the happy kitchen

I have had an Instant Pot for a couple years now and, admittedly, I have not quite mastered it. For some reason, it just is not one of the appliances I could use everyday. Although, everything that I have attempted to make with the Instant Pot has always come out excellent and surpassed my expectations- soups, stews, and any meat recipes. I never thought I could make pulled pork and pulled chicken, but the Instant Pot makes the process quick and the meat always turns out so incredibly tender. Anything that would normally need to cook and simmer for hours on the stove or in the oven can be done in at least half the time in the Instant Pot. Mind blowing. Instant Pot Beef Stew is one of my go-to recipes that I will use over and over. In fact, it is also the recipe I will recommend first for anyone looking for something to make in the Instant Pot. It is the epitome of a great one-pot recipe. Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe adapted from Well Plated INGREDIENTS 2 lbs boneles...

Based on the latest COVID-19 update, the shelter-in-place order in California is being extended to May 3rd. It is only April 1st. That means another month of managing all this crazy. I went grocery shopping yesterday and I was exhausted upon reurning home. It is a real feat right now, getting out there and getting supplies. My local Trader Joe's was awesome. I appreciated how organized and thorough they are being given the circumstances. There was no line to get in like there has been my past few visits. A woman was wiping down every cart and handed me a wiped cart right away. There was another woman at the entrance who was regulating how many people entered the store at once, closing the door behind every person that entered. She asked me if I needed any toilet paper. I do not buy my toilet paper at TJ's but appreciated her asking. After I got checked out at the register, the woman who rang me up offered me hand sanitizer as I left. "A+" customer service all around....

I follow a girl named Sara Stewart on Instagram [@sara.haven]. I found her account on my discovery page a while ago, probably due to the number of Trader Joe's related accounts that I also follow. However it happened, I'm glad that I stumbled upon her page. Her account is a great follow. She posts a lot of recipes, meal prep ideas, and great pictures of food. She is a very relatable person with very relatable[food] content and I am all about it. She posts a lot of "blender" recipes. Pretty self-explanatory, but all you have to do is throw the ingredients into a food processor or blender to make the batter. Sounds easy enough. I have never tried any of the blender recipes before but always have them bookmarked. In the corner of my kitchen were a couple spotty bananas begging to be used, so I thought today would be a good day to try one of her recipes. I had all the ingredients already, so I saved myself from having to brave the crazy grocery shopping experience for...

So, [my favorite place] Trader Joe's makes a Mediterranean Style Orzo Pasta Salad. It comes in a portioned container in the to-go salad area. I bought it once a lot time ago. It was good. I enjoyed it. But, as I was eating it, I thought about how I paid $4 for one, little portion and I could probably just make it myself. Since then, I never bought it again. Instead, I developed my own version that I like so much better. When I make this, I can get everything I need at Trader Joe's so I am not quite sure what other stores/brands may carry. I have made this orzo salad with fewer ingredients but enjoy this combination the most. With every bite, there is a little bit of everything and it all goes together well. There is no meat in this dish, but the addition of garbanzo beans gives it the protein it needs. Mediterranean Style Orzo Pasta Salad INGREDIENTS: 1 lb. orzo pasta 12 oz marinated artichokes, drained and roughly chopped (about 8.1oz drained) 12 oz. fir...

Bella's fourth birthday was on March 19th. To celebrate we normally would go to Carmel for a weekend around that time. We always eat at Portabella, walk around downtown, get Bella a toy at Diggity Dog, let her swim at the beach, and [of course] celebrate with lots of decorations and cake. We had our annual Bella's Birthday trip planned but canceled it last minute due to the shelter-in-place order. It is one of the best weekends of the year for us, but we decided it was better to be cautious than not. We are really bummed out that we could not go this year- just bad timing. Hopefully, we can reschedule the trip once everything settles down. Poor little Bella. She did not understand what happened to all of her birthday festivities this year. So, today we celebrated her birthday at home. I made her usual peanut butter dog cake and we put up all the decorations for her unicorn-themed birthday party. She got a lot of new toys that she was excited to play with right away. I am sure...

I forgot how long we have been doing this shelter-in-place. I just know it has been long enough that I can't actually tell you for sure the exact day of the week. We are trying to establish somewhat of a routine around here though. I have always been an early riser, so I go to sleep and wake up just as I would on any given day. I still shower, but I may be wearing sweats or "athleisure" more often than not. Currently, our dining table is doubling as our "office workspace" with our laptops side-by-side. After we each make our morning Nespresso, we plug in our earphones and get to work. Ryan is doing actual  work. My work is making this blog happen and doing some continuing education to stay busy. At some point during the day, in addition to taking Bella outside, I will also go to our second bedroom to do a workout so I don't bother Ryan while he is on work calls. I stopped doing my 1000+ piece puzzles daily because it was hard keeping my iPad charged. I felt ...

Do you ever wake up and just feel like baking? No? Just me? Yesterday, I woke up at 7am with an urge to bake something, so I figured it was a good opportunity to bring back another recipe from the vault. Let me tell you how this recipe came to life. It all started way back in 2013. I was already a few years out of college and trying to find my place in the world. In addition to a few part-time jobs, I had just got accepted into dental hygiene school. One of the part-time jobs that I had after college was working as a baker in a small local bake shop. Although it was not the most glamorous job, especially for someone with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics/Chemistry, it reignited my passion for baking and creating in the kitchen. I dedicated any free moment to experimenting with the endless possibilities that I had constantly streaming through my head. My head is a very busy place, filled with baked good dreams wanting to become reality. Welcome to my head space. It's an adven...