The Salty Truth

If we are real life friends then you know that I am somewhat of a podcast junkie. I like to keep busy. I am not sitting very often. This summer I became hooked on True Crime. Coach bought me a nice pair of wireless headphones so that when I am listening to something, the entire house is not also listening. I've also pushed Spotify music to the side and replaced it with a podcast while I run.

You will usually find me listening to a True Crime series or a Dateline episode. (Which is a horrible idea if you are running through town by foot might I add.) It's not True Crime, but I wanted to share my most recent love: The Salty Truth. 

This is what I like to call, "Think Better, Do Better." This week's episode was all about setting goals and why we NEED to set them. It is not often I find a "Think Better, Do Better" podcast that I can hang on to every word or think, "YES! I totally needed to hear that!" after each episode. This is one. This podcast just makes me BETTER.

"Telling people you don't need to set goals is like saying, "No, I don't need to be a better person." 

So take that as a punch in the throat if you were negative to someone who was talking about their goals for 2020. 

Sorry Not Sorry. 

Episodes are short and sweet. You can rock through an episode in about 30 minutes. (While you cook dinner and ignore the eighty requests for a snack. Just me?)  I suggest you keep your journal open and ready for a quick note or two while you listen. It's good stuff.

You can find this podcast on any place you get your podcasts. (I use Apple.)

A quick question for podcast listeners: When you are listening, do you find yourself googling the people in the podcasts? I FOR sure do this.

Well... For The Salty Truth....  I actually know the voice. I know the person. He's kinda famous. He's our lead pastor at our church.

Makes me love it even more.

If you go listen this week, let me know what you think. I have no doubt you'll hit subscribe.

Love love,
C^2

My Favorite Pressure Cooker Dinner

Mongolian Beef and Broccoli 

I made a post one evening about my go to dinner recipe to cook in the Foodi. I had about 50 messages asking for the recipe. Then life happened. By life I mean: back to school, new grade, Calla in Pre-K, FOOBALL... the list goes on. This has been a draft for 5 months. My 2020 goal is to publish more blogs. So this is first out of the draft box.

I want to start by saying my photos are simple Iphone photos. I am just using them because I like photos when I make a new recipe.

 I should take a moment to give a plug for my favorite clean/ Whole30 blogger. She has the most beautiful content, food pictures, and she is a true blogger. Check out Healthy Little Peach. I feel like Mac and I are besties. I adore her that much. This recipe is FROM her, I just made a few changes to fit my kitchen needs. All credit should go to her.


Now for the dinner. It is super clean. Whole30 approved. Easy. Quick. Cheap. Plus you can use your pressure cooker to make it. I promise it will be on your family's weekly go to menu. I should also add that this is husband approved. Coach will actually request it. I don't let Calla eat beef too much. She will have something different when I make this, but I do give her the veggies and broth. She likes that part of the dinner. Beef just isn't her fave.

Let's get started.

What You Need: 
Beef cut into small long pieces. (Publix will cut this for you. I hate cutting meat.)
1/4 cup of oil
2 tablespoons of minced garlic

Broccoli
Fresh mushrooms
One onion diced
3 cups of beef bone broth
1 cup of liquid aminos (This will replace soy sauce.)
1 tablespoon of arrowroot flour
1/4 cup of water
Garlic salt
Salt
Pepper
(I measure no spices. Sorry.)

What You Do: 
Before I begin I like to chop my broccoli and roast it in a pan for 10 minutes in the oven. I think the broccoli cooks better in the pressure cooker if it is precooked in the oven first. You do not have to do this at all. I just love the flavor of roasted broccoli. This could be your first step. Or leave it out.

Turn your cooker on "Sear/ Saute."
Cover the bottom with an oil of your choice. (I use avocado.)
Add a tad of garlic and let the pan warm up.

Once you have a nice sizzle, add your beef and let the beef cook for 2 minutes. You may have to do this in small batches. This is fine. You will add all of the beef to the pressure cooker in just a minute.

Next you are going to add all of your beef back to the cooker. Then add your liquids. Stir all of the contents together.

Add your spices and stir.

Now add your veggies. I will clean out the fridge for this: mushrooms/ onions/ peas and carrots/ whatever you have. On this day I had mushrooms, onions, and broccoli.

Put your lid on the pressure cooker. Set on HIGH PRESSURE for 18 minutes. (Make sure you have your vent closed.)

While that is cooking, (this is a clean eating secret) you will want to add a tablespoon of Arrowroot flour to 1/4 cup of water. Mix this. (This will make your broth thick like a sauce when your beef is done cooking. This is going to replace corn starch. You can find this flour at any grocery store. Bob's brand is my favorite.)

After the 18 minutes you can release the pressure. Open your lid, add your flour and water mixture. Stir all of the contents. It will thicken up in about 45 seconds.

Plate your meal and enjoy. If I have cauliflower rice that needs cooking I will add this as well at the end. No need to do that though, because this is plenty filling and full of veggies and great protein. 

This has replaced my method of cooking Mongolian beef. I ONLY use this recipe now. It is THAT good and very easy. 

I Wanna Be An Influencer

I have a loopy case.(It's truly amazing. I never drop my phone) I own Spanx leggings. (Literally have 3 pair, and live in them. Best mom pants ever.)  I use a Billie razor. (It's good. I really just love that it is cheap and sent to the house monthly.)  I am pretty much influenced by the fine people on the internet. I will be the first to admit this. However... something is just...... missing. I want to be that something.

What's missing to me? The influence to be.... something different. 

To read the Bible. Not fake/ outdated news posts on Facebook. 

To journal. 

To cook more meals at home. 

Take a friend a homemade frozen dinner. (Or spaghetti dinner. ) 

To add crazy spices to all of your veggies to make even the pickiest husbands and 4 year olds love them. 

Binge read a book series. 

To try different foods, enjoy grocery shopping, and enjoy the food prep process.

Listen to a podcast. Or 10. 

 To meal plan with a good old actual cookbook. 

To go for a long run rather than calling someone to gossip. 

 To use that crockpot weekly. Maybe even more than once a week. 

To sit at the table with friends and family and share delicious meals and even better conversations.

To not schedule yourself so thin that dinners are nonexistent. 

Where are these people? Why can't we swipe up for this feature? Can we make a change?

Share your healthy dinner posts. Share your grocery lists with friends. Tell me what you're packing in your kid's lunchbox. (Over here it is some pepperoni. We are obsessed.)

I am the first to want more from myself. Do you? Do you want a change?

Edited To Add: 

I sat at the computer for three days and worked on this post. I didn't want it to sound like I was pointing fingers at others for NOT doing these things. I am not at all. I'm actually pointing fingers at myself. I am guilty. I am wanting to change. 

Love love,
C^2

Must Have

*All if the items that are linked are affiliate links. All opinions are my own.  I do receive a small amount of commission for the links provided. 

Fun fact. The recent tanning blog has more hits than the kitchen blog. Ha. Y'all must like some tanning and not so big on the cooking.

So if that is you... may want to come back tomorrow. Today I am sending some love to all of the kitchen loving gals here on the dot com.

I usually don't tell myself "No" when it comes to a purchase for my kitchen. I feel that I spend so much time in here that I will use whatever I buy. That may be why this came home with me yesterday...

It wasn't until recently that I absolutely fell in love with cooking. I am slightly obsessed with cooking healthy meals for the Cain fam. I want something that is done in 20 minutes, delicious, and made with ingredients that I can pronounce.

If you are going to treat yourself to a new kitchen tool, here are some that I use regularly.


A sweet friend sent me a picture of her zoodles. My heart was so full of love and pride. Then I saw the price she paid for those sweet little noodled veggies. WOW! DO NOT. I repeat: DO NOT but your veggies pre-cut. I promise it takes two minutes tops to cut your own and clean up. I LOVE this zoodler. It is very simple to use and actually works. I tossed several $4.99 TJ MAXX hand held ones before I just ordered this one. It's under $25.00 so you really can't go wrong. We eat zoodles weekly.
If you are keto, Whole 30, or just like to have more veggies on the table, you will use this often. Promise.

I asked Santa for this item for Calla's first Christmas. I knew I didn't want to use baby food out of a jar and I researched making my own so I wanted a tool that I would use for baby food as well as afterwards. Spoiler alert: I made food for about 2 weeks then just went with solids. BUT... this purchase has been well worth it. I use it every morning to make a shake/ smoothie. I use it again at night to rice my own cauliflower. We seriously love it so much that we have given it as a gift and convinced every person in our family to get one. Plus, Ninja just has my whole heart. I love love love them and their company. (Yo, Ninja.... feel free to throw some partnerships my way!)

For the next item I literally asked Coach, "What is something you see me use all the time in the kitchen?" His reply: this. He is right. I use this weekly because we love ground beef. Tacos. Spaghetti. Chili. (Just brown it and eat it out of the pan?) I love this so much I gave it as my gift this Christmas when I hosted a favorite things party. What did I do without this?

I also love these. They work with every Yeti lid we have. They keep me from using plastic straws. For some reason I drink more water when I use a straw. Strange? Probably.

Remember when I said we cook every night just so we can have leftovers for lunch the next day?  I went ahead and made the switch to these. I haven't switched all of our dishes, but we really LOVE the ones we do have. I need to purchase a set of bigger ones.

There you have it... What I am using most in my kitchen! What should I add? Do you have a go to item that you love? I am in the market for some great knives!

If you missed my other post on my absolute FAVORITE items in the kitchen: visit that here! You can't go wrong with either of these!

Love love,
C^2

Say NO To Tanning

*Links provided are affiliate links. I do receive a small amount of commission for each link. All opinions are my own. 

So. Many. People ask about my tanning machine. I decided to give all of the details here.

3 years ago I gave up tanning 100%. No more tanning beds. I still wanted a tan... so I did some research and bought THIS spray tanning system.

It really is perfect. I spray weekly and it is amazing just to have it in my garage. I also spray friends that want a tan. I know the machine is kinda $$. ( I always kinda hate linking things because then Coach knows...) 


This is also the hands down try this. best solution to buy. It is the perfect color for all skin types. You can youtube videos and teach yourself how to use it. So simple. Truly worth every single penny!
You do use this solution with the machine.

BUT.... if you just want a quick tan in a can... and don't really want to invest the $$ in the system: I have used ALLLLL things self tanning and this is a great quick option.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

*I have included Amazon links for all of the products. They are affiliate links however all of the opinions are my own. I promise I use these items daily! 
I could start this blog by saying "I have had a ton of DMs asking me about the kitchen tools and gadgets I use in the kitchen each night...."

But this would sound way too professional and way too much like Instagram fame. Honestly, I am a teaching wife and mama that is simply looking to cook amazing meals for my family that are:
a) easy
b) healthy
c) delicious
d) did I mention easy? Must be super easy.

I do get several comments and questions asking about what I use to cook meals and how I keep them easy and under 20 minutes... and someone may be in the market for something to make their life a tad easier around 5pm every night. For this reason I have decided to give you the official Carley Cain opinion of my 2 most used kitchen tools.

One.
May I introduce the OG Ninja product. 2 years ago my 3rd Crockpot brand crockpot died. This was the 3rd one I purchased since being married. I was just about mad about it but went to purchase another because... duh... crockpots are life. I was in the store and found THIS with a clearance sticker on it. I instantly put it in the cart and never looked back. Ninja is literally my favorite product brand because their customer service is simply the best. (Betttterrrr than alllll the ressst.)

I use this wonderful tool 3-4 nights a week. It has a setting that can make it a stove top as well. This is perfect for soups. It brings them to a boil in no time. The clean up is seriously so easy. I don't even need the liner bags anymore because it is so easy to clean.

You can turn it on whatever temp you want, adjust the time, and after that cooking time it will automatically switch to "keep warm" and will not burn your food. Promise.  I love this thing like it is a child. Seriously, it is just perfect.

If you are in the market for a wedding gift/ birthday gift/ treat yo'self gift... this would be the first thing I add to my kitchen. I will likely never buy any other brand again for my kitchen.

Two.
This year the Instapot became a hot hot item. I will be the first to admit that I was terrified of the pressure cooker world. If anyone could mess this up... it would be me for sure! Plus, I LOVE my Ninja slow cooker. I really had no need for another appliance.

Then came the air fryer. This was something I knew I needed in my life. I spent a few months researching and then Ninja (my favorite company) released an appliance that was a pressure cooker and then an air fryer all in one. WHAT? Sounds perfect. One day I was riding with Coach and I was watching a YouTube video of a guy using the Ninja Foodi. Coach said, "You need that! Buy it!" So that afternoon I ordered it. We have loved it from day one! If I am not using the slow cooker, I am using this. If you are thinking of buying the pressure cooker... then you should consider this. We LOVE the air fryer option.

Here is the deal: You can cook frozen wings in 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. Then change the lid to make it the air fryer. You spend the next 10 minutes making your food crispy to perfection. It is an all in one system. It is a bit of an investment, but so so so worth it.


Those are the two most used appliances in my kitchen. They make dinner a breeze during the weeknights.

I have also LOVED this book. It was a gift from Mom and we have LOVED every meal we have made from it. It is also pretty simple to use any pressure cooker recipes you may have.

As always,
Love love
C^2

How Does Your House Run

I had about 43 seconds today where I was just scrolling the internet on my phone and I found a very interesting survey. I really wish I saved where I found the survey, but now I can't find the direct link. I would love to give them credit. So for the record: I did not make this survey. I just really found it interesting to see how other families function. What is "normal?" Am I normal? Crazy? Perfect mix of both? Here are my answers:

How Does Your House Run:
1. How many people?
Three people and two weims that have absolutely no idea they are indeed NOT people. Don't tell them.

2. Average spent on groceries?
Eeeehhhh..... $500 for the month. I'd like to explain this. We eat most meals at home. We also do not EVER eat our for lunch during the week unless it is a special treat. I also cook with a ton of fresh fruits, veggies, and meats. Not a ton of junk... so I think my bill is pretty decent.


3. Own or rent?
Own. Absolutely NOTHING wrong with renting. I totally 1000% believe in renting until you find something you love.

4. How often is laundry done?
Daily.
Coach does the laundry around here. Sometimes I do it... but that's mostly his thing. He doesn't like clothes in the hamper. Husband jackpot for real.

5. Split household chores?
For sure. I would say that I am the only one that cleans bathrooms, but Coach is the only one that takes care of the yard and outside.

6. Who does bedtime routine with kids?
We split that too. While one is doing the bath and bed, the other is cleaning the kitchen, packing lunches, and walking the Weims.

7. How do you clean your floors?
Shelly the Shark. :)

8. Who does the grocery shopping?
Wal-Mart on Sundays, whole family, after church.
Or I go. Fun fact: I LOVE the grocery store. It is kinda my "me time" so I do not mind going.

9. How often do you go out to eat?
We have a 2019 goal of going out to eat less than 5 times per month. This will totally change during football season, but right now we are rocking it.

10. Paper plates and plastic silverware, or real?
Y'ALL.... I can't stand paper plates. Seriously. Hate them. I just LOVE my real dishes. We run our dishwasher daily, but we do not ever buy paper. The only time we usually use paper is for a party or celebration... and usually I still try to use my real dishes.


What's your normal?

Love love,
C^2