go-to meal on at least 2-3 days a week. I try to keep the ingredients readily available so they take less than 5 minutes to make, and they can be easily changed up from time to time. These also transport well in a packed lunch for work or a picnic.

I found every ingredient for these at Trader Joe's, where they stock delicious jalapeño hummus, the best cheddar cheese I've ever tasted (called "Unexpected Cheddar"), and pre-cooked lentils (found in the refrigerator section near the produce). These items are on my weekly grocery list because they make such an easy lunch and can obviously be used for lots of dinner ideas, too. This meal is also gluten-free and can easily be made dairy-free, too, by nixing the cheese.

Lentil Tacos

Ingredients:
Corn tortillas
Lentils - you can cook your own or buy them pre-cooked
Jalapeño hummus - I'm pretty sure this one ingredient makes all the difference in flavor for this meal
Cheese - I like "Unexpected Cheddar" from Trader Joe's
Cherry tomatoes
Ripe avocado
Green onions

How to:
1. Heat 3-4 tablespoons of lentils per taco (either in the microwave or over the stove) until steamy. Heat the tortillas until soft.
2. Slather each tortilla with a generous tablespoon of jalapeño hummus.
3. Add warm lentils, sliced avocado, green onions, cheese, and whatever other topping you choose.
4. Enjoy!

Extra points for:
+ Grilling the tortilla (!!!) before adding ingredients
+ Adding a dollop of salsa or sour cream, and chopped cilantro
+ Drizzling with sriracha sauce for extra heat
+ Squirting fresh lime juice on top
+ Drinking Lemon flavored La Croix sparkling water

January's goal: Eating at home.

This morning's smoothie (before it was blended): frozen mango, frozen berries, kale, orange juice, and almond milk.

For the month of January, I'm working toward a monumental goal (for me, at least):
I will not be eating out for the entire month.

When Shawn and I talked about it, I realized I don't think I've done that for 10 years. Maybe even longer. Before having Liam, Shawn and I would eat out at least 5 times a week, sometimes more. Maybe that sounds extreme, but when it's become a habit, it doesn't feel that way at all. It only feels convenient and, sometimes, like the only option.

This month, though, we've been trimming taking a hacksaw to our budget and trying to recover from the last few fiscal months which involved moving to a new state, buying a house, and making it through Christmas. So the decision is a combination of the desire to save money and the fact that a 14-month-old boy sitting quietly in a restaurant just isn't a reality anyway.

Here's what I've learned so far...
1. Cooking isn't quite as bad as I'd made it out to be. Spending hours in the kitchen isn't my first choice, and that's what seems to be required when you never eat out. Because a gluten free diet requires making more things from scratch, I do have to spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen every day. However, I've learned to love eating leftovers, which has also helped us make huge strides in our money saving efforts. I love that I can "cook once, eat twice," which is what I've been trying to do for nearly every meal. Lunches are the times we eat leftovers, and it saves a lot of money and a lot of time.

2. You do save so much money. I never thought it would be in the hundreds of dollars that we'd save by not eating out - even at places like Chipotle which aren't high end restaurants. We've budgeted down to the penny using Mint.com and it is incredible how much we're saving by having a plan and sticking to it.

3. Planning ahead is integral to success. I've begun making our meal plan an entire month in advance (including grocery lists for each week). I spend one afternoon a month with a cute wall calendar I bought from Target, some favorite cookbooks, and a cup of tea, and I plan. And plan and plan. I write down a meal idea for every lunch and dinner for the entire month, with preplanned events in mind. For example, if I know Shawn has rehearsal at church every Wednesday night, I'll make sure to make a crock pot meal or a soup that can stay hot so we can eat at different times. And whatever I plan to make for dinner, I plan to use the leftovers for the lunch the next day.

Even more than the relief it brings to our budget, this type of planning brings relief to my mind. I know that I don't have to think about what I'm making because it's already planned out for me and I already have the ingredients. Hallelujah! I don't know how I lived without this plan in place.

(If anyone's interested in seeing our entire month plan for January, let me know... I may do a separate post about it.)

4. Thinking of what I'm gaining instead of what I'm losing in this process is helpful. Instead of reminiscing about all those Chipotle burrito bowls I could be devouring (my weakness!), I think about what I've made this month already that has been so nourishing and delicious. Roasted chicken, delicious homemade soups, warm chocolate chip cookies. We can spend more on groceries - including treats that we wouldn't normally buy - because we're saving so much by not eating out. We also tend to have people over for dinner at least once or twice a week, so I don't feel so strapped in preparing for them. This month has not looked like deprivation, but has felt lavish and tasted delicious.

In the kitchen again.

My sous chef, sorting strawberries.

Just after we got married in December 2008, Shawn and I moved into a corner apartment on W. Elm Street in downtown Chicago. Being in such a central location, there were two grocery stores within a block of us. As I walked home from work each day, I'd stop at one of them and think, "What should we eat tonight?" and pick something up. Our dinners were usually simple - lots of pasta with veggies and chicken - but they felt lavish. We felt the warmth of newlywed bliss and our cozy apartment as the snow fell outside. Elm Street remains our favorite spot we've ever lived. We ate salmon once or twice a week, I baked muffins or breads almost every day, and we soaked it up. Our budget could hardly handle it, but it was all we knew. Eating well, often, together. Every restaurant you could imagine was just outside our door, but it usually felt better to stay out of the cold and cook.

Within a few months, though, my gluten allergy reared its ugly head. We spent months not knowing why my health was declining, and finally got an answer 8 months and countless doctors' visits after my initial symptoms. With my diagnosis - Celiac disease - came a mix of relief and anxiety. We were grateful to know how I could get better. But what was I supposed to cook without half the ingredients I knew and loved?

I picked up a gluten free baking mix at Whole Foods and made my first scone. What came out of the oven tasted dense and sprouty, and I cried. It wasn't the taste that brought the tears. I was convinced I'd never eat a baked good that tasted good for the rest of my life. I grieved the loss of my favorite ingredients and the comfort they brought. I had just gotten the hang of cooking for my new husband, and now, I had to start all over. I had to relearn how to cook.

Then came our move to Nashville which commenced an intensely busy season. We lived a 20 minute drive from our favorite grocery store, which meant I really had to plan or we'd end up eating out. I was juggling a part-time job teaching painting classes, then working from home on Brighter Day, and going to nursing school. Planning, prepping, cooking, cleaning - it all felt like such a burden. I didn't want to spend hours in the kitchen cooking because I felt like whatever I made usually didn't taste good anyway.

So when Shawn would ask about dinner, I would get defensive, as if he was insinuating it was my wifely duty to take care of all the cooking on top of everything else I was juggling. (A man's gotta eat, though, right?) We ended up at Chipotle more times than I can count. We would eat there 3 to 4 times a week for months. Seriously. I blamed it on busyness, which was partly true. But mostly I was just so frustrated by my limitations.

That catches us up to today: here in Raleigh in our first home with our first child. With one of us in full-time ministry and one working from home, we have a budget that demands we eat in more than we eat out. We also have a one year old who does not behave kindly in restaurants.

And finally, five years after my gluten allergy diagnosis, I'm beginning to feel really comfortable in the kitchen again. These days, I actually want to be there. I've begun to plan meals out two weeks in advance, which takes less than an hour and spares me so much time agonizing when meal time rolls around. It's a different season for us. Less fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants in many ways. But I'm learning to love it.

Whereas cooking just last year felt like such a chore, today it's feeling much more like a privilege. Just this weekend, we had blackened chicken tacos for lunch, rosemary tomato soup with homemade parmesan croutons and a salad with lemon vinaigrette for dinner, and apple crisp for dessert. I make most of Liam's baby food and I love seeing if he'll enjoy what I've steamed and mashed and created for him. And today when I cook, it's rare that I think, "Is this gluten-free?" It's become so natural to cook gluten-free that it's not an issue anymore. Instead, I chop onions and glide across the hardwood floor and stir soup and feed little bits to the tiny boy hanging onto my leg. And at mealtime, I watch as my boys' bodies are filled and nourished, and their souls can breathe. It's something no restaurant - however delicious - can do for my family. And in that way, it feels like such a gift.

PS - I just went looking for our old apartment on Craigslist... sure enough, this post came up and the first four pictures are pictures of our apartment when we first moved in! Gotta love our blow up mattress, Shawn's guitar case, and the cross wall in the living room. Makes me nostalgic. (And whew... prices have gone way up!)

Next week's meal plan

Source

First, a dose of reality: when I make these lists, I'm lucky if I'm able to make 3 or 4 of the recipes that week. Eventually, I usually try all of them... but life gets in the way (lots of orders to sew, a fussy baby, Shawn home late from work, etc.) and they don't always get done in the same week. We end up eating eggs, green smoothies or frozen pizzas (for Shawn) and Amy's organic frozen meals (for me) fairly often.

But here's to hoping that these week's recipes work out - because they look so yummy!

Sunday: Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

Monday: Roasted salmon with spicy cauliflower

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Barbacoa tacos

Wednesday: Healthier lasagna (using gluten-free lasagna noodles)

Thursday: Chipotle lime salmon, quinoa, spinach salad

Friday: Mexican chicken & cauliflower rice

Back to meal planning...

Source: Elana's Pantry

I'm not a consistent meal planner, but it really helps when I take the time to do it. Otherwise, we end up eating Chipotle or frozen pizzas a few more times than I'd like to admit.

So here's the plan for this upcoming week, with mostly new-to-me recipes. Just click on the titles to go straight to the recipe:

Monday: Baked mustard lime chicken, green beans, quinoa
Tuesday: Quinoa stuffed sweet potatoes, spinach salad
Wednesday: Clean eating chicken taquitos, green smoothies
Thursday: Slow cooker lentil and veggie stew
Friday: Perfect roast chicken with veggies and potatoes
Saturday: Baked dijon salmon, quinoa, salad

Also, my new favorite salad dressing recipe: Lemonette dressing
(This makes me want to eat a whole bag of spinach!)

5 days at a time.

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I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the "whole month" thing right now in the middle of exams, so I'm going five days at at time. Here are the first five:

December 1 - Brown Rice & Lentil Salad and Raw mango-lime pie
December 2 - Salmon panzanella
December 3 - Ginger-lime chicken stir fry
December 4 - Maple dijon crock pot chicken with a spinach salad on the side
December 5 - Tuscan white bean soup

PS - Not all of these are gluten-free, but they will be when they're at my house! Like the salmon panzanella - it calls for a whole wheat baguette, but I'll replace it with a gluten-free hamburger bun that I have on hand.  These recipes are all very easily adaptable to a gluten-free diet.

December cooking.

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I'm going through an "I really despise cooking" phase at the moment.
It's sad, because I used to love to cook.
I think it's a combination of things: the lack of time and energy, the food allergies, and the long distance from our house to the grocery store.

When we first got married, we had dinner together every night after work. Things were different - I didn't know about my gluten allergy and there were two grocery stores within a block of our apartment. Now, to be honest, I can't even tell you the last time we sat down for dinner at home together. We eat out at least 75% of the time. Sad, but true.

So I'm making a really big goal for December. I'm going to plan the whole month in advance, and try hard to cook 5 meals a week (20 meals total) during the month. That probably doesn't seem like much to some of you, but going from about 3 or 4 meals a month (mainly just when we have guests), it'll be a stretch.

Anyone have some recipes they recommend?

I'm about to head to Pinterest to see what I can find...

Wish me luck! I'll post here what the monthly plan is whenever I can figure it out.