Chicken ZOODLE Soup – INSTANT POT – Soothing and Delicious

chicken zoodle soup

Are you feeling a little under the weather, cold or do you just need a little comfort food? How about a hot bowl of Chicken Zoodle Soup? Yep, I said “zoodle”.  Zoodles are just spiralized zucchini that make a great alternative to egg noodles, for those folks who need to go gluten-free.

Now the zoodle thing, it is just spiralized zucchini and I use them in everything. Since I am avoiding grains right now, these green spiral ribbons come in quite handy. I decided to add them to my chicken noodle soup recipe and make it up in the Instant Pot. Worked like a charm. My husband even commented that if he couldn’t see, he wouldn’t even know the difference.

I really have enjoyed this spiralizer. It is simple, inexpensive, and lightweight. I use it to spiralize zucchini, carrots, apples, and potatoes. It works great to serialize things to add to salads and soups. If you haven’t spiralized, you ought to give it a whirl. (Pun intended)!

 

Let’s get back to the soup recipe.

CHICKEN ZOODLE SOUP Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 8 chicken tenderloins ( I use frozen chicken tenderloin or frozen breasts) *You can also use pre-cooked shredded chicken
  • 2 Tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil
  • 3-4 carrots sliced
  • 3-4 stalks of celery sliced
  • 2 small zucchini spiralized or chopped (optional egg noodles)
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp. Celery Salt
  • 2 1/2 quarts broth (chicken or vegetable)
  • 2 Cups water
  • 1/2 teaspoon basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (2 teaspoons fresh)
  • 2-3 bay leaves

Instructions

1 – Spiralize or chop 2 small zucchini and set aside

2 – Chop all vegetables

 

3 – Choose the “SAUTE” method on the Instant Pot

4 – Add oil, carrot, celery, herbs, and onion to the pot and cook stirring frequently for 1-2 minutes

5 – Place the bay leaves, chicken and salt, and pepper in the pot and give it a stir

*If using pre-cooked shredded chicken, adjust time as indicated below.

6 – Add the broth, making sure not to go over the maximum fill line

*If you are using egg noodles, add them now.

7 – Place the lid on the pot and flip the steam valve to sealing position

 

8 – Turn off Instant Pot and change the settings to “MANUAL” and adjust time down to only 4 minutes

  • If using FROZEN chicken tenders, set for 6 minutes.
  • If using FROZEN chicken breasts, set for minutes
  • Pre-cooked chicken, set time for only 2 minutes

It will take several minutes for it to get up to pressure, making it about 20 minutes cook time.

9 – Once the beeper goes off, use the “Quick Release” method to release steam

10 – Carefully remove the lid

11- Using a slotted spoon or big fork, remove the chicken and place it on a plate to cool a little bit.

12- While the chicken is cooling, add the zucchini noodles to the pot and place the lid back on.

The noodles will cook quickly in the hot water. There is no need to turn it back on!

13 – When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the chicken with a big fork.

14 – Place the shredded chicken back in the pot and give it a stir.

I hope you enjoy this chicken zoodle soup!

Chicken ZOODLE Soup – INSTANT POT – Soothing and Delicious

chicken zoodle soup
Are you feeling a little under the weather, cold or do you just need a little comfort food? How about a hot bowl of Chicken Zoodle Soup?
  • Prep Time30 min
  • Cook Time4 min
  • Total Time34 min
  • Ready in50 minutes
  • Yield6
  • Serving Size1 cup
PACE 1]

INGREDIENTS

    • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 8 chicken tenderloins ( I use frozen chicken tenderloin or frozen breasts) *You can also use pre-cooked shredded chicken
    • 2 Tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil
    • 3-4 carrots sliced
    • 3-4 stalks celery sliced
    • 2 small zucchini spiralized or chopped (optional egg noodles)
    • 1 onion diced
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
    • 1 tsp. celery salt
    • 3 quarts broth (chicken or vegetable)
    • 1/2 teaspoon basil
    • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (2 teaspoons fresh)
    • 2-3 bay leave

INSTUCTIONS

1

Spiralize 2 small zucchini and set aside

 

 
2

Chop all vegetables

 

3

Choose the “SAUTE” method on the Instant Pot

4

Add oil, carrot, celery, herbs, and onion to the pot and cook stirring frequently for 1-2 minutes

5

Place the bay leaves, chicken and salt, and pepper in the pot and give it a stir

*If using pre-cooked shredded chicken, adjust time as indicated below.

6

Add the broth, making sure not to go over the maximum fill line

*If you are using egg noodles, add them now.

7

Place the lid on the pot and flip the steam valve to sealing position

8

Turn off Instant Pot and change the settings to “MANUAL” and adjust time down to only 4 minutes

  • If using FROZEN chicken tenders, set for 6 minutes.
  • If using FROZEN chicken breasts, set for minutes
  • Pre-cooked chicken, set time for only 2 minutes

It will take several minutes for it to get up to pressure, making it about 20 minutes cook time.

9

Once the beeper goes off, use the “Quick Release” method to release steam

10

Carefully remove the lid

Using a slotted spoon or big fork, remove the chicken and place it on a plate to cool a little bit.

11

While the chicken is cooling, add the zucchini noodles to the pot and place the lid back on.

The noodles will cook quickly in the hot water. There is no need to turn it back on!

 

12

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the chicken with a big fork.

13

Place the shredded chicken back in the pot and give it a stir.

This soup freezes very well and makes a great quick “GO TO” meal.

Enjoy!

 

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Jan Howell

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

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Upcycled Sweater Slippers: Sewing Tips & Tricks

For all my upcycling friends, it’s time to get busy in Santa’s workshop. If you are still contemplating what to make for your loved ones for Christmas, why don’t you sew up a pair of upcycled sweater slippers?

Some of you may have already purchased one of my upcycled sweater patterns and have experience sewing with felted wool sweaters. Others of you may not even know what I am talking about. Making something out of a recycled sweater is so fun and rewarding. There are so many things you can create with this yummy fabric once it is felted. If you want more information about how to felt wool sweaters, you can check out the tutorial HERE.

Today I want to give you some tips and tricks to use while making up a pair of upcycled sweater slippers.

I am going to cover:

  • sole fabric options

  • cutting out tips

  • binding tips

  • hidden seam lining

Sweater slippers SOLE FABRIC OPTIONS

Depending on your needs, there are several options of fabric to use for the bottoms of your slippers. You can use

  • A regular weight felted wool sweater 

Using a regular sweater as the sole, is softer and a bit cozier. However, if you have hardwood floors or tile in your home, they can be a little slippery.

  • Thick, dense felted wool sweater

Sometimes when you shrink down a sweater it can get really dense and thick. These sweaters are more difficult to use on other craft projects but work well for the soles of slippers.  The only drawback here is that they can be a little more challenging to sew with because they are so thick.

These fabrics can be really nice to sew into the soles of sweater slippers for LITTLE PEOPLE’s feet.  Most likely you have seen the fabric on the bottoms of children’s one-piece pajamas. You can find this fabric on the bolt in most fabric stores, or in pre-cut packages. It is also available online.

Another thing to do to prevent slipping and works better for adult slippers is to simply use a rubber shelf liner. It is inexpensive and easy to work with. You can get it at most stores and online here.

*When using either of these two fabrics, you will be cutting out a regular sole piece with a regular weight sweater AND the anti-slip fabric. You will stack those two pieces together and treat them as the sole piece.

  • Leather  or suede

Sewing in a leather or suede sole can be really nice. It will make the slippers much more durable and can be less slippery. Working with leather can be a little more challenging, as it does not have any give to it, but not too big of a deal. I love sewing on leather. The only thing is that you will want to make sure it is a nice soft piece and not too thick.

CUTTING OUT

When cutting out pattern pieces with felted wool sweaters, you want to maximize the fabric. (It’s crafting gold) Place the pattern as close to the edge as possible. Arrange the pattern to use up the best space possible.

Felted sweaters will not fray. So don’t worry about that. If the sweater has a print, stripe, or design, you will have to take that into consideration the placement of the pattern piece.

Play Video

Since you are making a pair of slippers, and there is a LEFT and RIGHT side, after cutting out one piece you will need to flip the pattern over and then place it back on the fabric. (Very Important)

Another tip I give in the pattern tutorial is to USE SAFETY PINS to help mark the RIGHT SIDES of the fabric. Applying a safety pin to each pattern piece will help keep things straight when putting everything together!

Don’t forget to SAVE YOUR SCRAPS!  There are so many fun things to make with all your scraps.
Sweater balls, hearts, dryer balls, etc. can all be made with small pieces of sweater fabric.

BINDING

I came up with this technique that saves time and is much easier when sewing binding on something. However, this technique can only be used if you are using fleece or a stretchy piece of felted wool. The reason is, that fleece and felted sweaters DO NOT FRAY! I Love applying fleece binding.  You can read more about how to do it here.

You can also access my FREE online binding course HERE.

HIDDEN SEAM LINING

This is such a cool way to apply the lining to a pair of sweater slippers without all the bulk and having a seam showing. Using this technique can be a little difficult to wrap your head around, so I thought I would clarify the process and show you a little clip of my online class on how to do it.

Play Video

If you are like me, a visual learner, being able to watch someone do something is so much easier to learn from than just reading the instructions.

Crossover Slipper Online Course

I have created an in depth sewing course showing how to make the CROSSOVER SLIPPERS. The course includes the step by step process and the printable PDF pattern. You can get the scoop HERE.

****If you have a SKILLSHARE membership, you can access the crossover slipper course HERE.

I hope this was helpful, and I hope you take some time this season to create something fabulous using an upcycled sweater.

Please send me a note if you have any questions.

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Instant Pot Quinoa – Yummy and Nutritious

Almost everyone knows what quinoa is these days, especially if you tend to explore nutritional eating at all. I first posted about it way back in 2012. (Wow, how time flies). Quinoa has become a lot more popular since then and is even offered in restaurants now.

If you are not familiar with this oddly pronounced seed, (KEEN-whah), I am sure you are not alone. The reason I am posting today is that I want to show you how to make it so much easier in the INSTANT POT.

I am sure you are not surprised, right? This INSTANT POT just keeps getting more useful every day. Just keep loving it!!!!!

 

Now, quinoa isn’t that hard to make on the stovetop, but it seems every time I would make it, it was different. It’s kinda like making rice for me. I could never get it right on the stovetop. But NOW I can have RICE and Quinoa turn out perfectly EVERY TIME!

Besides being yummy and easy to make, quinoa ……..

  • has the highest protein of any grain (16 percent)
  • is a COMPLETE protein with an essential amino acid profile similar to milk
  • it contains MORE CALCIUM THAN MILK
  • has many other vital nutrients, including IRON, PHOSPHORUS, B VITAMINS, and VITAMIN E
Let’s get right to the ………….

how to make Instant Pot Quinoa

Measuring the amount of quinoa and water is EASY PEASY!  The amounts are equal. ONE part water, ONE part quinoa. Yep, and you know what gets even better, you set the Instant Pot to cook for ONE minute.

1-  Measure 1 cup quinoa and give it to rinse

 

Rinsing the seeds in a fine mesh strainer will remove the bitter coating called saponin. If you don’t use a fine mesh strainer, the little seeds will fall through. Some quinoa will come pre-rinsed and you won’t have to worry about this step.

2- Toast the seed

Place your Instant Pot setting to ‘SAUTE” and add the rinsed seeds to the pot. Saute for 5 minutes stirring regularly. You will soon start to smell a nice nutty fragrance. Toasting the seeds seems to give it a nice finished texture.

3-  Add 1 cup of water to the pot

4-  Turn off the machine and switch the setting to ‘MANUAL’ high pressure. Set for 1 minute.

Even if you cook more than one cup of quinoa, the setting will always be one minute.

5-  When the timer goes off use ‘NATURAL RELEASE’

6-  Let the pressure release for 15 minutes.

(If there is still pressure at 15 minutes, manual release)

7-  Fluff with a fork and serve.

I like to make a double or triple batch so I can freeze some.

To freeze, just place a couple of cups of quinoa into quart freezer bags. Lay flat and freeze. These little bags of golden seeds will come in handy for future meals. Add it to recipes, hot breakfast cereals, salads, and even your breakfast smoothie. What a great way to get some nutrition into any meal.

Quinoa can be purchased at the grocery store. Many stores now even offer it in the bulk section. There is a white, red, or black variety. The darker grains have a nuttier flavor and slightly crunchier texture that makes it great for salads and hearty soups. I like this brand. It is available here or at Costco. Sometimes I buy the mixed variety pack, which adds a little color to dishes and is a little more firm in soups.

Enjoy!

Instant Pot Quinoa – Yummy and Nutritious

I want to show you how to make Quinoa so fast and much easier in the INSTANT POT!

  • Prep Time5 min
  • Cook Time15 min
  • Total Time20 min

Ingredients

    • 1 Cup quinoa
    • 1 Cup water

INSTUCTIONS

1

Measure 1 cup quinoa and give it rinse

 
2

Toast the seeds

3

Add 1 cup water to pot

4

Turn off the machine and switch the setting to ‘MANUAL’ high pressure. Set for 1 minute.

Even if you cook more than one cup quinoa, the setting will always be one minute.

5

When the timer goes off use ‘NATURAL RELEASE’

6

Let pressure release for 15 minutes.

(If there is still pressure at 15 minutes, manual release)

7

Fluff with a fork and serve.

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Jan Howell

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

Read More