Recipes - Disney's in the Desert

Curly Q’s Instant Pot Chicken

September 28, 2021

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Link to my teal Instant Pot – currently on sale $20 off!

So I’ve chatted about this dozens of times on stories, my favorite #dinnerhack is my instant pot chicken. I take frozen boneless skinless chicken (yes, you can really throw frozen chicken into your IP!) and pressure cook it for closer to an hour, and boom! Plenty of chicken to disperse throughout your weekday meals (or lunches!) I love that it’s pretty effortless too.

This is also possible to make in your crockpot. Once you go thru all of the prep steps, just substitute the IP for your slow cooker and set on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4. I make it both ways, depending on how much time I have (or don’t have!😉)

You just need a few things to make the broth and season the chicken. What’s so great about this is it is flavorful, but bland enough to add into your fave homemade or semi homemade meals. Some of my favorite things to incorporate this chicken into are: enchiladas, casseroles, soups, pastas, salads…. I mean, it’s really endless! With my boys going back to school this week, I’m planning a few things I can use this chicken in for their lunches. (Think chicken salad sandwiches, quesadillas, taquitos, etc!) So here’s what you’ll need

Ingredients

A few pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts
A few cups of chicken broth (I eyeball- I just fill it enough to cover the bottom of the pot and then so it’s covering the chicken about a quarter of the way)
A few tablespoons of butter (I eyeball again, and I’m not shy because it adds to the richness of the broth)
Salt
Pepper
Italian seasoning OR garlic salt (I’ve been using Italian seasoning lately and I really love it!)*Make sure your IP is set to SEALING position*

Add your broth to the IP. Add chicken then coat with a little salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Add butter on top of the chicken breasts. Add more salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Set IP to highest setting on manual for 50-55 min (if your chicken is frozen – if you’re using non frozen you probably only need 30-40 min depending). Once your timer goes off, let it naturally release for 5-6 min. Then quick release the rest.

Remove your chicken from the pot and put into a separate bowl. PRO TIP: add a couple of spoonfuls of that delicious broth to your chicken! This helps keep the chicken moist and less dry. Shred and store for your next meal!

I have to admit, this chicken is also really yummy just on it’s own. Some of you may remember one of the first times I made it, my husband came home and literally ate it all — just dipping it into the broth 😆 We’ve both said it really reminds us of Thanksgiving, just hearty and comforting!!!

Let me know if you try this and what you end up incorporating it into!

Homemade Mac & Cheese with Our Place

September 14, 2021

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I’m going to show you how EASY it is to make an amazing, yummy, HOMEMADE mac and cheese that your kids will go wild over!! This could totally be a one pot meal, but I’m using two because I’m adding bacon – but if you’d like no meat or rather add a veggie instead, you can sub that no problem.

Our Place recently launched their Perfect Pot – and let me tell you, it lives up to all of the hype it’s received. It replaces 8 pieces of traditional cookware with just ONE pot. Pretty cool, right? My favorite feature is you can pop the lid on and use the pour spout to drain your water/sauce/juice and you no longer need to use a colander. AH-MAZING!! A mom hack for sure. I also love that you can take it from stovetop to oven (which I do in this recipe!) and it serves as a Dutch oven as well. Get this though…it’s 1/3 the weight of a Dutch oven. I admit, I’ve loved using Dutch ovens in the past for baking especially, but what I did NOT love is the clunky-ness and how heavy my previous ones were. No more over extending yourself moving this one to and from the oven, around the kitchen, etc.

For this recipe, I am using both the Perfect Pot and the Always Pan (if you follow me on IG, you know my love for this pan runs deep too!!!) from Our Place. It is the perfect accompaniments to assemble this easily and conveniently.

Ingredients

16 oz box of elbow macaroni (cooked)

3 c heavy cream

5 tbsp salted butter

1 c milk

1/3 c flour

1/4 tsp paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

2 c mozzarella

3 c colby jack (or cheddar)

1 1/2 c panko bread crumbs

12 oz turkey bacon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Over medium heat, cook your bacon until crispy and then let cool. Once cool, chop into small bits. While you’re doing this at the same time, cook pasta to al dente. When it is done cooking, add olive oil and stir to help pasta not stick.

To make the sauce, add butter to sauce pan (I used the same pan from the bacon, just wiped it down to avoid a ton of dishes and truly make this a 1 pot + 1 pan meal!) and let melt. Then add your flour and whisk out any clumps. Allow it to get golden and bubbly and then add cream and milk. Cook for another 2 min and add salt and pepper and wait until you see bubbles on the surface, then it is time to add your mozzarella and colby/cheddar cheeses gradually.

After that is incorporated (sauce will be thick), I add in the bacon (*or you can add your veggie, other meat, etc).

Stir sauce into your cooled pasta pot until it is all combined and the pasta is coated with the sauce and meat. Add paprika. Next, I melt a little butter (eyeball) and add it the panko (combine in a bowl) and stir together. Sprinkle this over the top of your pasta. I will also eyeball a little of the colby/cheddar and salt and pepper to the top too. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and bubbly. Note: make sure your pasta pot is oven safe. I was not worried about this since I was using my Perfect Pot and that’s what it’s made to do!

This is always a family favorite and very simple for any busy weeknight! Let me know if you try it!!

Ingredients

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