Cooking for kids is a game changer eh? And I only have 1! Kudos to you mamas (and papas! #dontforgetdads) cooking for multiple babies. I never truly appreciated the flexibility I had when it was just me and maybe my husband I was cooking for. Timing didn’t really matter, meltdowns didn’t happen if we ate too close to bedtime, smoothies or salads were a totally fine fall-back option. Add in a baby learning to eat and having to be a little extra thoughtful about making sure our meals fit her stage of eating development just complicates things even further!
Since nutrient-dense, home-cooked meals are the top priority in my house (read: non-negotiable), I have had to figure out some ways to get those kind of meals on the table quickly! My favourite tool for accomplishing this is without a doubt, my Instant Pot. I use it several times a week and honestly don’t know how I would manage without it! Things are usually a little crazy in the mornings, so while I could put dinner in the slow cooker, it goes much more smoothly if I can throw it in the instant pot during her afternoon nap around 1-2ish. (Bonus: you can put frozen meat in it too! So I only sort of have to plan ahead.)
Instant Pot Love
This amazing gadget is especially helpful because the easiest meat for my almost 11-month old to eat, is anything that is shredded or pulled. Chicken thighs, pork shoulder and stewing beef are top choices right now. Considering the fact that it’s the middle of summer, stewing beef doesn’t normally come in to the rotation. But it’s such a great food for her – both developmentally and nutritionally – that I was determined to figure out how to use it in a way that wasn’t just plain ol’ stew!
This recipe for Thai Curry Beef is a typical weekday recipe for me – a non-recipe recipe as I like to call it. A “throw it all in the instant pot and see what happens” recipe. And boy did it turn out delicious! It’s now part of the weekly rotation and we all love it – especially the kiddo!
- 1 cup bone broth
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tbsp green curry paste (I like Aroy D brand)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce (optional, but it takes it to the next level)
- 1-2 cloves of garlic (or 2+ tsp garlic granules/powder)
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 lbs stewing beef (grassfed preferred)
- 4 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- cilantro, for garnish
- green onion, for garnish
- sweet potato noodles, zoodles, cauli-rice or white rice for serving
- Combine broth, onion, curry paste, fish sauce, garlic and salt into the bottom of your slow cooker. Mix well.
- Add in stewing beef. Cook on low all day (minimum 8 hours).
- Stir in ½ cup coconut milk and spinach about 10 minutes before serving. Heat through.
- Serve on sweet potato noodles, zoodles, cauli-rice or white-rice, topped with cilantro and green onion.
- Combine sauce ingredients in bottom of the instant pot.
- Add stewing beef, secure lid. Press "Meat/Stew".
- When done, let it return to pressure naturally and ideally let it sit in warming or slow cooker mode for another hour or so. You can let it sit more if you have the time!
- Stir in ½ cup coconut milk and spinach about 10 minutes before serving. Heat through.
- Serve on sweet potato noodles, zoodles, cauli-rice or white-rice, topped with cilantro and green onion.
My favourite way to enjoy cold-brew is:
I love food and I love to eat. So you would think the whole breastfeeding-eat-all-the-food situation I’m in right now would be heaven. But let me tell you this, getting in enough calories every single day, to maintain my milk supply is really tough! Eating has become a full-time job!