It’s January 2nd and my second day on the Whole30. I spent most of the day in the kitchen prepping food and experimenting with recipes.

I woke up in the mood for a beef stew and then found this pressure cooker recipe that looked promising! Sweet potatoes are so much better for you than regular potatoes so I decided to make some modifications (as I usually do haha).

I discovered a new brand today at Walmart when I was trying to find a Beef Broth without sugar or preservatives! “No Preservatives” is becoming easier to find but “No Sugar” is still a challenge. Unfortunately, there is added sugar in almost everything that’s packaged! This Zoup Bone Broth was delicious and I’ll have to find another recipe to use it in.

The following is a recipe modified from Sustainablecooks.com.

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb lean stew beef (approx.)
• 2 tbsp almond flour (I didn’t have arrowroot powder and this seemed to work fine)
• 1 cup onion (chopped)
• 5 cups carrots (peeled and chopped)
• 4 cups sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped)
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen green beans (NOT ADDED TO PRESSURE COOKER)
• 2 cups beef broth (make sure to look for no sugar)
• 1 cup tomato-based vegetable juice (also read labels here)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions:

1. Place the beef in a bowl large enough to combine with the almond flour and salt and pepper. I salted and peppered the beef well.
2. Pour the beef broth and vegetable juice in the bottom of your pressure cooker.
3. Add the beef and other ingredients to the Instant Pot (do not stir). In the picture, you can see how I layered them: beef, potatoes, onions, carrots, spices… DO NOT ADD THE GREEN BEANS!
4. Place the lid on and switch to lock position. Turn the vent to “sealing.”
5. Press the “meat/stew” button and increase the time to 35 minutes. It will take up to 15 minutes to reach pressure.
6. Once the pressure cooker is done cooking, be careful when releasing the pressure valve, venting the steam, and removing the lid. 
7. Place a large pot in the sink and carefully (using pot holders) pour in the contents of the pressure cooker pot.
8. Put the new pot on the stove and pour in the frozen green beans. Stir well. Turn the burner up to medium heat and cook until the green beans are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
9. Serve and enjoy!

Notes: Every time I use my pressure cooker, I learn something new! It’s scary to throw all of the ingredients in at once and pray for the best! And I knew I was taking a chance by using sweet potatoes instead of russet potatoes. So when I opened the pressure cooker lid and found my sweet potatoes to be mushy, I just stirred them around until they were mixed into my broth! And thankfully, the flavors came together and it proved to be delicious! Yay! It’s always rewarding when your hard work pays off!