baked stew meat + baked brussel sprouts + black bean soup w/avocado

I had to switch back to organic canned black beans because I was cooking the beans in the instant pot, and not eating them in time. It’s much more convenient this way.

😳

If this isn’t the best four hour body meal yet, it’s def Top 5.

black beans + brussel sprouts + beef

Here we go:

I’m really making an effort to prioritize beans and I think that I had breakthrough today. For one, I’ve been soaking the beans. For two, I finally learned what “natural release” means on my Instant Pot. 😓

The beans soaked overnight and they are not undercooked! And now I finally know that (A) black is my favorite bean and (B) cooked beans taste amazing. So much better than undercooked beans. I think I just assumed the canned beans were cooked to my liking, but...not so. I like mine borderline mushy. The smoked beans went in the instant pot for 30 minutes followed by 15 minutes of natural release. Didn’t need a thing! All they had on them was salt. I’m shocked.

The Brussels sprouts I bought at Trader Joe’s and did my usual roasting routine: throw them in a ziploc bag with oil and seasoning and roast them. Again, letting these overcook a bit worked for me. They didn’t taste hard at all and the outside was nice and crispy. It almost had a sweet, carmelized taste!

And lastly, the meat. Stew meat I also bought at TJ’s ove the weekend. Let it sit in some bitter orange juice I got at the local Mexican grocery for no more than 30 minutes. Salted one side with my diamond salt and the other side with some garlic salt. Let the pan get nice and hot and transferred the meat inside. It cooked and then I flipped, added some butter (is that allowed?) and covered and let it simmer for 20 minutes.