How to make the easiest instant pot soup ever! This instant pot soup is whole30 approved, full of vegetables, and is delicious! We know soup isn't the quintessential summer meal, but it is one of the easiest things to make that will give you left overs for days! 

This soup has a pretty basic flavor profile so you can customize it how you like it! It is basic but does not lack any flavor at all!

The Recipe:

 Ingredients: 

1 bell pepper, diced

1 whole onion, diced

1 small head of celery, chopped (5-6 stalks)

1/2 bunch of Kale, chopped

1 leek, chopped

5-6 carrots, sliced

2 potatoes, diced (optional)

2 cartons of chicken, beef, or vegetable broth

Enough water to the fill the pot to the max fill line 

Salt & Pepper to Taste (1/2-1 tsp) 

Garlic Power 1/2 tsp 

Dash of Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Olive oil 

1/2 tsp Thyme

1 bay leaf 

Optional - 3 bacon slices and 2 sausage links per serving

Instructions: 

Add all vegetables to instant pot 

Add stock and water

Cook on Manual for 5-6 minutes

 let pressure release naturally 

Remove bay leaf 

(Optional) Cook small sausage links and 2 slices of bacon. 

Slice sausage and add to soup, chop bacon for crispy soup topping 

Enjoy! 

Watch Alex make this soup! YouTube Video below!

We hope that sharing our experiences through the 30 days has helped you all to see that it is possible!!!! For both of us, we did not go exactly through all of the emotions according to the Whole 30 plan (https://whole30.com/revised-timeline/), but we did notice some similar things happened to us. 

I was shocked when Alex told me she had dreams about breaking Whole 30!!! This is so real!!! When you are so focused on a goal and continuing to create daily habits, we both then had dreams we broke the 30 days!!!

These past 2 weeks have flown by, and we are now at the end of the first part of the Whole 30 reset diet! The past 2 weeks we both found ourselves setting strict schedules for work and working out, which left us less time to prepare different types of meals. We became super-fast at making our staples!!! We usually have a smoothie bowl for breakfast, potatoes/sweet potatoes with veggies and maybe an egg for lunch, or we switch it up and have potatoes with veggies/egg for breakfast and smoothie bowl for lunch. Dinner gets wacky because we workout at 4 and then like to walk after that so we put something small together for dinner and try to keep it mostly veggies! We tried making cauliflower pizza the other day and it turned out pretty good!

A great tool for inspiration, a great meal, but can also be overwhelming and make things more complicated than necessary. 

We think when used strategically they can be an asset to your Whole 30, or daily life. By being smart about which recipes you make exactly and which you modify, you will be less frustrated in the kitchen and hopefully less overwhelmed. 

When searching for a recipe for Whole 30, it can be difficult to find something that fits the rules exactly and most times, you will find a really good looking Whole 30 recipe and it will call for some wacky ingredients that you will only use one time. 

You can take a non-Whole 30 recipe and modify it to be an approved dish. Here is a simple example of one we did this week. We wanted to make cauliflower mashed potatoes, so off to Google and found this recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230816/garlic-mashed-cauliflower/

Before you start cooking, review the recipe and see the ingredients it calls for, then identify which need to be substituted or eliminated. In this case, parmesan cheese and cream cheese are non-compliant. I substituted homemade almond milk for the cream cheese to give it the creaminess, and eliminated the parmesan, since the almond milk also brings some nuttiness. They came out delicious!

Alex found this recipe and thinks it looks delicious and wanted to share! 

https://organicallyaddison.com/whole30-orange-chicken/ 

Some tricks to starting this are: 

1. Say YES and don't over think your decision! Say Yes to the new recipe, or to the run club, or to the zoom happy hour! 

2. One degree of separation! When wanting to explore new recipes, try something that has ingredients you are familiar with or you like, not completely out of your comfort zone! This makes the cooking process more approachable! 

3. Keep things interesting! Even by implementing one degree of separation, you are still exploring new ingredients and new meals you will never be bored of! 

4. One thing at a time! Start off slowly and you will not get overwhelmed trying to make things completely foreign! This will help stay on course! 

Our go-to has been freshly preparing each meal! We are still able to prepare the veggies by pre-cutting the potatoes or veggies so they are ready for the oven or pan when needed. This week has been tofu, chicken sausage, seared scallops, with zucchini, asparagus, tomato and avocado! No extra sauces or seasonings needed only salt and pepper! We have added a little bit of garlic powder to the potatoes before going in the oven.

Left | Scallops, avocado, tomato, tofu and zucchini 

Right | Sweet potato fries, asparagus, chicken apple sausage, avocado, everything but the bagel seasoning

Strategy #1 | Ingredient Meals

You don’t have to make recipes on the Whole 30. You can just take whole ingredients, combine them on a plate, and pull them together with a dressing or sauce. You’ve probably already had a meal like this; think steak, grilled veggie skewers, and a garden salad. (Or eggs, roasted sweet potatoes, avocado, and a side of berries.) If you want to get step it up a notch, drizzle a chimichurri sauce over those grilled veggies, or hot sauce over the eggs. The point is, KEEP IT SIMPLE, and throw recipes in when you have the time or energy for something a little more involved.

Strategy #2 | Ground Meat with Stuff Over Stuff™

Meal templates are a great way to cook once, eat a few times, and never get bored. Brown a pound of ground meat (chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, or bison). Dice and saute a bunch of vegetables. Mix, but don’t season. When you’re ready, create a base (greens, zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice, or mashed potatoes), drop in the meat + veggie mixture, and season as you please. (Tomato sauce, Ranch dressing, Yai’s Thai Green Curry sauce, or coconut aminos.) The genius of this meal is if you feel like a different flavor for lunch tomorrow, just mix up the base and sauce, no additional cooking required.