Cassie DeNisco

New Posts Weekly

Insta Pot Curry Recipe!

This is one of my fall go to recipes that I am obsessed with! We’ve been making this insta pot curry recipe since last fall but really have the recipe perfectly nailed down. This is the easiest dinner recipe that tastes like you’ve been working all day on it!

I really fell in love with my insta pot during the pandemic because it cooks food so easily and quickly! This recipe wouldn’t be as easy if it weren’t for my insta pot so definitely think about investing in one if you don’t already have it!

insta pot curry recipe

Ingredients:

4-5 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 yellow onion diced (keep pieces large)

olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced ginger

7-8 chopped baby carrots

1 tablespoon ketchup

3-4 potatoes peeled and cubed

2-3 cups chicken broth

block of Japanese curry roux

1 tablespoon soy sauce

White rice to serve it with!

Directions:

  1. In your insta pot turn on sauté feature and add olive oil, onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook until fragrant.
  2. Add in the chicken thighs and cook both sides until white. (I do this to make sure it get’s cooked all the way through)
  3. Add in potatoes, carrots, and pour chicken broth over everything until covered.
  4. Place curry roux on top but don’t mix it in just leave it there. Close the lid and then turn on stew setting for 15 minutes.
  5. After cooked, let steam for additional 15 minutes.
  6. Lift the lid and mix thoroulghy adding in ketchup & soy sauce.
  7. Enjoy!!

As you can see, this was the insta pot curry recipe easiest recipe to make! I love to serve this with white rice and will have leftovers for days! This is also a really easy meal prep meal for lunches for the week too!

I get the mild curry so this is definitely a family favorite and really has all the veggies and nutrients you need for a dinner! If you liked this recipe, check out more here on my blog or on my Pinterest for video content!

My Bruschetta Recipe!!

I am kicking off my November cooking series TODAY!! I’ll be sharing some great recipes for your to have on your Thanksgiving table and we’re starting with appetizers today! My Bruschetta recipe is so easy to make and will seriously make people think you spent forever on it!

I made this for the first time over the summer with my fresh garden tomatoes and have been craving it ever since! This seriously tastes delicious and has become one of my favorite appetizers. This is perfect for your Thanksgiving feast!

my bruschetta recipe

Ingredients:

3 Cups diced grape tomatoes

6 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon balsmic vinegar

1/2 fresh basil leaves

3 tablespoons butter

1 French baguette

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 and thinly slice your French Baguette. Melt 3 tablespoons butter and mix with 3 tablespoons minced garlic. Evenly coat both sides of baguette then bake for 20 minutes or until super crisp.
  2. Sauté 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the remaining 3 tablespoons of minced garlic. Cook until fragrant then set aside.
  3. Dice your grape tomatoes and combine balsamic, basil, salt and pepper together. Mix in your oil olive and garlic mixture.
  4. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for it to marinate but the longer the better!

This bruschetta recipe is perfect year round! I actually never really liked it in the jars because it always was way too salty! It’s so easy to make so you might as well try it out and flavor it your way! If you loved this recipe you can view more here and be sure to follow me on Pinterest as I’ve been posting lots of video content there!!

My Fall Harvest Bowl!

I am so excited to be sharing with you my viral fall harvest bowl! This was posted on Pinterest Here and it seriously blew up! I am so glad everyone is enjoying this bowl because I swear it is the perfect transition meal!

Whether you want a warm dinner or a chilled side, this bowl is great for meal prep! You can make it in advance and use it throughout the week for lunches or dinners! I love how filling it is alone and it’s vegan so you’re also doing good for the planet too!

fall harvest bowl

Ingredients:

  • 1 box of orzo
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1/2 red onion
  • handful of grape tomatoes
  • handful of walnuts
  • olive oil
  • maple syrup
  • red wine vinegar
  • basil
  • oregano
  • red pepper flakes
  • salt & pepper

Directions:

  1. Start by preheating your oven to 425 and dicing up your sweet potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. Add to an oven safe pan, drizzle with olive oil, and bake until all are soft.
  2. Meanwhile drain chickpeas and add to a baking sheet with walnuts. Bake walnuts for 5 minutes until crisp and remove. Keep chickpeas in until they harden.
  3. Cook orzo according to the package.
  4. Make dressing by combining 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 tbsp maple syrup, and dashes of basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
  5. Combine all together and mix well, adding salt & pepper to taste!
  6. Enjoy!!

I hope you enjoyed this Fall Harvest Bowl recipe! I have this recipe on repeat each week because it’s just that good. If you liked this recipe, you can check out more recipes here!

My Italian Pasta Salad Recipe!

It wouldn’t be summer without a pasta salad recipe on the blog! Last year I shared a super easy recipe for a light, refreshing pasta salad here. This year I have a revamped, Italian pasta salad. This recipe is fresh but also has that anti pasta feel.

Pasta salads are great at a barbecue but also a great lunch for the week. It’s super easy to meal prep and stores so well in the fridge. This recipe is easily my go to when I have guests or just need a quick lunch idea for the week!

italian pasta salad

Ingredients:

1 box cavatapi pasta

Container of grape tomatoes

1 medium red onion

Log of salami

Half an english cucumber

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp basil

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

Directions:

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta according to the package. Let the pasta cool completely! This is essential.
  2. Finely dice your tomato, onion, cucumber and salami. This is up to you but I like mine about half an each chunks.
  3. Mix together olive oil, red wine vinegar, and all spices.
  4. Once pasta is completely cooled, mix in veggies, salami and dressing! Enjoy 🙂

Pasta salads are seriously my favorite meal of summer! They’re easy to bring to an event or just great to store in the fridge! Let me know some of your favorite recipes below!

This Italian pasta salad seriously is my go to. It’s so fresh and refreshing but filling! This is great as a meal or just on the side! I love the protein from the salami and the freshness of the veggies. It’s truly a great recipe that everyone will love!

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A Yummy, Healthy Rice Bowl!

I’m super excited to be sharing this healthy rice bowl recipe with you! I was originally introduced to it through Green Chef, but I’ve made it so many times now I have my own take! Rice bowls are seriously such a good dinner idea because they have something for everyone.

I also love to have meatless nights but still get in enough protein. This bowl is so filling and if you wanted to add a meat protein, chicken, beef or turkey would pair well!! Here’s my recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup White Rice

1 cup veggie broth

Tomato

Scallion

Lime

1 can pinto beans

1 can corn

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp dijon mustard

Pecans

Directions:

  1. Bring veggie broth, rice, and salt to a boil then let simmer covered for about 10 minutes.
  2. Chop up tomato, scallion, lime, and rinse pinto beans
  3. Use half of the tomato, half of the scallion, and half the lime to create a salsa. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
  4. Saute the other half of tomato, scallion, and corn in the pan then add pinto peans and spices. Cook until heated.
  5. Add the cooked rice to this veggie pan and sprinkle with the other half of the lime. Mix thoroughly and remove from heat.
  6. Divide the rice & veggies evenly into bowls. Add salsa on top then pecans and finish off with dijon mustard & mayo mixed together and drizzled on top.

As you can see this bowl is so easy to make but jam packed with flavor. I seriously love to try out green chef recipes because they open your eyes to different ways to put food together! It really gives me the inspiration to create a healthy rice bowl like this!

If you liked this post, check out more recipes here ! Be sure to subscribe here to my newsletter so you never miss a post!

My Green Smoothie Recipe to Boost Beauty

I am so excited that the weather in NY is finally warming up. I’m sharing with you today my go to green smooth recipe that is great to boost your beauty. Smoothies are my favorite summer morning drink to get in your greens and keep you cool.

I also feel like the summer months are my favorite for fresh produce which helps to elevate these smoothies. I’ve shared my green juice recipe before but never my smoothie. This is perfectly sweet and refreshing for the warmer months!

green smoothie recipe

Ingredients for Green Smoothie Recipe:

1 Frozen Banana

1/2 c frozen mango

1 c spinach

1 tsp Spirulina powder

Coconut Water

Directions:

  1. In a powerful blender, combine frozen banana, frozen mango, and spirulina powder.
  2. Fill to the top with spinach and then pour in about 1/2 cup of coconut water.
  3. Blend and see consistency. If you like it thicker your might just need to add a teeny bit more coconut water where as if you want it thinner add a lot more coconut water!
  4. Pour in a mason jar & enjoy!

As you can see this smoothie recipe is so easy to make but is oh so good. This green smoothie recipe has all the tropical vibes you’re looking for on a summer morning. Smoothies are seriously such a go to for greens in the am to start off your day.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe here to my mailing list so you never miss a post! Let me know of your favorite smoothie combinations in the comments below!

My Cooking Favorites to Make Life Easy!

For this month’s bonus post, I wanted to share my cooking favorites that make life easy. I kid you not, these products have completely changed the game for me cooking. They help make the process go smooth and not be stressful.

I think for a lot of us 20 somethings cooking seems like such a daunting task. Between prep, cooking, and cleaning, it takes a lot of time. Having products like these to cut down cleaning and prepping time, you’re cooking time can actually become fun!

Our Place Always Pan- Shop Here

cooking favorites

My Always pan has seriously made cooking and cleaning so easy. This is a non toxic non stick pan that seriously does it all. You can boil water, sauté or even steam in it with the steamer it comes with. I absolutely love this pan and honestly it does so much that it has replaced a lot of my other pans!

Rice Cooker/Steamer- Shop Here

I’m not going to lie to you, at first I was like I totally don’t need a rice steamer. Once I got one, I can’t live without it. It seriously makes the best rice ever for whatever you’re eating. It reminds me of the perfect sticky fluffy rice. I also like this one because it comes with a steamer tray so you can cook your rice and veggies at the same time.

Silicone Strainer- Shop Here

I love this strainer for not only cleaning my rice but pasta too. It’s so nice to not have a million pans to clean after you cook so this little gadget is great. You just fasten it on the side of your pot and then pour out the water. It seriously makes life so much easier.

Mini Chopper- Shop Here

Not exactly sure how I lived my entire life with out this but a mini chopper seriously is so helpful. You just have to throw in whatever you want to chop and press the power button. It seriously does it for you and makes cooking faster. I also love this to chop up my onions so I don’t have to tear up while doing it!

Glass Containers- Shop Here

cooking favorites

This was something that I recently invested in but glass containers for storage are amazing. I really love them because you can put them back in the oven to reheat food which I prefer. I also like them because I feel like they keep the food better then the flimsy plastic ones.

Utensils- Shop Here

cooking favorites

My final favorite is new utensils. I think we all look over our utensils because they still function but new ones just hit differently. I have tried expensive ones in the past but find that the cheap ones do the job they need to. We all end up throwing them out anyway so why bother investing in super expensive ones.

With these cooking favorites in your kitchen, cooking will become your new favorite hobby. As with anything, having the right tools makes such a difference. I love cooking on nights when I have the time to make a meal because of these things!

If you loved this post, check out some recipe posts here! Be sure to subscribe here so you never miss a post!

Healthy Greek Bowl for Dinner!

As soon as I tried this for the first time, I knew I had to share this healthy greek bowl with you. This recipe is delicious and so easy to make. I also love it because it is so fresh and healthy, making it perfect for dinner when you’re trying to get back on your healthy routine.

I love bowls because of how customizable they are. You can add or take out whatever you don’t want, which makes this great to feed your family! This meal is plant based but you can easy make a meat protein for it like grilled chicken if you’re someone who needs that!! Here’s the healthy greek bowl recipe!

healthy greek bowl

Ingredients

  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 1/2 a cucumber
  • 1 c Bulgur (you can substitute with couscous too!)
  • Hummus
  • Feta Cheese (I use vegan)
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • Peper
  • Garlic Powder

Directions

  1. Dice your tomatoes, onion, and cucumber. Add them to a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix and set aside.
  2. Cook your bulgur according to the packaging. You want it to have no water left by the time your are done cooking it.
  3. Once the bulgar is finished, assemble your bowl with the veggies, hummus, bulgar, and feta cheese on top.

I literally told you this was the easiest meal ever. I love this because you can also prep it in the morning or even the day before and it sits really well in the fridge. This is such a fresh recipe and something I crave after the holidays when we’ve had a lot of heavy and dense meals.

You also get in all of your veggies and nutrients here too which is a plus! Like I said before, you can make this a little more filling by maybe adding a piece of grilled chicken on top. For me, the hummus really keeps me full and good to go!

If you loved this recipe and want more like it, click here for another easy bowl recipe! Be sure to subscribe here to the blog so you don’t miss any recipes!

How to Meal Plan Each Week

If the pandemic taught me anything, it was how to meal plan your dinners for the week. This not only makes life easier but it saves you money because you only have to go shopping like once a week. I usually will grocery shop on a Friday so I sit down on a Thursday and plan out what I want for dinner. By planning it out, I know what I’m making and I’m not tempted to order out.

The key to my meal planning is this little notepad. It has space to plan out literally your whole week and even your grocery list. I will usually just fill out the dinner side but I like that if I want to plan lunches or snacks I have enough space to. You can shop this notepad from Amazon here!

how to meal plan

One of the major tips I have for meal planning is actually creating an outline. I will usually have the same type of meals each week but change up the recipes. This makes planning easy because I know I’ll have a pasta night or a chicken night.

Sample Meal Schedule

  • Monday- Pasta
  • Tuesday- Salads
  • Wednesday- Fish
  • Thursday- Sandwiches
  • Friday- Turkey
  • Saturday- Beef
  • Sunday- Chicken

As you can see, each day of the week had the same things but I switched up the recipes. This is seriously such an easy way to plan because you don’t just have to think of an idea, you have the base. Also, I’m not super strict with my meal planning. If I’m not feeling a certain meal or want to order out one night, I’ll do watever feels best.

Most of my meals actually come from Pinterest so make sure you’re following me so you’re not missing out on the recipes I’m sharing. With my meal schedule, I just have to type in the keyword and then from there like millions of recipes pop up making life so much easier.

Once I have all of my meals, I’ll see what I have here versus what I need to get. I also always have a few things like almond milk or bread that we need every week so I’ll add those too.

I will do anything to make my life easier so I really hope this was helpful! Not only will my how to meal plan post save you time but it will save you money so you’re not buying random things at the store. Let me know in the comments below if you have any how to meal plan tips!

You can see more recipes here!

A Delicious Korean Turkey Recipe

This Korean turkey recipe is definitely something out of my comfort zone but it’s actually delicious! As many of you know, for the most part I am plant based. Once in awhile I will incorporate meet into my diet and Iove this recipe for that. The protein from the turkey makes this meal filling and somewhat healthy. Keep reading to learn how I make my Korean turkey recipe.

Ingredients:

3 lbs Ground Turkey

4 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 yellow onion

2 tbsp of minced garlic

1/4 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground giner

Red chili flakes (add to your liking)

Sesame seeds

3 c cooked rice

korean turkey recipe

Directions:

  1. I like to first dice up my onions and set aside. Next, I will start to cook the ground turkey in a large frying pan until cooked thoroughly.
  2. While the turkey is cooking, I add all the other things together to make my sauce except for the sesame seeds.
  3. Once the sauce is mixed and the turkey is finished, I’ll add the onions and sauce to the frying pan and let both sit covered for about 10 minutes. This step really helps the onions to soften and the sauce and meet to mix.
  4. When that is finished, I plate this with some white rice and top with sesame seeds!

I think you can see why this is one of my favorite recipes. I absolutely love how fast and easy this korean turkey recipe is. This makes for a really great meal prepped dinner or lunch if you want to prep this ahead of time. I prefer turkey over beef but you can obviously swap the turkey for ground beef, chicken, or even a plant based option!

Let me know in the comments below your favorite meal prep dinner! Check out my other recipes here!