Calling All InstaPot Lovers! BBQ Meatloaf

ZB and I decided to jump on the Instant Pot bandwagon.  I have to admit, at first I was annoyed with it and thought we wasted money.  However; I can honestly say now that I LOVE it!!  We decided to buy it because we were getting tired of the same old meals and we didn't have the time to try these long elaborate new dinners.  To be honest, even prepping and baking chicken in the oven on a weeknight is literally not even an option.  We both get home between 5:15-5:45 and if dinner isn't on the table by 6/6:30 then I have a two year old who eats snacks for supper.  Plus there is bath time and story time and quality time that I would rather spend my time doing.

I spent some time looking up recipes and adjusting them so they worked for us.  We use it about twice a week and so far all of the recipes have been a hit.  If you don't have an one of these instant pots, treat yoself.  They are worth it!

For Christmas we got Hadley a kitchen-helper stool.  It is SO stinkin' cute!  She absolutely loves to help in the kitchen so this was the perfect gift for her.  And bonus, it came in pink! To go along with this gift her and I got matching aprons that I found on Etsy.  I am slightly obsessed and she has to have her apron on every time we cook.  Melt.My.Heart.










I will share some of my favorite Instant Pot recipes as they come up - this bbq meatloaf definitely makes the top 10 list so far.

BBQ Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

I'm not a huge meatloaf fan so I was hesitant to try it, but I reluctantly did because ZB does love it.  I have to say, it was SO good.  I loved that I could throw in the potatoes and have it all in one pot.  We don't usually do mashed potatoes so it was a nice change. :) In addition to this I just made some mixed vegetables a boom, done!

8-10 small potatoes - red or yellow (you leave the skin on so whichever you prefer)
2 cups water
1lb ground turkey
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce (does anyone else have a hard time pronouncing this???!)
1 egg
1/4 cup seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs
1/4 cup bbq Sauce ( I use Anne's bbq sauce because it doesn't have nearly as much sugar as regular)
turkey bacon (6-8 slices)
1 red bell pepper
1/2 onion
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt (you can use sour cream if you prefer)
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp butter


Seasonings
salt
pepper
garlic powder

1. Wash potatoes and cut into quarters.  Toss into the bottom of the instant and add water.  I seasoned the potatoes with a bit of salt and garlic.  Place the trivet on top of the potatoes with the handles facing up.

2. In a bowl combine the turkey, worcestershire sauce, egg, breadcrumbs, bbq sauce, bacon (cooked), pepper, and onion.  Add a little salt and garlic powder.  Mix with your (clean) hands.

3. Place tin foil into a small bread pan and place meat mixture in and then wrap it in tinfoil.  Remove from the bread pan so it keeps shape.  Put on top of trivet in the instant pot.

4. Cover/Secure lid and press the manual button.  Set the timer for 20 minutes on high pressure.  The valve should be set to sealing.  When the timer goes off do a quick release by moving the valve to venting. Open the lid and lift the foil and place on a pan.  Base the top with bbq sauce.

5. Remove the trivet and drain the water out of the pot.  Add in butter, milk, and yogurt.  Mash and add salt and pepper to taste.


Now excuse me while I obsessively watch the weather channel in hopes of a snow day tomorrow!  I am convinced that teachers are more obsessed with snow days than the students are! ;)

xoxo,

amanda breazeale

December Book Review

I am a sucker for new year resolutions, so as I was thinking about my goals I made the decision that this time I'm not going to wait until the new year to become better and to work toward my goals.  Why not start now?!  One of my goals is to read more.  Time, or lack of time, was always my excuse for not reading.  But you know what, it is true - you have time for what you make time for.  Along with the whole "read more" goal, I decided to do a monthly book review to hold myself accountable.  SO, here are the books I read in the month of December.  Follow me on Goodreads and enjoy. :)


The Thing About Jellyfish - Ali Benjamin

"If people were silent, they could hear the noise of their own lives better. If people were silent, it would make what they did say, whenever they chose to say it, more important. If people were silent, they could read one another's signals, the way underwater creatures flash lights at one another, or turn their skin different colors."

"Humans may be newcomers to this planet.  We may be plenty fragile.  But we're also the only ones who can decide to change."


I finished this book quickly.  Ali Benjamin has a way with putting words to your feelings and I wanted to highlight and write down many lines from the book.  I got it for my classroom this year and it has quickly become a favorite.  It is geared more toward middle school students to adults.  I loved all of the interesting facts about science that the author included, but the main theme is grief and how the main character deals with the loss of her best friend.  


Faceless - Alyssa B. Sheinmel


“You have to learn to love yourself before you can love someone else. Because it's only when we love ourselves that we feel worthy of someone else's love.”

This is another book I had in my classroom library.  I actually pulled it from the shelf after reading it because it would be a better book for high school-young adult.   It was another book that I didn't want to put down.  The main character, Maisie, loses her face in an electrical fire while running in a thunderstorm.  It is another book about grief and learning to love yourself.  When I finished the book I had a lot of questions about her story and was longing to continue following her story.

Wonder - R.J. Palacio


“If every person in this room made it a rule that wherever you are, whenever you can, you will try to act a little kinder than is necessary - the world really would be a better place. And if you do this, if you act just a little kinder than is necessary, someone else, somewhere, someday, may recognize in you, in every single one of you, the face of God.” 


Okay, I've been meaning to read this books since it was a Golden Sower book in 2013-2014.  I finally picked it up because the movie came out and had such good reviews.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but I will when it comes out on DVD.  The book did not disappoint.  If you have an upper elementary kid or middle school kid, this would be the perfect book to read with them!  The This book will be added to my read aloud list for school.

Beartown - Fredrik Backman


“What an uncomfortable, terrible source of shame it is for the world that the victim is so often the one left with the most empathy for others.” 

“The love a parent feels for a child is strange. There is a starting point to our love for everyone else, but not this person. This one we have always loved, we loved them before they even existed. No matter how well prepared they are, all moms and dads experience a moment of total shock, when the tidal wave of feelings first washed through them, knocking them off their feet. It's incomprehensible because there's nothing to compare it to. It's like trying to describe sand between your toes or snowflakes on your tongue to someone who's lived their whole life in a dark room. It sends the soul flying.” 

Amazing!!  This was a heavy book and there were times I had to put the book down because so much was going on and I just wanted to process it all.  The moment I hit the climax of the story though, I couldn't put it down.  The story follows many characters which I love when authors do.  After reading this book I went and put another book by this author on hold at the Library.  I would say it was my favorite book of the month. :)

xoxo,

amanda breazeale