How to Make Easy Chili in the Instant Pot

Yay! We have chilly weather in Florida so it’s time for chili and other delicious hot foods. Please watch my YouTube video to see exactly how I made my chili. It was so yummy and we had plenty to share and had left overs a couple of times. I don’t know about you, but I love good left overs. That means less cooking and clean up for me.

The Ginger Optimist’s Homemade Chili in the Instant Pot

1 lb of ground round

1 large onion, diced

One 28 oz can of Hunts crushed tomatoes

One can of Hot Rotel

One 26 oz can of Tomato Sauce plus one 8 oz can

Four Cans of Organic Dark Red Kidney Beans (I get mine at Aldi)

Two cups of water

Two tablespoons of ground cummin

One and 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder

A sprinkle of Cayenne ground red pepper

Push the saute button on the instant pot. It will take a couple of minutes for the pot to warm up. Now saute onions & garlic with 2 tbsp of avocado oil (or whatever oil you have that is good for high heat) in the instant pot. Add the cumin, cayenne pepper, and chili powder and two cups of water and let it saute for a couple of minutes. Add the ground round to the onions and minced garlic and spices and allow the meat to cook for five minutes. Drain and rinse the beans and put them in the pot and stir well. Add the tomatoes, rotel & sauce and stir.

Turn the instant pot off and then turn on manual mode. Turn the vent knob on top of the lid to sealing. Cook on Manual for 10 minutes and allow to naturally release. When it is ready the little silver button on top will drop down. Open the lid away from you. You can add a light sprinkle of salt if needed.

I like to add a little shredded sharp cheddar cheese and saltine crackers to my chili.

This whole process will take approximately one hour including the release. Believe me, it’s worth it. Enjoy!

Please feel free to like my video and share. What are you cooking in your kitchen this week? Leave me some comments down below.

How to Make Easy Chicken Salad

I absolutely love chicken salad. It’s nutritious and delicious. There’s so many different ingredients you can add to it. Watch the video down below to see my favorite way to make it.

Chicken Salad Recipe:

3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 to 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

Himalayan salt and ground black pepper

Seasoning Mixture: 1/2 tsp of black pepper, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of onion powder (can add up to 1 tsp of each depending on your tastes buds)

1 medium onion chopped

1 to 1 1/2 cups of chopped red seedless grapes

1 to 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped celery

1 cup of chopped pecans

3 tbsp of Mayonaise

Directions:

Put cleaned chicken breasts in your instant pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and then add the seasoning mixture. Cook for 17 minutes on Meat/Stew if chicken is thawed. (You can cook in a crock pot if you don’t have an instant pot.) Self release after the chicken is cooked.

Pull cooked chicken apart and add the other ingredients. You can add more or less of each ingredient depending on your what you like. Better served chilled.

You can serve on bread, crackers, romaine lettuce, or just eat it. Enjoy!

What special ingredients do you add to your chicken salad? Please comment below.

What Season Are You In?

jan at tea farmPicture taken at a Tea Farm in Kenya, Africa

Life is full of seasons. We have exciting, happy seasons and we have dark and gloomy seasons. Sometimes we are in a season of “same ole, same ole” where nothing exciting or bad is going on in our lives. Whatever season you find yourself in, this too will pass. All seasons come and go.

When you find yourself in a dark, gloomy season of life and you don’t know what to do, that is when you hold on to your faith in God with all your might. Remind yourself of times past when things were quite difficult and God came through. Jesus never promised us a life of ease. In fact, he said we will have trouble but to never fear because He overcame the world. (John 16:33)

God allows us to walk through hard times in order to grow our faith and become stronger in Him. During hard times we choose whether we will become bitter or better. If we decide to become better, God will use our pain to reach out to someone later on. When you are going through an extremely difficult season, the person that can most reach you is the one who has already walked a similar path. God doesn’t waste pain. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

There are times that God allows us to go through a tough situation to help us mature in our spiritual walk and bring Him glory. Whatever the situation, you need to know that you are not alone. Remember, everyone goes through seasons. God loves you and still has great plans for your life. Don’t give up. Romans 8:28 says “And we know that all things work together for the good of them that love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  Hang in there and trust God. You may not understand why you are going through what you are going through, but it will all work out for good eventually if you love God. This season will change. Remember, it’s always darkest before the dawn.

My friend, if you are in a difficult season of life, I want to encourage you to cry out to Jesus. He loves you more than you can imagine. He loves you so much that He was willing to die for you.

I’ve been through seasons where I felt so discouraged, so lonely, hurt and confused. It’s always during those times that I’ve grown closest to Jesus. He has always been there for me. If my life was always in the “happy” season, I probably wouldn’t even think too much about God. I would probably just live life for me. I am thankful for the times that have taught me how to cling to God and He’s always brought me through.
If you are going through a tough season and you would like prayer, please feel free to leave me a comment or email me at thegingeroptimist@gmail.com. I will most definitely pray for you.

Organizing my DIY Closet

On a Sunday afternoon while waiting on Hurricane Irma to do her damage I decided to clean and organize my DIY closet. I was able to get my video recorded before losing power. Thank God for His protection. The hurricane went from a Cat 4 (which we were expecting) to Cat 1 before it hit us in central Florida.We lost power but no damage. God is faithful.

Take a look at the video down below. I hope it will encourage you to jump in with both feet and get a closet or room organized.

What project have you got on your to do list?

How to Make Super Easy Salsa

My favorite type of food is Mexican. So my husband took me to my favorite Mexican restaurant the other day for my birthday. While enjoying the salsa I was guessing what the ingredients were in this particular salsa. When our server Edgar came back to our table I asked him what was in it. He began to name everything I had guessed except he didn’t mention sugar or lime juice. So I decided to make my own salsa and it turned out quite tasty. I did check my recipe against one my husband had made several years ago but it was pretty much my own recipe. If you would like to see how I make my salsa feel free to watch my YouTube video. I’ll put the link down below. Is there anything different you add to your salsa? Feel free to leave me a comment. Thanks.

Here’s the recipe:

My Salsa Recipe

28 oz can of organic diced tomatoes

½ to ¾ cup of chopped red onions (your preference)

1 tbsp of olive oil

2 tsp of sugar

1 1/4 tsp of kosher salt

1 1/4 tsp of chili powder

½ cup of chopped cilantro

½ tbsp of minced garlic

Blend half of the chopped onions, half of the chopped jalapenos, olive oil, sugar, kosher salt, minced garlic, and chili powder in your blender.

Hand mix this with the diced tomatoes, cilantro, and the rest of the onions and jalapenos. Add about a tsp of lime juice.

Now eat and enjoy!

Easy Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I absolutely love pizza. Who doesn’t? I had heard about cauliflower pizza crust a few years ago and it always intrigued me. A few months ago I decided to give it a try. Guess what? It is now one of our favorite things to eat. Below is my YouTube video of how to make the crust.

How to make easy cauliflower pizza crust:

1 1lb bag of frozen cauliflower
2 tbsp almond flour
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 egg beaten

Put frozen cauliflower in your vitamix or ninja and blend on medium until it becomes like snow.

Put snow like cauliflower in the microwave in a glass container with lid and microwave for 4 minutes on high.

Put the cooked cauliflower in a tea towel and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then squeeze all the liquid out of the towel. Squeeze it until you can’t get any more liquid out of it.

Put cauliflower in a mixing bowl and add the other ingredients and mix together with a spoon.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put pizza stone in oven and allow it to get hot. Now put the pizza crust on a pre-cut piece of parchment paper that has sprayed with cooking spray. (I use olive oil spray)
Spread the dough into a nice circle. Make sure it isn’t to thick or to thin. Lightly sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes onto your crust.

Place your crust on your hot pizza stone and bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. It should be light golden brown when it is done.

Remove crust from oven and layer the sauce, cheese, and other ingredients on top of pizza crust. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes (until cheese is melted). Allow pizza to cool for 3 to 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

Would love for you to comment below on your favorite toppings for pizza. Have you made cauliflower pizza crust before? What tips do you have?

How to Make Low Sodium Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup has been a favorite of my family for almost 20 years. I have recreated the recipe so many times that I’m not sure of what was even in the original recipe. I vaguely remember it had corn and a different type of beans. But this is my latest version of the soup.

A friend of mine was put on a very strict low sodium diet recently and she asked me to make my soup for her. That is why I created this low sodium recipe. There is no sodium in my black beans since I cooked them from scratch in my instant pot. I used apple cider vinegar and a few other things to give them a good flavor without salt. You can use low sodium beans in the can if you prefer. I will probably make a vlog sometime in the future on how I make my black beans. I have a vlog on my YouTube channel that shows how to make this soup. Go to YouTube and in the search bar type in The Ginger Optimist. You will find my video there. Feel free to hit the subscribe button to follow all of my videos in the future.

My recipe is:

Low Sodium Chicken Tortilla Soup

by Jan McIntyre

Boil 4 to 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts in water (approximately 20 minutes) with one medium chopped onion, a tsp of crushed black pepper, and ½ tbsp of minced garlic. (you can use 1 tsp garlic powder instead)

Reserve broth & onions for soup (about 6 to 7 cups)

Combine:

Cut up cooked chicken (bite size pieces)

Broth and onions

7 to 8 cups of black beans (4 cans)

3 or 4 tbsp of chopped jalepenos

1 can of low sodium cream of chicken soup

1 large can of diced tomatoes (26 oz)

½ tsp chili

¾ to 1 heaping tablespoon of cumin seasoning (to taste)

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp oregano

7 to 8 drops of hot pepper sauce

(Feel free to make this your own by adding more or less of the spices.)

Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 1 hour. Stir often.

Put soup in bowl.

Crush tortilla chips in the bowl of soup. (You can omit chips & cheese if you are on a low sodium diet.)

1 tbsp of plain Greek yogurt. (can use sour cream)

1 to 2 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese.

*You can also put soup together and refrigerate it over night and heat it up the next day. When you do this, you don’t need to simmer it until you are ready to eat it.

What have you found to be helpful in cooking low sodium recipes? Please comment below.

 

Homemade Ice Cream in Just Minutes

There’s nothing like ice cream on a hot summer day or any day really. I have always been an ice cream addict. Now that I am choosing to eat healthier, I rarely eat store bought ice cream. I’ve discovered how to make my own and it’s quick, easy, and delish! What I love about it besides the amazing taste, is that it’s pretty much all natural. You can’t beat that.

If you are interested in seeing how I make it, check out the video below. If you make your own ice cream, what are some of the things you’ve added to make it tasty?

 

Recipe:

1 frozen over ripe banana

20 to 25 frozen sweet dark cherries (depitted)

1 dash of vanilla extract

1 tsp of unsweetended cocoa

1 tbl of almond butter (or peanut butter)

1/4 to 1/3 cup of unsweetened almond & coconut milk

Mix all ingredients in powerful blender (I prefer using my vitamix but my ninja works in a pinch)

Serve it up in an ice cream cone or a bowl.

 

 

 

Love Yourself

It’s so important that we all learn to love and accept ourselves. There is only one you and only you can fulfill your destiny. Don’t allow the negative thoughts you have or what someone else might say hold you back from becoming the most amazing “you” that you can be. You can do so much more than you might imagine. Just the fact that I am now vlogging is proof to me that I can do so much more than what I thought I could.

In the video below I share how I thought I’d been cursed by God with red hair and freckles. Now I’ve learned to embrace who I am and I hope I will be able to encourage others to truly love themselves and embrace their own uniqueness and enjoy being you.

What areas have you struggled with?

How to Organize Your Closet

I enjoy organizing and living in a clutter free environment. It’s a never ending process because when I get a closet or cabinets de-cluttered and organized, it seems like it’s time to start all over again in another area. I won’t complain though because that means I am truly blessed. I have way more clothes and other things than I need.  Below is a video on my master closet after having organized and de-cluttering it. Hope you enjoy the video and maybe it will inspire you to organize your closet too. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments below. By the way, what is your latest de-cluttering and organizing project?