Another video of one of my go-to Instant Pot recipes! When I first started meal prepping paleo recipes over six years ago, my biggest problem was how do I eliminate all these delicious sauces!? BBQ, honey mustard, ketchup... do I really need to purchase an expensive paleo sauce every time I want a healthier version of these? Eventually I found that this was not the case whatsoever, but instead I could make my own versions pretty easily. However, I have tried my fair share at making my own BBQ sauces, and most involve a blender and a lot of ingredients. After discovering this recipe below though, I have never attempted making a different one. This BBQ chicken recipe is SO simple and I always have these ingredients stocked just in case I need to whip up something quick for meal prep. When purchasing apple butter, balsamic vinegar, and blackstrap molasses, check the ingredients listed on the label! There should NOT be any added sugars or coloring whatsoever. Take the time to look at the different brands and labels on the shelf. Trust me, there is always one or two that are far more superior then the rest 😊. If you checked out the video by now you should already know that prepping and making this BBQ Pulled Chicken is easy peasy. I have also experimented with pouring the sauce in at the beginning (instead of water) and letting the chicken cook in the sauce. This is a perfectly fine option to do as well, but I do think pouring it over at the end provides more flavor. You also may have noticed that I used over 5lbs of chicken in the video, which typically means I'll increase the sauce ingredients some as well - just depends on how saucey you like it. Let me know if you give this one a try and how you like it!

​Homemade BBQ Pulled Chicken
Ingredients:

• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used chicken breasts)
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup apple butter, with no sweetener added (check ingredient label! I found this Tap 'n Apple at the generic local grocery store)
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons sea salt

Directions:

1. Add the chicken, salt, granulated garlic, and water in the Instant Pot®.
2. Close and lock the lid. Press MANUAL for high pressure. Set cooking time to 25 minutes. Once the time is up, quick release the pressure (using the instructions on page 7).
3. Pour out as much water/broth as you can. Reserve the broth for future soup making, if desired.
4. Whisk the apple butter, balsamic, molasses, garlic, ginger, and salt together. Pour over cooked chicken with remaining juice.
5. Press the SAUTÉ button on the Instant Pot®. Let the chicken and sauce simmer to evaporate some of the juices. Once some of the liquid has evaporated, CANCEL the sauté function. Shred the chicken, if desired, before serving.

Original recipe found here

​About this recipe though... I wrote in parenthesis below, but I will typically increase the chicken amount to anywhere between 6-7 lbs since I am meal prepping for 3 people, and I love having extra for dinner when needed. If you don't need that much chicken though, just use the suggested 2.5-3 lbs as the recipe calls for below. No need to adjust anything else, although sometimes since I have so much chicken I'll increase the oil and spices some. This is a low fat and carb chicken recipe, so it definitely needs to be paired with a carb and vegetable of your choice, which you can then load with more fat according to your goals. I typically bake sweet potatoes to go with this buffalo chicken, and will roast some broccoli with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and salt to complete the meal. If you need even more fat, I suggest increasing the coconut oil in the buffalo chicken, throwing some ghee or nut butter on your sweet potato, definitely using EVOO (or bacon fat 🥓) to saute or roast your vegetable of choice in, or top everything with a fried egg or two. The options are endless! This meal is typically what I eat before I head to the gym, so it's higher protein and carb, and low fat. If all this macro talk is going over your head though, don't pay any attention to it. The point of this post is to show how incredibly easy bulk making something delicious for your lunches all week is. That knocks out one meal on track everyday! If you are looking for more specific guidance then check out the nutrition coaching tab and send me a message!

Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:

• 2.5 - 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use closer to 6 lbs)
• 1 bottle hot sauce (I used PaleoChef Wing Sauce, or you can simply use Frank's RedHot Original as well!)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne
• 6 sweet potatoes (or however many you need)
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water to create a slurry*
• Chopped green onions, for serving

Directions:

1. Place the chicken in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
2. Place coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Microwave until the coconut oil is melted (about 45 seconds), then stir until smooth.
3. Mix the the hot sauce, salt, garlic powder, and cayenne in with the coconut oil.
4. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the Instant Pot, place the vent to “sealing” position, and set it on manual for 25 minutes.
5. While the chicken is cooking you can bake the sweet potatoes: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, then place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending upon the size of your sweet potato. (I always buy large ones, so they can take me anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half to bake.)
6. When the chicken is finished cooking, you can either use the natural or quick stream release method. Shred the chicken inside the pot (it easily shreds when I press down on the chicken with my wooden spatula).
7. Once the chicken is shredded and while the sweet potatoes are baking, mix the arrowroot starch and 1 tablespoon water together to create a slurry.* Add it to the liquid in the Instant Pot, and mix around to combine. Put the Instant Pot on "Saute" mode and continue to mix the chicken around every so often until sauce thickens and reduces.
8. Split open the sweet potatoes, then top with the Buffalo chicken, and green onions. Enjoy!

Notes:
*You don't absolutely need the arrowroot starch - it just helps thicken the sauce some. If you do not use it, you can still put the cooked chicken on "Saute" mode in your Instant Pot to thicken the sauce. It usually takes me around 10 minutes when I don't use the arrowroot starch.

Original recipe found here

As the name suggests, this was just a simple meal prep recipe to throw together over a very busy weekend. I loved this slow cooker chicken because it had very little prep, and all I had to do was make sure I bought the chicken and red onion ahead of time. I quickly sliced the red onion, then seasoned the chicken, and put everything in the crockpot on high for 4 hours. Easy peasy, and done in under 8 minutes. I made sure to get this in the crockpot before my busy day started, so when I got home it was almost done. This chicken recipe is a great one to prepare in bulk, have ready in your fridge throughout the week, and dress up multiple meals however you please -- top it on a salad; throw it in a casserole, soup, or omelette; heat it up with some rice/riced veggies; dress it with your favorite BBQ, buffalo/hot sauce, mustard, salsa; or make a chicken salad out of it. The possibilities are endless with this basic shredded chicken. Anyways though, since I had this incredibly simple chicken, I decided to find a delicious yet not too difficult vegetable recipe to pair with it. These balsamic brussels sprouts were exactly what I was looking for and they turned out tasting amazing! I will definitely be making these a lot moving forward. Last thing I will note is that I just threw a bunch of sweet potatoes in the oven to bake while I did various chores around the house. If you have a two-hour period at home, then why not throw some potatoes in the oven to bake and have ready for your week!? I just set a timer on my phone, so I'm reminded to get them out of the oven. There you go. A super simple and basic meal prep. 

Simple Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe 
Ingredients:

• 4 bone-in, skin on chicken breasts (I used a little over 2 lb of boneless instead)
• 2 red onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp. chilli powder
• 1/2 tbsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the chili powder, paprika, and garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Rub the chicken breasts with the chili powder mixture.
3. Arrange the onions in a single layer at the bottom of the slow cooker.
4. Place the chicken breasts on top of the bed of onions, and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.
5. Brush the chicken breasts with the liquid from the bottom of the slow cooker and serve.

Original recipe found here


Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of Brussels sprouts (approximately 4 cups)
• 1 TBSP olive oil *if more liquid needed try 1 TSP of veg or chicken broth!
• 1-2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
• 1- 2 garlic glove smashed
• pinch of hot pepper flakes (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Clean and cut Brussels sprouts in 1/2.
2. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil.
3. Add Brussels sprouts and toss in all other ingredients.
4. Cook at 425 degrees until they are caramel and golden in color.

Original recipe found here

​I tend to like my chili and soup less liquidy and more meaty, but I really enjoyed this one as-is! All I did was increase the chicken amount to 2.5 lbs and I added three bags of frozen riced cauliflower at the end. I also did not use white sweet potatoes, but regular orange ones instead, and I should have followed the note below a little better. If you use orange sweet potatoes, dice into 1" chunks, or even slightly larger, because they do get extremely soft! I actually used the slow cooker for this one too, not the Instant Pot, and it always reminds me that I need to slow down. While the Instant Pot is faster, it also makes my meal preps a little more crazy since I'm rushing to get everything done. With the slow cooker you just throw it all in the pot early in the day, go do what you need to do, and come take care of it 4-8 hours later. It's the perfect meal prep helper and allows you to still take care of all the other things on your to-do list, or those other things you would rather be doing instead of meal prep. Anyways, this chili was light, delicious, and comforting, so I'll definitely bring it back once the colder weather starts to hit. 

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili with Sweet Potato 
Ingredients:

• 2-2.5 lbs organic boneless chicken breasts
• 2 large white or Japanese sweet potato peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks about 3 cups*
• 2 cups homemade bone broth or sugar free broth/stock
• 4 oz can diced green chiles
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh jalapeños
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper more or less depending on your spice preference
• 1 small yellow onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried cilantro or 1 tbsp fresh minced
• 1 tbsp organic ghee clarified butter
• 1/2 cup coconut cream**
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast - optional (I omitted this)

Directions:

1. Place the chicken in the slow cooker and top with sweet potato cubes, broth, green chilis, jalapeño, onion and garlic, salt and all the spices (you will leave out the last 4 ingredients for now) Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours. I use a programmable slow cooker which makes timing things very convenient!
2. After the cook time is complete, remove the chicken to a large dish and set aside. Add the ghee, coconut cream, lime juice, and nutritional yeast to the slow cooker and stir well to combine.
3. Cover and cook on high for 20 minutes.
4. During this time, shred the chicken with two forks, then add it back to the slow cooker after 20 minutes and continue to cook 10 more minutes on high.
5. Serve with avocado, extra cilantro or chives. Enjoy!

Notes:
*If you can't find a white sweet potato, a common orange one will be fine, just cut into 1" inch chunks since they're a bit softer.
**Coconut cream is the solid part in a can of refrigerated coconut milk. You can buy full fat coconut milk and use only the thick part, or purchase a can of coconut cream only.

​Original recipe found here

Showing you guys how simple and easy it is to make a nutritious and delicious breakfast casserole for your week with very little prep on your part! My good friend makes these casseroles like every week for breakfast, and I never realized how much easier it was to just use pre-prepared frozen vegetables, so I am spreading the word. All you need to do is go to the store, pick out 1 lb of your favorite ground meat (I chose 365 Pork Breakfast Sausage), 2 bags of your favorite pre-prepared frozen vegetables (I chose Stahlbush Sweet Potatoes and Cascadian Farm Riced Cauliflower Blend - Bell Peppers & Onions), a carton of eggs, and unsweetened coconut or almond milk (I used So Delicious Coconut Milk Sugar Free Original). Only 5 ingredients, plus some spices! Next, take your frozen veggies out in the morning to thaw, or let them thaw out while you make your lunches for the week. When you're ready to make the casserole, just cook your 1 lb of meat on the stove top until done. Then, oil your casserole dish, and throw in your cooked meat with your frozen veggies. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and spices together, then pour over the meat and veggie mixture. Last, bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, and done! This casserole makes 6 servings, and with the specific ingredients that I used (mentioned above), each serving had 17g Fat, 13g Carbs, and 23g Protein.

Unsure about where to start with changing your health and lifestyle around? Setting aside 20 minutes of prep time to make a super easy breakfast casserole (like this one) is all I recommend for now! You now have a pre-made delicious and satisfying breakfast full of whole food sources to start your days for the next week. Pick ONE daily habit (or meal) to change, and implement! Only ONE! No need to do anything more until you have consistently implemented that ONE daily change overtime, and are confident you secured it's spot into your life. Focusing on less helps you achieve more. Reach out if you need help or have any questions! 

​Easy Paleo Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients:

• 1 pound Italian sausage or breakfast sausage (no added sugar)
  • (I  like to use Jones Dairy Farm Pork Sausage found in Wegman's frozen meat section, or 365 Pork Breakfast Sausage from Whole Foods) 
• 2 bags of Frozen Veggies (below is a list of my favorites):
  • ​Stahlbush Sweet Potatoes 
  • ​Stahlbush Colorful Sweet Potatoes 
  • Cascadian Farm Fire Roasted Sweet Potatoes
  • Cascadian Farm Root Vegetable Hashbrowns (Yukon Gold Potatoes, Carrots, & Sweet Potatoes)
  • Cascadian Farm Riced Cauliflower Blend (Bell Peppers & Onions)
  • Cascadian Farm Riced Cauliflower Blend (Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Kale)
  • Green Giant Riced Cauliflower 
  • Green Giant Riced Veggies Cauliflower & Sweet Potato 
  • Green Giant Riced Veggies Cauliflower with Lemon & Garlic
  • Green Giant Riced Veggies Cauliflower Medley
  • Green Giant Riced Veggies Cauliflower & Broccoli
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut milk or almond milk (no added sugar) 
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Directions:

1. Take frozen bags of vegetables out of freezer to thaw.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Cook and crumble sausage. Drain excess grease and set aside.
4. If your vegetables are still pretty frozen and you wish to cook them some first, throw some ghee or coconut oil in the skillet, and toss the vegetables until soft. However, if your vegetables have thawed out enough you can skip to the next step.
5. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish with ghee or coconut oil. Pour all vegetables and cooked sausage into the dish, and mix around evenly. 
6. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper (a few shakes of each), garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour evenly over sausage mixture.
7. Bake for 45 minutes, or until eggs are cooked.

Inspired by this recipe here

I had this one saved for a while and decided it was finally time to give it a try. Not sure if that is a meal prep hack or not, but I'll make it a point just in case it helps anyone out... Whenever you come across a recipe you think you'd enjoy, save the link! Soon enough you will have a list to go through for those times you can't figure out what to cook or need an idea quickly. Although you can also just visit my blog and search through there too haha. Anyways, I absolutely love the cashew chicken meal and this recipe was a winner since it didn't include a bunch of sugar and other unnecessary ingredients. This meal also turned out SO amazing! I doubled the chicken, used 3 peppers, and 5 oz of cashews, then increased the sauce ingredients slightly, but I definitely wish I doubled that part. Everything was made in one pan and I heated up the cauliflower rice on the side while the chicken was cooking. Simple as that! This recipe will no doubt be my go-to cashew chicken recipe in the future. 

Paleo Cashew Chicken 
Ingredients:

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 1/3 cups raw whole cashews
• 1 large bunch scallions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons arrow root powder (instead of 1 tablespoon cornstarch)
• 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

For the Sauce:

• 1/3 cup coconut aminos 
• 1/4 cup coconut vinegar (instead of rice vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons of raw honey (instead of sugar)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat a large deep skillet to medium high. Add the coconut oil and once melted, add the red bell pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes to softened. Then scoop out the bell pepper.
2. Sprinkle the arrow root powder and salt over the cut chicken pieces and toss to coat. Add the chicken to the skillet. Stir and saute for 5-8 minutes until the chicken is mostly cooked through and seared on the outside.
3. Meanwhile, whisk all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. Once the chicken is mostly cooked, add the sauce to the skillet and stir. Add the red bell peppers and cashew to the skillet. Once the sauce starts to simmer, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer another 3-5 minutes to thicken.
4. If the sauce tightens up too much, add a little water to loosen it. Turn the heat off and add the chopped scallions. Serve warm with Cauliflower Rice or regular rice.

Original recipe found here

Not the most quality picture, but this is an important meal prep post so keep reading! This is the one blog post you should definitely bookmark, well besides the main LiveSqueezy page of course. Here are my recipes for the super easy meal prep we all resort to when we don't feel like cooking. First, the classic slow cooker shredded chicken. This chicken can be a little bit tastier with a little cooking fat, chopped onion and garlic, and a few spices. Now you have a ton of plain shredded chicken that you can dress up however you want throughout the week, or throw into the freezer to have ready whenever you need. Ideas for dressing up plain shredded chicken:

• Mix with your favorite BBQ, buffalo/hot sauce, mustard, salsa, etc.
  (My favorites: coconut aminos, mustard, balsamic vinegar, Tessemae's Paleo sauces, Steve's Paleo Good's (love the Wing sauce), The New Primal marinades, or Primal Kitchen sauces and marinades.) Also, check out this EASY Buffalo Chicken!
• Make a chicken or egg salad
  (Mix with avocado and/or together with the yolk(s) from a hard boiled egg. Here's a recipe for inspiration. Primal Kitchen Mayo is also a good pair for chicken salad.)
• Simply just top it on your favorite salad
• Throw it in a soup, omelette, casserole, or with rice/cauliflower rice 
  (This Buffalo Chicken casserole and Fried Cauli Rice are my favorites!)

Hopefully those ideas get your mind going and you came up with even more creative ideas that you enjoy. Feel free to post your own ideas and tips below to help others too (and myself)!

For this week's meal prep I simply dressed my shredded chicken with Steve's PaleoChef Peach BBQ sauce since I already had a bottle in the kitchen. The next easiest bulk meal prep recipe to make is this pressure cooker sweet potato mash. If you are someone who likes to meal prep, cook in bulk, or just save time in the kitchen, then the pressure cooker is absolutely worth the investment. Anyways, I have now posted this sweet potato mash recipe way too many times, which is the biggest indicator that it's not only my favorite, but it's also extremely efficient, simple, and delicious. Although I post it a lot, I try to vary it up slightly each time. This week I added some garlic cloves into the mix (I know, huge difference). You can play around with this recipe by adding different spices and cooking fats, or adding coconut milk or unsweetened applesauce at the end. You can also add in other vegetables/squashes, like cauliflower or butternut squash, to roast in with the sweet potatoes as well. Get creative! I like to make a TON of sweet potato mash so I can have some for dinner too if I want. I love to make up my own Sweet Potato Bowl and add almond butter, paleo/gluten free granola/muesli, and blueberries. I have also tried topping it with a couple eggs, shredded coconut, ghee, spinach, and bacon. There are so many possibilities! 

Hopefully these ideas help your meal prep get a little easier or different! I know I post a ton of recipes and it might seem overwhelming, so if you are new to meal prep or just hate being in the kitchen, these are some ways to have the basics prepped to get you through your week. As always, feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions. Happy meal prepping!

Pressure Cooker (or slow cooker) Shredded Chicken
Ingredients:

• 3-4 Pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts Or Thighs
• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1-2 Tablespoon Avocado Or Coconut Oil (or your favorite cooking fat)
• 1 Yellow Onion, Chopped
• 4-5 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
• 1 cup Chicken Broth

Directions:

1. Place all of the chicken into the pot of your pressure cooker or slow cooker. Sprinkle the chicken with sea salt, pepper, oil, onion, and garlic. Using a pair of tongs, lift and turn the chicken to distribute the seasonings evenly. Pour the broth down the side of the pot.
2. If you’re using a pressure cooker, cook on high pressure for 30 minutes and release the pressure using the natural or quick-release method.
3. If you’re using a slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 5–6 hours or on high for 3–4 hours.
4. Shred the chicken and return it to the pot with the juices. Serve immediately or divide the chicken up into equal portions and chill or freeze.

Original recipe found here

Super Fast Instant Pot (Garlic) Sweet Potato Mash
Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes*
• 4-6 cloves of Garlic
• 1 cup of water
• 1-2 tbsp of coconut oil or ghee (to your tasting)
• salt and seasonings to taste

Directions:

1. Peel your sweet potatoes and cut them into 1″ cubes.
2. Add sweet potatoes, garlic cloves, and water to the instant pot. Close pot and set to sealing.
3. Cook on manual, high pressure, for 4 minutes*.
4. Immediately quick release the pressure as soon as the 4 minute cooking cycle has completed.
5. Use oven mitts to carefully remove the inner pot from the Instant pot, carrying it to a colander in your sink to drain the potatoes.
6. Quickly wash out the inner pot and dry it with a kitchen towel.
7. Immediately place the clean inner pot back into the instant pot, add the coconut oil/ghee and press the sauté button.
8. Once the coconut oil starts to sizzle, add your potatoes back to the pot along with any seasonings** you desire. Use a wooden spoon to stir and turn your sweet potatoes, cooking until a desired consistency is reached. This step should only take a few minutes before you are ready to serve your sweet potato mash! Enjoy!

Notes
*I always use at least 6-7 lbs of sweet potatoes, 2 cups of water, and cook it for 10 minutes. 
**I always add at least 1 tsp of salt.

Original recipe found here