Instant Pot love

The Instant Pot. I firmly believe this one kitchen item is MOM GOLD.

Unless you are the Chrissy Teigen type, you need an Instant Pot. Home girl can COOK. (Follow her on Snapchat and prepare to be amazed.)

This crazy thing can cook frozen chicken, cook spaghetti squash, cook rice, boil eggs, make soup, sauté meat, slow cook just like your crock pot, make yogurt, reheat leftovers, and cook a roast. And the newest one can do even more. Y’all. It can MAKE CAKE?!

Also, the newest one has a sanitize function! Like throw all the bottles and pacifiers and clean them?!

Are you convinced yet? Imagine all the cabinet and counter top space you could save if you got rid of your crockpot, rice cooker ,and  yogurt maker (I don’t actually own one of these and never will but I’m sure some super mom out there makes her own yogurt.) Cluttered counter tops make me nuts and this is the answer to my prayers.

Any mama’s like to make their own baby food? Get an Instant Pot. Trust me.

I don’t mean to sound like a crazy person. But I am serious when I say I use my Instant Pot almost every day.

Here are some of my favorite ways to use it:

• Chicken. There are so many recipes out there that call for cooked chicken. Boiling chicken on the stove seems to take forever. And for some reason, every single time I try to bake chicken in the oven, I overcook it. Every time. I can throw in a pound of chicken with a cup of chicken broth, set the timer for 9 minutes and walk away. Forgot to thaw your chicken? No worries. Set the timer for 12 minutes. Done.
  • A little secret I learned: if you need to shred your chicken use your hand held mixer. Genius. Just wait until it is cooled down a little. Or have some lavender on hand for when it splatters and burns the shit out of you. Not that I have ever done that….
• Spaghetti Squash: We are big fans of spaghetti squash around here, but it can take forever to cook in the oven. I follow this recipe for IP spaghetti squash and love it http://bit.ly/IPspagsquash .
• Boiled eggs: I like my boiled eggs just a little soft so I use the 5:5:5 method for my IP eggs. 5 minute pressure cook. 5 minute natural pressure release or NPR. 5 minute ice bath. Perfect every time. If you like your eggs a little more firm cook for 6 minutes. (Natural pressure release simply means once your IP beeps to tell you that it’s done cooking, don’t touch it. Just let it sit and do its thing.)
• Rice cooker: This took me a little longer to get the hang of, but I honestly had only made boxed rice prior to my IP. Real rice was totally new to me because who has time for real rice on the stove? 45 minutes? Um no. Get outta here stove. Bye. The IP comes with a small book of instructions which include cooking times. I follow the rice cooking times and water ratios from the book. You can also cook your rice in bulk, freeze it in individual serving sizes, and reheat it in your IP. Just undercook it a tad so it isn’t overcooked after you reheat. Usually reheating only takes about 5 minutes.
• Reheat leftovers: This is a new one for me. In the Darnell house we use our microwave as little as possible. Because radiation…So when I learned I could reheat my leftovers without making a mess on the stove, I was pumped. Just pour your water into the bottom of the pot, place your metal steam rack in, and put your food in an oven safe glass bowl. Most of my leftovers have been done in less than 5 minutes. I don’t have to stand there and stir it. I can throw the bowl in the dishwasher, and it’s super-fast. Winning.
• Baby food: I use almost the same method here as I do for leftovers. Water, metal rack, glass bowl. I then add whatever veggies I want into the bowl. Once the veggies are cooked, I simply blend them up and pour them into a Tupperware or reusable pouch. I do the same for fruits I want to add in to sweeten things up (apples and pears are our fav)

 

So needless to say, I’m obsessed. My family would eat out WAY more often if it wasn’t for our trsuty ol’ Instant Pot.

Convinced you need this in your life immediately? Purchase one here: http://amzn.to/2tmYI5m  (¬ my first affiliate link! Hooray!)

Let me know in the comments if you would like more recipes and how-to on the instant pot.

 

Now get to cookin!

 

Kisses,

Mama Darnell