One Day at a Time

My husband bought me an instant pot for my birthday this month and I have been using everyday! I love making beef stew but I hate letting it simmer for hours on the stove top. I also love beef barley soup but I have never made barley ever! I searched for a few recipes and couldn't find one for the instant pot (maybe you've had better luck). So I decided to venture out and try my own recipe! It was AMAZING! Homemade beef barley stew in less than a hour, start to finish! The meat was so tender and the barley wasn't mush too! (I used the Lux Mini...but I would suggest a larger one because it was over the fill line)

So here is my recipe!

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs stew meat
1 Tbs Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
1 C Pearl Barley
6 C Chicken Broth (2 C and 4 C later)
Baby Carrots
Celery
1/2 Onion
Minced Garlic
1/4 C Ketchup
1 Tbs Worcestershire

Directions:
Saute the meat in the oil on the Saute setting. Season with salt and pepper. Rinse your barley and add it to the meat. Put in 2 Cups of chicken broth (or water and bullion). Set it on Pressure Cook for 25 min. When the timer goes off quick release. Add the rest of the ingredients and set to Pressure Cook for 4 more minutes. Quick Release and TA-DA! All done! :)

I was doing so good this year....then I got really busy with photoshoots, then I just forgot about September.

In September, the biggest thing we did was go to the Oregon Coast for the Scott and Julie Lloyd family Reunion. My sister and I were in charge this year. We got a beach house in Rockaway. We planned the food, family pictures, and a day in New Port. It was so much fun seeing everyone and catching up.



The drive was pretty long and because of wildfires near Portland, we had to go the long way home through Boise. On our way home just after dark we hit a broken semi tire with our Avenger. We got a litte dent in the front and got a small hole in our tire. It also tore the plastic underneath out. It was way scary! Usually tires are broken up and it's not too bad when you hit one...but this one was a whole tire tread! We made it to Nampa, to my aunt and uncles and then got the tire fixed in the morning.

October has been full of photoshoots! Pretty much every night. It's been fun getting to know new people and a lot of time Devin and the girls come with me for the drive. This month we got to watch General Conference and a few weeks later my mom came over for a few days to help can and freeze 80 lbs of chicken. Our canned chicken turned out amazing and I can't wait until Zaycon comes again in the spring. I also finally got to use my new pressure cooker! Lastly, Halloween! Kamille was Elsa and Lillian was Olaf. They had so much fun trick or treating and going to the Holy-ween in Stanley. 


Lillian is almost 10 months now. She is almost walking. Yesterday she stood up and took two steps to the couch. She likes to hold on to everything and go anywhere. She doesn't eat much baby food anymore. Now that she has 4 teeth (2 more about to break through) she is eating everything we eat. She loves to say Dada and I have only heard her say Mom a few times. She's our happy little girl and I love how much she loves her sister.

Kamille turned 3 on October 9th. She had a fun party with family and a few friends. My mom and I made a Barbie cake and had a delicious lunch! She got lots of presents and goodies. She loves to sing and dance and take care of Lillian. I always find her trying to feed her or change her diapers. She likes to pick out her own clothes and if I show her something she doesn't like she says, "Ahhh that hurts my eyes!" and she won't wear it. She knows all her colors, shapes, and can count to 10. She knows 3 letters (A B and C). She loves to go to Nursery on Sundays and I am looking forward to her starting Sunbeams in January. If I could use one word to describe her...it would be SASSY! Yesterday I told her to pick up her shoes. She looked at me and said, "ummm they are BOOTS!" And she does that horrible sigh and disgusted look when I ask her to help me pick up her toys. (I thought they do that when they are teenagers...not 3!) We love her so much :)

Devin is always working hard to provide for us. I'm so blessed to have him. The girls always get so excited on his days off when he can stay home and play with them. Today when he left for work, Kamille went to her little kitchen and said she was going to make dinner so Daddy would come home. (Because every time I make dinner he walks through the door) He's halfway through his class he's taking online and then he has one more class to get his Associates.

I have two more weeks of pictures and then I'm done for the season. It's getting pretty cold out already, but I hate turning people away. This year has been so busy with pictures. I love it! I have met some incredible families. Sometimes I get overloaded with processing (like now...after this I have 21 discs to finish and get out!) After photography season is over, I can catch up on my scrapbook and get a few sewing projects finished. I also have a few projects around the house I need to finish.

My weight-loss journey: yeah... I don't want to talk about it, but I will.  We took a little break (like 2 month break) we thought we could just watch what we eat and workout when we can, but that doesn't really work. I am someone who tracks inches, pounds, water, food intake and work-outs, otherwise I won't do it! so today is Nov 1st and we have started again, and that's okay :) It's better to start again and again and again as long as you never give up.

God be with you,
Kaylynn Jackson