Pressure Cooker Cubed Steak in Gravy

So, the love affair with my Electric Pressure Cooker Continues.  It is so easy to procrastinate before decided at the last minute that I NEED SOMETHING FOR DINNER! 

and . . . . the Pressure Cooker saves me.

My bestie.

LOVE.

Today, we decided to use up some of our steak from the freezer.  We have a 1/2 of a cow on order and want to have the freezer as empty as possible so the 'old' meat doesn't get lost in amongst the new meat.  AND - the farmer, as well as the processer, have let us know this cow is the biggest they've done in awhile.  GAH!  MUST FIND ROOM IN THE FREEZER!

Due to my little anxiety issues over the meat, the Hubster pulled out two packages of steak and let it thaw.  The steak packages were approximately one pound packages, so it was a total of two pounds. 

When the steaks were thawed, the Hubster removed the fat and cut it into approximately 1 inch cubes.

The steak was then tossed into a skillet with 1/2 cup wine (nothing special, I simply used what I had on hand - a red wine).  Brown the steak - ensure there is space around the steak so that it will brown nicely.  This may mean you need to brown the steak in one, two or three batches.

While the steak and wine are cooking, go ahead and toss the other ingredients in your Pressure Cooker.  After the ingredients are tossed in, give them a stir. 

Dump the browned steak into the pressure cooker.

I stirred the steak/wine into the gravy mixture.  Then, I put on and locked the Pressure Cooker's lid.  I used the Beef Setting, high pressure for 20 minutes.  After the PC announced the time was up, I used the Quick Release on the lid to release the pressure.

I slowly removed the lid, grabbed my spoon and gave everything a stir.

This was served over noodles as that is what we had on hand.  But, this would be just as yummy, if not more so, served over rice or mashed potatoes.

This served 4 adults and 2 children with enough left-over for lunch tomorrow for the Hubster and myself.

*** this is where I must make a confession *** there are no photos *** Mom and Dad popped up and this turned into a "hurry up" meal when all was said and done.  SORRY!  ***

Pressure Cooker Cubed Steak in Gravy

2 Pounds steak, cut in 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup wine

1 Package onion soup mix
1 1/2 cups gravy
1 1/2 cups water (or beef broth)
1 can (equivalent) Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 tsp black pepper
1/8 - 1/4 red pepper flakes, to taste

Brown the steak in 1/2 cup wine in skillet.

Mix onion soup mix, gravy, water, black pepper and red pepper flakes in pressure cooker.  Stir in browned steak and wine.  Set PC to Beef setting, high pressure at 20 minutes.  Use the quick release after cooking time is up.

Serve over egg noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.

Pressure Cooker Deconstructed Lasanga Soup

Thank goodness for Pinterest!  We might just starve to death without it!  I mean, I just don't know where else to get recipes - surely not from the piles of recipe books in the kitchen nor from the bag I tote with me to dance class full of all sticky-noted magazines indicating which recipes I want/need to make that upcoming week.

Sarcasm aside, I love being able to pop on my Pinterest pages and find a good recipe right away that matches my mood - and energy level.  This past week . . . it was an odd one.  I couldn't remember what day it was, and kept thinking  had had Monday off when I had actually worked.  It might be the snow days and two hour delays for the girls' schools that kept me off schedule in my head.  Whatever it was, I was beat by the end of the week. 

I knew that I needed to feed the girls something more than just cereal - especially as all of the good cereal is gone and we're down to the "if we don't eat this, I'm not buying any more cereal!" cereals.  Seriously - these girls are odd.  They DO NOT like Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal!  Who would've thought I'd be telling the to finish THAT cereal off after they ate all of the Cheerios!

But, back to the post.  I wanted soup, again, so I popped on my Under Pressure! Pinterest Page.  This time, I found one with loads of meat!  I knew it would be a big hit!

Meet Deconstructed Lasagna Soup!

Again, this is one that will go into rotation!  I am thinking of making an emergency binder as my fatigue seems to be hitting more and more frequently.  This is a quick, simple and delicious recipe that everyone enjoyed.

My additions and thoughts for this soup -
~ ADD MORE WATER!  I followed the recipe and it was good.  REALLY GOOD.  But if I want a soup, more water will be needed.  This turned out to be Pressure Cooker Lasanga for us!  SERIOUSLY!  AND it was still very good as a Lasagna!  but, if I want soup, more water!
~ noodles.  I added 1 cup of flat, broken lasagna noodles.  I think this might have been some of the soup vs lasagna issue.  I will try for another type of pasta, or just add 1/2 cup pasta next time.
~ cheese.  I must remember Miss Picky does not like ricotta.  So, she ended up not putting a cheese ball in her "soup" and just sprinkled with Parmesan.  The other two girls, they loved the mozzarella and ricotta balls and thought it was soooo neat watching the cheese melt all through the lasagna.  I made the cheese balls with 16 oz ricotta and about 2 handfuls of mozzarella cheese.  Just enough for everything to stick together.  I included granulated garlic (more is better in my book, but add to your own liking), 1-2 T Italian Seasoning and mixed it all in a pyrex bowl. 
~ Chopped Green Pepper - yes, I added a veggie!

Really, it doesn't matter if this turns out as a Pasta Dish or a Soup, I will be making Deconstructed Lasagna Soup in my Pressure Cooker again!

Pressure Cooker Chunky Potato and Cheese Soup

Lately, I have been in a soup frame of mind.  This doesn't sit too well with the girls as they don't care for soup.  They will eat it, after they have expressed their displeasure and requested they be served waffles in lieu of the soup.  Instead, I remind them that I am the Mommy and they are the pesky little things that enjoy messing with my mind and they will eat the soup so there is a fighting chance they will get all of their vitamins!

The soup frame of mind also lends itself well to two of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment: 
1.  My Slow Cooker
2.  My Pressure Cooker
Both make meal planning sooooo much easier.  Dump and Done! 

Both of my two favorite kitchen toys also have alarms - as I forget EVERYTHING, these alarms are great.  Then again, I have two growing kiddos.  I don't need an alarm.  It seems we live in the kitchen as they are always STARVING to DEATH (no melodrama here!).

This past week, I tried out a new recipe I had pinned to my Under Pressure! Pinterest Recipe Board.  I wanted something fast as well as something "soup" and something that could go sans meat since I didn't want to dig and unearth some of what is left of the 1/2 cow we'd purchased in the fall.  And, I just didn't want to bother thawing the meat and cooking it.   

Chunky Potato and Cheese Soup

YUP!  Cheesey Goodness Comfort Food!

If you pop on over to the site where the actual recipe is located, you'll see that it called for bacon.  Meh, we omitted this as, again, I was not in a meat of any type sort of mind.

This recipe was a big hit here!  The girls ate it - and Miss Mia actually went back for seconds.  My parents enjoyed it as well.  Oh!  and do NOT omit the Red Pepper Flakes.  They make the soup!  They are not enough to make the soup painfully hot, just a little "hiya!" as you go about eating this delicious and comforting soup!  If my Mom can eat it, anyone can eat it!

As usual, there were some additional changes to the recipe.
1.  No bacon (next time, I will probably add as we do love bacon here)
2.  I just dumped the potatoes in.  I didn't have a steamer basket and one of our family recipes of potato soup uses mashed potatoes, so smooshed potatoes are a "comfort" food for us.
3.  I used a full onion. 

Some thoughts as to the next time I make this:
1.  add diced carrots - again, family recipe.   potato soup always had tiny piece of carrots
2.  add chopped celery - again, family recipe.
3.  sub out some of the potatoes for chopped and peeled radishes (seriously, did you know this trick????  no one knows the difference!)
4.  sub out some/all of the potatoes for cauliflower (what?  this makes is Cauliflower and Cheese Soup????)

And remember - These raw potatoes need no cooking, just chop and dump in the Pressure Cooker!  You will have your meal, prep to table, within an hour (I am not making any "in just a few minutes" promises.  I have two kids.  Emergencies only happen when I am making one of those "fun and faboulous meals in 30 minutes.  But, even with the emergencies, this Comforting Potato and Cheese Soup was on the table here within an hour!