Carrie Forrest MBA MPH - The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot® Cookbook: No-Fuss Recipes for Nutritious, Ready-to-Go Meals

Copyright 2019 by Rockridge Press, Emeryville, California INSTANT POT and associated logos are owned by Instant Brands Inc. and are used under license. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, Rockridge Press, 6005 Shellmound Street, Suite 175, Emeryville, CA 94608. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The Publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials.

The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering medical, legal, or other professional advice or services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the Publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an individual, organization, or website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the Publisher endorses the information the individual, organization, or website may provide or recommendations they/it may make. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (866) 744-2665, or outside the United States at (510) 253-0500. Rockridge Press publishes its books in a variety of electronic and print formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books, and vice versa. TRADEMARKS: Rockridge Press and the Rockridge Press logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Callisto Media Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Rockridge Press is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Interior and Designer: Emma Hall Art Producer: Sue Smith Editor: Clara Song Lee Production Editor: Erum Khan Photography 2019 Marija Vidal. Food styling by Cregg Green. courtesy of Amy Wellenkamp. ISBN: Print 978-1-64152-425-4 | eBook 978-1-64152-426-1 TO ALAN, for showing me that what you dream, you can achieve. CONTENTSAS A BUSY FOOD BLOGGER AND CLEAN-EATING SPECIALIST, come six oclock in the evening, Im ready to plop down on the sofa and have a healthy meal magically appear in front of me.

Yet, magical elves have never appeared ready to serve my dinner. Thats where the Instant Pot and meal prepping comes in. When I got my first Instant Pot more than two years ago, I finally had the answer to my dinner prep dilemma. Additionally, since the Instant Pot is ideal for making a larger number of portions, my total time spent in the kitchen is reduced by strategically cooking in bulk and then repurposing the leftovers over the next few days. Turns out, the Instant Pot is the magical answer I was looking for! Cooking at home has helped me stay healthy, too. Before I learned how to cook and knew much about nutrition, I ate mostly packaged foods full of preservatives and processed ingredients.

My health really suffered. By the time I reached my early 30s, I had developed a long list of serious health problems that negatively impacted my life. I had uncontrollable anxiety and panic attacks, migraines, digestive problems, and hormone imbalance. It got to the point where I had a hard time being social, and I wasnt even sure if I could work anymore. Transforming my health started with cleaning up my diet. I bought fresh ingredients instead of processed.

At first it felt overwhelming, but I took it one step at a time. I tried my best to make cleaner food choices by eating more fruits, vegetables, beans, eggs, meats, fish, poultry, nuts, and seeds. Before long, I started feeling better. The health symptoms that had been so debilitating diminished and, in some cases, completely went away. Over the years, I picked up various tips and tricks to make meals that are as delicious as they are healthy. For example, fresh herbs and dried spices are great ways to amplify both the flavors and nutrient content of basic foods.

Its also important to add healthy fatslike avocado and coconutto keep you fuller for longer and to help your body absorb essential fat-soluble vitamins. Im a firm believer that healthy food can and should taste good. In The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook, youll find: A carefully curated collection of healthy, nutritious recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and suited to advance meal prep Tips for advance prepping that indicate when you can premeasure and store ingredients so they can be cooked later at a moments notice Practical tips to incorporate healthy recipes into a weekly meal prep plan Substitutions to make recipes suitable for dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan diets Whether youre at the beginning of your health journey or youre just looking for satisfying, clean-eating recipes, Im so glad youre here. Im excited to share how easy and enjoyable it can be to make great food at home. Lets get started! To prepare healthy foods, its import ant to understand the basics of how to cook them in the Instant Pot. Since the Instant Pot is ideal for meal prepping, knowing which foods can be prepped and cooked several days in advance makes breakfast, lunch, and dinner a snap on days that are particularly busy.Smart Technology for Healthy Meals I bought my Instant Pot in 2016 after seeing more and more Instant Pot recipes pop up online.

It wasnt long before I posted a few simple ones on my blog. They were a huge hit, and more and more people came to my blog just to get those recipes. It seemed like everyone appreciated easy, healthy meals that could be made super fast. CLEAN, NUTRITIOUS FOOD The recipes in this book follow clean-eating guidelinesin other words, they call for unprocessed ingredients as often as possible. This means using foods that are in their natural form, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Clean eating is a term that is meant to be flexible to allow for individual dietary preferences and needs, including vegetarian and vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

Recipes include tips for these diets wherever possible. When it comes to planning meals, nutrition experts agree that a balanced approach works best. From snacks to full dinnersall should include a combination of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. A good rule of thumb is to fill at least half of your plate with raw or cooked nonstarchy vegetables, one-fourth with lean protein, and the last fourth with complex carbohydrates such as cooked squash or potato, whole grains, or fruit. A few tablespoons of a healthy fat such as avocado helps you feel satisfied and helps your body absorb the nutrients from the other foods in your meal. Meal prep makes putting a healthy dinner on the table a much easier task, reducing your likelihood to grab for those processed foods and opt for takeout.