Category: Small “c”

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

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Another holiday is upon us and of course I found a way to use my instant pot to its best advantage…Easter Eggs! Of course before we could do any coloring, I needed to cook the dozen eggs. What would I do without this wonderful kitchen tool?

Now, some may say that you could easily make the eggs on the stovetop instead of using the IP, but honestly, they haven’t seen me cook. I have tried the stove and they don’t always come out right. My husband tried the hack of using the over and a muffin tin, but then your eggs get this brown burnish tinge to them that doesn’t play well with coloring your eggs. I have never had any problems using the IP. So here is what I did…

Materials:

Ingredients:

  • One dozen eggs
  • Water
  • Ice

Procedure:

  1. Pour one cup water into your Instant Pot .
  2. Insert steamer rack and basket.
  3. Place eggs in basket. –if you are using less than a dozen eggs, you can use the insert dividers or tinfoil to keep the eggs from moving around too much.
  4. Put the lid on the Instant Pot and close the vent. Set on Manual on high heat for five minutes.
  5. Let natural pressure release for five minutes, then quick release the rest. You may want to use a towel to turn the vent, it will be hot!
  6. Prepare a bowl with water and ice. You need enough that it will completely cover your eggs.
  7. Using tongs, move eggs carefully into the bowl containing the ice water. —Be careful not to drop the eggs into the ice bath. I did that and an egg broke.
  8. When eggs are cool, use your favorite coloring kit or eat them as is.

Of course, coloring eggs is a great small “c” activity that can be done with the whole family. My son had a friend over today and I have to say that even teenagers can still have fun coloring eggs (Dad helped too!).

I plan to use the Instant Pot a lot this weekend as I prep food for the holiday. I picked up both a roast and lobster tails from Aldi, so I haven’t decided which will grace our table on Sunday. I am leaning towards tails on Saturday and roast on Sunday. What are you planning on making?

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Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Growing up, it was a tradition that St. Patrick’s Day meant corned beef and cabbage. I have been trying for over twenty years to duplicate the texture and flavor of my mom’s traditional dish. I have tried slow cookers, the oven, and the stovetop; but none of it has come out with that falling apart texture or buttery flavorful cabbage. So I did a test run with the Instant Pot.

I have to admit, I did my research beforehand and was shocked to see that people were saying it takes 90 minutes in the IP. However, I saw it in multiple places so there had to be something to it. Worse-case scenario, I was down a couple bucks for the price of the meat. This is a two-part IP recipe since if you put everything in the pot at once, your cabbage will basically be non-existent. When the 90min countdown was done, I was nervous that we would be eating McD’s instead for dinner. However, when step two was complete, I have to admit things were looking good.

Good is an understatement! This was the best corned beef and cabbage that I have ever had (sorry, Mom!). So if you want to duplicate it, here is what I did:

Materials:

•6qt Instant Pot

• Cutting board

• Knife

• Measuring cup

Ingredients:

  • 2lb Corned beef with seasonings
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • Five small white potatoes, halved
  • Small cabbage, quartered
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup baby carrots

Procedure:

  1. Place corned beef in Instant Pot with chicken broth and seasoning.
  2. Set IP to Manual, high-heat, for 90 minutes. NPR
  3. Add cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Top with butter.
  4. Set IP to Manual, high-heat, for 5 minutes. NPR
  5. Serve and enjoy!

Creativity means not just doing things the way they have always been done. I love updating family favorites using modern techniques or tools. Do you have any family traditions that you have put a new spin on?

Happiness and Cake

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Did you know that March 20th is the International Day of Happiness? What makes it even doubly happy for me is that I will be defending my dissertation proposal. So fingers crossed!

Maybe because Happiness Day falls in March, but many refer to the month as Mindful March or Happiness Month. So for this month, I will be talking a lot about happiness. Happiness and creativity often go hand in hand. Last night was my first night without any homework, dissertation work, group work, or class meetings for a couple of weeks now…yes, it has been rough so far which is why this site has been empty of any updates. However, I left work in an awesome mood and I had energy last night, so I decided to put some everyday creativity to work. I baked!

Okay, so it might not look like much, but this Pineapple Upside Down Cake was the first one I ever tried to make and it was so yummy. I brought some with me to work today for lunch and it was even better the next day. I can’t wait until dinner tonight because I can have some more for dessert. Yum!

If you would like to make your own, here is what I did:

Ingredients:

  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 can pineapple rings (keep the juice!)
  • 1 can pitted cherries
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs

Materials:

Procedure:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 325.
  2. Drain your pineapple juice from the can into a measuring cup. You should get about 1 cup, but if not, add enough water to equal 1 cup.
  3. Dump your pineapple juice, oil, and eggs in the mixer. Mix until well combined.
  4. Add your cake mix, mix on medium speed for about 2min. Set Aside.
  5. Take your 13×9 pan and coat the bottom with the melted butter.
  6. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the butter evenly over the pan.
  7. Place your pineapple rings evenly over the bottom of the pan, on top of the butter/brown sugar combo.
  8. Place your cherries in any open spaces left on the bottom of your pan.
  9. Next, dump your cake batter evenly on top of the fruit.
  10. Bake for 45-50 min. Use a toothpick to check for doneness. If the toothpick, when poked in the middle, does not come out clean, put your cake in the oven for a few more minutes. Be careful not to burn the cake!
  11. Take out of the oven and let cool.
  12. Take a spatula and loosen the edges of the cake from the pan.
  13. Place parchment paper on top of the cake with a baking sheet on top of that and flip your cake pan so the cake is now upside down on the baking sheet.
  14. Enjoy!

Seriously, how can you not be happy when you have such a sweet dessert as a treat?

Sometimes You Have an Instant Pot Winner

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So my pasta dinner in the Instant Pot might have been a fail, but my Beef Stew was an insta[pot] success!

This was so good, I forget to take a picture, this is my second helping (I skipped lunch).

Materials:

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 lb beef stew meat
  • sea salt (to taste)
  • pepper (to taste)
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 1 16oz can diced tomatoes, do not drain
  • 1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix
  • 1 Bay lead
  • 1/4 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp rosemary
  • 1 cup diced carrot
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 4-5 small potatoes, cubed
  • 1/4 cup mashed potatoes

Procedure:

1. In the Instant Pot, set on Sauté onion and garlic with olive oil. Cook until onions start to turn translucent.

2. Add beef stew meat, season with salt and pepper first.

3. Add beef broth.

4. Add tomatoes

5. Add packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix.

6. Add bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary.

7. Add carrot, potatoes, and celery.

8. Stir and place the lid on the Instant Pot. Set on Meat/Stew on High for 20 minutes. Make sure vent is closed.

9. Let NPR for 15 min.

10. To thicken, stir in instant mashed potato flakes.

If you have ever had the Beef Stew at Cracker Barrel, this is very similar. The tomatoes break down and the onions disintegrate into the sauce. The potatoes breaking down will make the sauce thicker, but I help things along by adding the mashed potatoes. It tastes better than adding flour or cornstarch.

We ate this served over egg noodles. Because I used the last of my beef bouillon (which meant basically dumping in the remainder of my jar) and added the soup mix, this was a little salty, but it was so good. I have brought the leftovers to lunch at work all week. Perfect for the chilly office!

Paprikás Csirke Hack with the Instant Pot

NotQuiteSuperhuman2 Comments

I am a quarter Hungarian and grew up on Paprikás Csirke with Nokedli …basically Hungarian chicken and dumplings with lots of paprika and served with sour cream. Somehow time got away from me yesterday, so I decided to make a hacked version via the Instant Pot. I say hacked because I started with frozen chicken breasts and instead of making the nokedli (i.e. the dumplings) from scratch, I made a pot of Mrs. T’s Cheddar and Potato Pirogies.

Materials:

  • 6qt Instant Pot
  • Stock pot
  • Plate
  • Large spoon
  • Tongs
  • 2 forks ( to shred chicken)

Ingredients:

  • Three frozen Chicken Breasts
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 Tsp minced garlic
  • 1 Tsp onion powder
  • 2 Tbs paprika
  • 1 Tsp black pepper
  • 1 Tsp sea salt
  • 2 Tbs butter
  • 1 bag frozen pierogis
  • Sour cream (to taste)

Procedure:

1. Place chicken stock, garlic, butter, and seasonings in Instant Pot. Stir together.

2. Place three frozen chicken breasts in pot. Be careful not to overlap as this will affect the cooking. No one wants raw chicken.

3. Set Instant Pot on Poultry on High for 15 minutes. Let NPR for 15 minutes.

4. While your Instant Pot is heating up and getting ready to count down, start a pot of boiling water for the pirogies. Cook per instructions on the bag (usually 5-7 minutes once water starts boiling).

5. When your Instant Pot is done, pull chicken out and shred. Place shredded chicken back in pot and mix with the broth.

6. Dish out some pirogies and top with chicken mixture. Make sure to get some of that broth.

7. Top with sour cream.

Personally, I think I could have used more paprika in this dish, but the guys really liked it. It was quick and easy and very filling. You could of course swap out the pirogies with egg noodles or even your own nokedli (I have even used canned biscuits dropped in boiling water before).

Enjoy!