Soup

  • With only five ingredients and lots of deep savory flavor, this Instant Pot ham and bean soup will become a fast favorite!

    Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup

    With only eight ingredients and lots of deep savory flavor, this simple Instant Pot ham and bean soup will become a fast favorite! I’ve been using my Instant Pot on a regular basis these days. It’s hard not to use it often when the pressure cooker gadget makes life so very easy. Take this ham and bean soup, for example. Sure. It could have simmered away stove top or in the slow cooker for hours. Instead, I finished work, threw eight inexpensive ingredients into the Instant Pot, set it to “Soup” and then forgot about it for forty-five minutes. And, as an added bonus, I used up the last of…

  • Instant Pot chili tastes like you've made a batch that's simmered all day long—and surprise!—it's ready in less than an hour.

    Instant Pot Chili

    Instant Pot chili tastes like you’ve made a batch that’s simmered all day long — and surprise! — it’s ready in less than an hour. Yesterday I made my first batch of Instant Pot chili. It was Sunday and FREEZING (actually, below freezing) and I was home all day long, so I could’ve had a simmering pot of chili on the stove for hours, or a batch in the slow cooker. Instead, I thought it’d be a fine time to test out another recipe in the Instant Pot, because … why not? I can’t say enough about how much I love this gadget. It’s quite the multi-tasker, which is a requirement…

  • Instant Pot chicken stock is ready in an hour and tastes just like a slow cooked stock that's been simmering away for hours and hours.

    Instant Pot Chicken Stock

    This homemade chicken stock is ready in an hour, thanks to the Instant Pot, and tastes just like a slow cooked stock that’s been simmering away for hours and hours. I’ve been watching friends rave about their pressure cookers for years, noticing in the past couple an extreme fondness for the Instant Pot in particular. It’s like the work horse of pressure cookers, operating via electric cord instead of on top of the stove … similar to a slow cooker. But not a slow cooker. Not at first blush, anyway. One of the coolest things about an Instant Pot is that it *can* be used as a slow cooker ……

  • This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup will warm you to the bone!

    Hearty Chicken and Pinto Bean Soup

    This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup is the perfect cold weather comfort meal. It warms you to the bone and is super versatile. Cook it stove-top, in your Instant Pot, or all day in the slow cooker like I’ve shown here. Change up the spices, or give it a punch of flavor by adding a mix of herbs and spices! This post was sponsored by Spicentice. Check out their variety of rubs and seasonings, meal kits and chilies from around the world! A few years ago for Christmas we decided to cut back on material gifts to our families. I mean, my parents and my in-laws don’t actually *need* anything,…

  • 5 Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes

    5 Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes

    Tomorrow is the BIG GAME, which means fans (and non-fans) will be watching a lot of football (and really great commercials) while feasting on all kinds of game-time goodies. We’re keeping it small at our house: the husband, one friend, our basement man cave, and a slow cooker full of beef chili! The kids and I will probably keep ourselves occupied elsewhere in the house (watching Harry Potter on ABC Family; I may have already set a reminder), flipping every now and again to the game. Maybe. The great thing about slow cooker dinner recipes is that you can feed an army, and you can also be really flexible about…

  • Chicken Stew in the Dutch Oven

    Chicken Stew

    A take on Ina Garten’s chicken stew, started in the slow cooker and then finished in a Dutch oven. Delish! It’s the new year, and I have a few goals to accomplish — none of which are impossible, nor difficult. I’m going to grow a container garden, try making more foods by hand (like cheese), and get back to exercising. Easy, right? As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links. I’ve found the hardest part about getting started is, well, starting. I was all set to hit the pavement with my iPhone and C25K app this weekend (yes, starting back at the beginning with…

  • After making this overnight slow cooker chicken stock you'll never go back to store-bought!

    Overnight Slow Cooker Chicken Stock

    After making this overnight slow cooker chicken stock you’ll never go back to store-bought! A couple months ago I discovered the beauty of cooking a whole chicken in the slow cooker. It certainly doesn’t replace a perfectly roasted chicken in the oven, with its crispy skin and juicy meat {drool}. But, it’s a fine alternative for a busy day when there’s no time in the evening to prep and cook a regular home cooked meal. Plus, cooking a whole chicken this way is the perfect setup for overnight slow cooker chicken stock! The meat literally falls off the bones, leaving you with the perfect base of cooked down onions, juices and…

  • Is there anything more comforting than a warm, savory bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup?

    Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

    It’s soup season! Is there anything more comforting than a warm, savory bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup? I have about twenty cups of chicken stock stored in my freezer after a few times of making my whole chicken in the slow cooker recipe, followed by overnight slow cooker chicken stock (psssst… click here for my Instant Pot Chicken Stock). T W E N T Y CUPS! (That’s a lot of chicken stock.) It’s come in handy to have twenty cups of chicken stock in the freezer — there’s no need to buy chicken broth anymore or keep cans stocked in my pantry. It takes mere minutes to thaw out one…