Pressure Cooker Greek Harvest Grain Bowls

This is a super easy and fairly healthy meal, ready in less than 30 minutes! If you use steam in the bag spinach, it's even one pot.

1 lb ground lamb
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic (adjust to your tastes)
16 oz chopped frozen spinach
16 oz bag of Harvest Grain blend from Trader Joe's
Lamb stock if you can find it, beef stock or water.
Salt, Greek seasoning

1. Turn on pot, hit saute and start.
2. Add chopped onion, garlic and ground lamb to pot once hot.  Break up lamb and stir well.  Cook until lamb is brown and onion is translucent. Turn off pot.
3. Add grain blend to pot. Add stock or water.  Add 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp Greek seasoning.  Add additional tsp salt if you are using water or unsalted stock.  Stir well.
4. Put on lid, lock and seal.
5. Cook on high pressure for 7 minutes.*
6. While pot is going, cook the spinach.  Drain and squeeze water out.
7. Let pot sit 5 minutes before releasing the pressure.  Then open pot, add cooked spinach and stir well.

*When I made this I cooked it for 5 minutes and waited 5 minutes more before release. It was cooked well except the garbanzo beans which were a bit hard for my tastes but edible.  So I increased the time a bit.  There are a few recipes online using the product in a pressure cooker.  Time varies from 3 minutes with a 10 minute NPR time, to 10 minutes.  You may want to adjust accordingly. 

Meal Plan for August 1-15

It’s August! Summer break is flying by. I’ll be going to visit my family for a week from the 15th-21st (sadly the hubs just started a new job so he can’t take time off to go) so not really making a monthly meal plan. Still eating mostly out of the freezer and pantry- trying to save money by only buying produce, dairy, bread and any other perishables.

Here’s my plan for the first half of August:

-Instant Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta with green salad 
-Greek marinated chicken with baked potatoes and whatever veggies we have around 
-Chicken Burrito bowls w/ Mexican squash casserole 
-Greek Harvest Grain bowls (Trader Joe’s Harvest Grain blend cooked with lamb and spinach) 
-Beef Fajitas probably with salad
-Leftover veggie and black bean burgers from the freezer with carrot “fries”

I’m sure while I’m gone my husband will likely eat frozen stuff from Trader Joes and/or anything he can make in the toaster oven (mini pizzas) and air fryer (chicken or fish, and of course, tater tots). Hopefully he’ll remember to eat a vegetable or two.

Greek Grain Salad

This is a nice, light and refreshing salad.  It will keep nicely for a couple days in the fridge.  This recipe makes a good amount so if you don't want leftovers, you might want to halve it.  

2 medium cucumbers 
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes 
4 oz feta cheese 
+/- 0.25 cup red onion, finely minced 
1 cup barley (I used Bob’s Red Mill hull-less barley, but you can use regular or try another whole grain like farro or freekeh.) 
Greek style feta salad dressing from Trader Joe’s 
Olives if desired 
Salt, pepper, oregano, garlic to taste

Cook barley or other grain according to package directions. 
Seed and chop cucumbers. Cut tomatoes in half. Crumble feta. Mix cheese, tomatoes, cukes and onion (and olives if you like) together in a large bowl. 
After grain is cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Shake as much water off as you can. Add to bowl. Pour a small amount of dressing (not much, maybe 1/4-1/3 of a cup). I use some dried Greek oregano from our garden. A little pepper. Salt only if needed, most feta is quite salty. Taste it and season as you like.

Yogurt marinated Greek Chicken

Used this marinade last night and let the chicken sit in it overnight and all day until I cooked it for dinner in the air fryer.  It was so flavorful and juicy!  I used this recipe on about 4 lbs of chicken drumsticks. I also added a little an extra bit of oregano from our garden!

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBSP Penzey's Greek Seasoning
4 cloves of garlic, minced

Blend well.  Coat chicken and let sit as long as you can but not more than 24 hours.

Before cooking, wipe off excess marinade.  Sprinkle with extra seasoning, if desired (I didn't bother).

Air fryer:  360* for 20 minutes per 4 drums
Oven: Bake at 400* for 25 minutes, turn over, cook another 10 minutes.  Check for doneness with a meat thermometer - 180* internal temp is safe for dark meat chicken (legs & thighs), 170* for white meat (breasts).

Serve with: Greek salad, pita bread

Unstuffed cabbage casserole (Crock Pot)

Love stuffed cabbage but don't want to take the time or turn on the oven?  This gives you the flavor without all the work!

1/2 medium head of cabbage, chopped (1 bag of coleslaw mix will work if you are short on time!)
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup minute rice (I use minute brown rice)
1 lb ground beef, pork or turkey
28 oz can crushed tomatoes, tomato puree or sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice 
1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tsp each:  Salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, thyme (If you are using no salt added tomatoes, you might want to increase the salt a bit)

Mix sugar, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, and seasonings into the tomatoes in a separate bowl.

Put about 1 cup of tomatoes on the bottom of the pot.  Add 1/2 the cabbage, 1/2 the onion, 1/2 cup rice, crumble half the raw meat on top, then cover with 1 cup of the tomato mixture. 
Repeat the layers, topping with what's left of the tomatoes. 

Cook on high 3-4 hours. Stir well before serving. 

Crock-Pot Corn or Clam Chowder

1 onion, chopped
3 large potatoes, about 1.5 lbs, diced
2 cups corn
2 cans creamed corn
5-6 slices of bacon, cooked and cut into pieces (or 5-6 oz of real bacon bits)
2 cups +/- water to just cover vegetables
Salt & pepper to taste

Cook on low for several hours.  About 30 minutes before serving, add 1 can of evaporated milk OR 2 cups of half and half (or if you really want to be decadent, use heavy cream.)  Add 1/4 cup of butter.  Stir and let heat up for 30 minutes and serve.

For clam chowder:
Omit the corn and creamed corn.  Add 2 cups chopped celery and increase potatoes to 2 lbs. Use clam juice or seafood stock instead of water.  Add 4 cans of chopped clams when you add the half and half & butter.

TIP - use yukon gold or red potatoes, not baking/russet potatoes.  They will hold their shape better.  Mash some of the potatoes if you want a thicker broth. 

Zucchini bread/muffins

Got lots of zucchini in the garden this summer?  This recipe on Allrecipes.com has 5 stars and over 7,000 reviews for a reason - it's good.

Mom's Zucchini Bread Recipe

Now of course I like to tweak things.  I use 2 cups of white whole wheat flour and only 1 cup of regular AP flour.  I use half a cup of oil and a half cup of unsweetened applesauce.  I reduce the sugar to 1.5 cups of brown sugar, and if I'm adding mini chocolate chips, I'll take it down to 1 cup.  You can add as much as 3 cups of zucchini, so if you have a little over the 2 cups don't sweat it.  I also find it needs a bit longer than the 55 minutes.

You can also make them as muffins.  Bake for 30 minutes instead of 60.

**Tip - Those little cups of applesauce like you send in your kid's lunch bag are great to keep in your pantry for baking.  They don't need refrigeration, and one of the little cups is exactly a half cup!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats

7 Ingredients

• 3 serving, Bananas, raw
• 2 cup, 1% Lowfat Milk
• 2 cup (8 fl oz), Yogurt - Plain, whole milk
• 3 cup, Rolled Oats

• 0.25 cup(s), Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 8 tbsp, Chocolate peanut butter powder
• 3 cup (40g dry), Quick Oats

Combine all ingredients except oats.  Add oats and stir well.
Portion out into 8 containers, put into fridge overnight or for up to 4 days.

Nutrition Facts

Servings 8.0

Amount Per Serving

calories 364

Total Fat 8 g

Saturated Fat 2 g

Monounsaturated Fat 2 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g

Trans Fat 0 g

Cholesterol 10 mg

Sodium 95 mg

Potassium 517 mg

Total Carbohydrate 62 g

Dietary Fiber 9 g

Sugars 14 g

Protein 14 g

Calcium15 %  Iron19 %* 

Meal Plan for May 26

Memorial day weekend for us meant grilling outside, just like it does for many of you I'd imagine.  The weather was beautiful and we were excited to cook outside for the first time this summer.

Breakfasts - Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats (recipe in blog)

Lunches - Turkey Sandwiches, pasta salad for him, mini peppers for me, fruit

PM Snack - Banana, almonds

Dinner - Leftovers from Memorial day Cookout!

• Grilled chicken (some were marinated in a black pepper marinade others I put a rub of mesquite seasoning from Costco) 
• Sausages w/ peppers and onions
• Potato salad
• Corn on the cob
• Grilled zucchini & onions

Recipe - PC Cheeseburger Macaroni

This is sort of a knock-off of the cheeseburger hamburger helper I used to love as a kid!

1 large onion, chopped
1-1.5 lbs lean ground beef
1 qt beef or chicken broth, low sodium preferably.
1 lb pasta (rotini, elbows, or small shells I would recommend, but you can use others)
Small amounts of:  Ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, worcestershire sauce
8 oz block of cheese of your choice OR 2 cups shredded cheese (I used the Kraft extra creamy blend with cream cheese in it for this but I usually shred my own. I like a nice smoked cheddar.)
Splash of milk
2 tbps butter

Brown onion and ground beef on Saute mode.  Turn off pot.
Add broth, pasta and squirt a little ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, worcestershire sauce in. Stir well.
**If the broth does not completely cover the pasta, add water until it does! **
Look at the back of the box of pasta.  Whatever it says for how long to cook it, set the pot for half that time.  High pressure.  (For example if it says to boil it for 10 minutes, set timer for 5 minutes.)
Lock the lid, set valve to closed and press start.
While it's cooking, if you are using block cheese, shred the cheese.
When done, wait 5 minutes and then open valve to release the rest of the pressure.
Open and splash in a bit of milk (maybe 1/4 cup?) and a couple TBSP butter and stir.
Add cheese and stir well until melted.