Instant Pot Beef Stew

The recipe I used for the Beef Stew came from www.theleangreenbean.com

I had to tweak it from the beginning for a couple reasons.

     1. We didn't have an onion, so that went out the window. Instead I through in some onion powder. 

     2. We don't eat potatoes, so I substituted cauliflower. It has kind of the same consistency and thickens up the Stew like a potato would. 

     3. My husband is kind of picky when it comes to vegetables (although he has come a long way). He does not like peas, so those went bye-bye as well. 

     4. I added celery. Just because I had it and it needed to be used. 

I melted some Kerry Gold butter I'm the instant pot on the saute setting. Then I threw in about 3 cloves of minced garlic and the Stew beef. While that was browning, I sliced up 2 ribs of celery and cut 3 carrots into one inch pieces. The thicker chunks of carrot were then it in half vertically. To replace the potato, I cut half a big head of cauliflower into decent sized pieces.

When the meat was done browning, I threw in the vegetables. One and a half cups of chicken broth (because I already had a carton of it opened) went in the pot and about 4 ounces of tomato paste. It was supposed to be 1/4 c. but I am lazy and didn't want to dirty a rubber scraper and measuring cup, so I just guesstimated. The recipe called for one teaspoon of oregano. I am a huge oregano fan, so I poured a heap into my palm and then tossed it in. I am certain it was more like a tablespoon. 

Once that was all stirred up, I closed the lid and turned the setting from saute to "meat/soup/stew" and set the timer for 35 minutes. Once it cooked for the required amount of time, I let it go through a natural pressure release for 10 minutes then I quick released the rest of the pressure. Man, oh man! It smelled so good. A lot of the cauliflower had broken down into smaller pieces. This meat was sooooo tender. I can't wait to have some for lunch and dinner tomorrow. Scott better hide some away so O don't eat it all! 

I will note that it was kind of bland. It definitely needed some salt (my broth I used was low sodium) and pepper. I also tossed in some dried parley flakes, some more onion powder, and some hot Hungarian paprika (we love paprika). Again, I didn't measure anything. Measuring items takes the fun out of cooking. Every change I made to the recipe was to my taste. If you try this recipe for yourselves, go with the original and then change to your taste. 

What it looked like before cooking.

After it had cooked.

A little sample had to had. It was then that
I added the extra seasonings.

Instant Pot

I recently got my hands on the newest version of the Instant Pot. I had heard really good things about them from some coworkers, so I thought I would give it a try. 

My first foray with it was making hard boiled eggs (which is more like hard steamed eggs). The instant pot has a rack you place the eggs on to cook them. I was bummed that they only hold six eggs at a time, but that soon turned out to be a blessing! After reading directions from a couple websites, I steamed them for 6 minutes. I then used the quick release valve to release the pressure and immediately put them in am ice bath. While those were chilling, I placed the next six eggs in and cooked them for 6 minutes. Instead of quick releasing the pressure, I let the pot do a natural release for about 10 minutes then vented the rest of the pressure before taking them out for their ice bath. Folks, if you ever make eggs in your instant pot I implore you to let them sit for 8-10 minutes for a natural release. Those eggs were cooked perfectly. The first batch were a semi-cooked hot mess. Poor Scott experienced that first hand one morning before leaving for work. 

My next use of the Instant Pot was making a whole chicken. I had purchased a small fryer to use that was roughly 4 lbs. The instructions for the bird were to cook it 6 minutes a pound and then add like 5 or 7 minutes (I forget off the top of my head). Now that I think about it, I cooked it too long but it didn't matter. I heated up a skillet over medium-high heat and placed the chicken in it (after putting oil on it along with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence). I seared the skin for a couple minutes on the top and bottom sides, then placed it in the pot on the rack. Before closing up the pot, I added 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pot. Being that I am not a planner and wasn't thinking about having dinner ready earlier in the day, I set the pot and then left for work before it was finished. Scott said it was really good and was still hot when he got home from work some 4 hours later. This bird was literally falling apart, meet off the bones when you touched it. I should have kept the bones and drippings to make an awesome bone broth. Next time I will! 

This evening I threw together some ingredients that I had to use up and made a beef stew. It was a little bland, so I tweaked the recipe after it was done. Next post will contain that recipe. This Instant Pot is going to be a game changer for me. It is fast, one pot to wash, and you just set it and forget it!

Green Means Go!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are one step closer to this whole IVF thing happening. I had my uterine sounding and an ultrasound done this morning. Unfortunately, it appears that I now have 2 endometrium cysts on my right ovary and the beginnings of one on the left. Boo!! But let us not dwell on the bad news.

If you have never had the pleasure of receiving a uterine sounding, you don't know what you are missing...NOT! While the whole procedure lasted less than a minute, its was VERY uncomfortable. He said, "it will just feel like a pinch." Well, he lied. It was crappy and very uncomfortable. Anyway, he said I have a "beautiful uterus, like a mother hen. Just waiting for some eggs to take care of. " After hearing that it looked so good, I was given the green light!

I then sat down with him and asked a few questions. We came up with a game plan as to when we would start the medication next month. So, it looks like in less than a month my donor and I will be starting our birth control protocol! To say I am a jumble of emotions and nerves is an understatement. Things are really getting real. Please continue to pray for Scott and I, our donor, and our doctor.

Lupron information and my birth control. Yikes!

Plan of Action

This morning (Tuesday) I called my RE (reproductive endocrinologist) office. I had to give my monthly cycle start date. The receptionist-extraordinaire started giggling when I told her. She told me she had just spoke with my donor Monday morning. Once again, we are a day apart in starting. This, my friends, has to be purely by the grace of God. 
The receptionist asked when we were planning on going through with the procedure. After sharing that we wanted to go forward with April, she asked another question, "Do you want to start the meds in March and then do the retrieval in April or are you wanting to start the meds in April and do the transfer in May? "

I was kind of stunned. I didn't know what to say. It was my understanding from the consult when my donor was being seen, that since our cycles are synced we only needed to be on birth control for a week. She said she would ask the doctor and get back to me. This afternoon she called back and asked of I was able to come in this week so the Dr and I could discuss all of this in person and come up with a medication protocol. She said that I needed to have a special ultrasound done anyway before too much longer.

So after about 2 months of just waiting for things to progress, it seems like things are picking up. Now that things seem to be moving forward, I am getting nervous and a little bit scared. I have to have a uterine sounding Thursday morning. Normally internal ultrasounds don't hurt, but I am not sure what to expect with this kind of ultrasound. All I know is that a rod will be passed through my cervix to and into the uterus. The will then measure how long my uterus is. I will have to do some research about this procedure,  as I am not sure what the purpose is and why it is important to know the length. 

I am hopeful and trying to stand on faith that this is going to work and it is happening in God's timing. There has been too much going on that suggests otherwise. I know that fear is not from God. I know that it is from the Devil and I need to cast those doubts aside when they creep into my mind. Please pray that things go smoothly Thursday morning and the timing is perfect. Pray that my donor has things fall in place for her and her dear family. Pray that things fall into place for Scott and I, so that things can go forward as they are supposed to. Give the doctor discernment and that he will rely on God to help plan out our protocol and timeline. 

What's the plan, Stan?

So, I just wanted to document the process so far with the fertility treatments we are going through. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I am going to be able to have children with my own eggs. This is a loss for me. I have to grieve this loss so that I can have a ready body and spirit to accept how my children will be conceived.

We have found an egg donor. She is a great match for us. She has what the doctor says to be "proven eggs", as she is already a mother. The donor is younger than me and in good physical health. She has some traits that are similar to Scott and me, which is nice. Once things are in order with her (personally), we will begin the IVF process. The hardest part in the beginning, according to the doctor, is syncing our cycles. By the grace of God, that part has been taken care of naturally so far. I pray that it continues.

During the month that we go through with the egg retrieval and transfer, we will be on birth control protocol. While on birth control, we will begin shots of Lupron. Lupron, from what I hear, is a nasty drug. Lord be with Scott, my family, and co-workers while I am on this medication. After that, my donor will begin her drug protocol and I will be on my own. I don't know what drugs exactly I will be on. I think my donor will probably be on either Gonal-F or Menopur, along with Follistim, and then Cetrotide. Lastly, a dose of Pregnyl to trigger ovulation.

Once the trigger shot(s) have been given, egg retrieval will be 36-48 hours later. The plan is for the eggs to be inseminated, then watched as the grow for 3-5 days. I am not sure if I will do a fresh transfer or a frozen transfer. Once my embryos look beautiful and have grown nicely for a prescribed amount of time, the doctor plans on transferring two "embies." Dr. S. says his plan is for me to have beautifully growing embryos and transfer two of them. He says I will get pregnant with twins. Then, in a year and a half to two years, I will go back for a transfer of two more embryos and have another set of twins. After hearing him share his plans for me, I literally laughed out loud and promptly told him no way. That I don't have the space in our house to have two sets of twins. His response was, "There is a great invention called bunk beds." Not sure at all on how God's plan lines up with Dr. S's, but I will be absolutely blessed whether it is one child...or 4, lol.

To say that I am a bundle of nerves would be an understatement. I am okay with using donor eggs. While I am a little bummed that I won't see a mini-me running around the house, I know that they can have some of my personality simply from how I raise them. Now that I know what month we are going to go through with the IVF, it seems very real all of a sudden. If it seems so real now, I can only imagine my thoughts and emotions once we start our drug protocol. I am excited to see the end results of something we have waited almost 10 years for.