Simple & Convenient Recipes from Survivor Cooking Workshop

A little less than a month ago, Dietitian Lora White and I put together a fun cooking workshop for survivors interested in healthy eating. And by healthy eating… we also mean eating healthy foods that does NOT take a bunch of weird ingredients, nor should it take ALL DAY to get your healthy meal together.

I wanted to share with the group some of the time saving ways that I like to cook healthy foods. Simple & Convenient was our theme! Our idea was that participants would learn simple recipes they can prepare ahead of time so that mealtime is quick. We demonstrated how to use an Instant Pot pressure cooker, and we also made foods that can be made in batches and kept in the fridge or freezer for use later.

I am sure that my followers are also interested in the recipes, so here they are! If I had all the time in the world, I’d have recipe videos for each one. But… there’s only one of me so you’ll have to just make the recipe without my commentary! 😀

The foods we demonstrated were:

• Quick & Easy Homemade Granola (see below for a few alterations I made)
• Boiled Eggs in an Instant Pot (Recipe Below)
• Salad in a Mason Jar with Homemade Dressing
• Make Your Own Rotisserie Chicken in a Crockpot (see below for my comments on how to make it even simpler!)
• Cook BBQ Chicken QUICK in an Instant Pot (Recipe Below – from frozen chicken to the table in 1 hour!)
• No Bake Energy Bites (Recipe Below)

Fruit and Yogurt Parfait with Homemade Granola

Note that I made 2 alterations to the recipe for this workshop. I used 1/4 cup brown sugar, instead of 1/3. And I used molasses instead of honey. It was still just as delicious!

Instant Pot Recipes:

Curious about the Instant Pot? Check out my post here: Instant Pot: What’s the Big Deal?

Boiled Eggs in an Instant Pot

“Boiled” Eggs

• Put 1 cup of water in the instant pot.
• Place eggs on trivet.
• Set on manual for 6 minutes.
• Once done, quick release the pressure, then place eggs in ice bath.
• EAT!

I showed this process on Facebook Live. Check it out!

THE PROCESS

THE END PRODUCT!

(Side note… I think my west coaster turned southerner self is sounding more southern by the year, ha!)

Cook BBQ Chicken QUICK in an Instant Pot

“BBQ” Chicken from frozen to cooked in 1 hour!

• Combine 2/3 cup BBQ sauce, 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar) – mix and pour into pot.
• Place frozen chicken in pot. I estimate about 3 pounds. (I use boneless skinless chicken thighs but you could use breasts).
• Set on manual for 30 minutes.
• Once done, allow for natural pressure release for 15 minutes. Then quick release any pressure that’s left and remove lid.
• Break apart chicken with 2 forks to make sure it’s done and mixed with the sauce. If desired, add frozen spinach or other veggies and use saute function to heat the veggies with the chicken and sauce.
• Enjoy with rice, rolls, potatoes or anything else you like!

Chef Malena’s Balsamic Vinaigrette

Salad in a Jar

I used Chef Malena’s dressing to do the workshop.  I also often make my vinaigrette using the Pampered Chef Measure Mix and Pour.

Make Your Own Rotisserie Chicken in a Crockpot

Here’s a link to the original recipe I used. However, when I’m in a big hurry, I’ve even just put onions on the bottom of the crockpot, dropped in the chicken (3-4 pounds), salt and pepper the top and turn it on! Poultry seasoning would also be an easy solution.

Seriously…. it just cooks itself!! No added fluids needed. And it’s so tender, it just falls off the bone.

Here’s what it looks like when it’s done:

Once you’ve got your chicken done, you can eat some for the meal, and then the extras can be shredded or chopped and frozen, or used in other recipes. You can use your leftover chicken in a chicken salad, chicken stew, white bean chicken chili or chicken tortilla soup.

No Bake Energy Bites

From Holly Clegg’s Eating Well Through Cancer Cookbook (a prize we gave to all participants in the workshop). You can visit her website here.

Makes 20-25 balls

• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, optional
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In medium bowl, stir together all ingredients until thoroughly mixed. We used this mini scoop (also a giveaway to participants!) to scoop them into ice cube trays (I use these ones with lids!) and then put them in the freezer for 20 minutes.
2. Once chilled, pup them out of the ice cube trays into a plastic bag or freezer safe container. I keep them in the freezer!

TIME SAVING TIP!

If you want to save yourself time, you can pre-pack freezer safe containers with the dry ingredients for energy bites. Keep them in the freezer all ready to just pull out, add the PB, honey, and vanilla. I use this same strategy for granola, so all I have to do is pull out the bag with the dry ingredients already mixed and measured, then mix the wet ingredients and bake!

Most of the ingredients for the energy bites and the granola are available at Costco. I get oats, chocolate chips, nuts, flaxseed meal, PB, honey, and vanilla all at Costco for a great unit price. The coconut is the only thing I need to get at the regular grocery.

I hope you enjoy these ideas!!

–  Julie