Instant Pot recipes

Hi.  Yes, I am still here, but have been spending more time living life and working on projects than updating the blog.  I catch myself thinking ‘I should make a blog post about this’ so one of these days I will write about some of my current projects.

Just wanted everyone (anyone?) to know that I just added the links to some of my family’s current favorite Instant Pot recipes to the ‘Links to Instant Pot Recipes’ page.  Tonight I cooked the Pork Chops and they were very good.

Do you have a favorite Instant Pot recipe?  If so, please share the link.

Later – Heather

Tip Tuesday

So, I made some gluten-free sourdough starter with sorghum flour that I had in the house from the following recipe and we thought it was too sour.

https://successfullyglutenfree.blogspot.com/2013/12/easy-gluten-free-sourdough-starter.html

And, then I realized I didn’t have any brown rice flour in the house, but I realized that I had brown rice in the pantry so I ground some of the brown rice with a older coffee grinder (which hadn’t been used for coffee) similar to this one and made my own brown rice flour!

https://www.target.com/p/mr-coffee-174-blade-grinder-black-ids57-np/-/A-16391441?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&CPNG=PLA_Appliances%2BShopping&adgroup=SC_Appliances_Food+Dehydrators&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9030852&gclsrc=aw.ds&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1247068&ds_rl=1246978&ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Appliances+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Appliances_Food%20Dehydrators&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9030852&gclid=CjwKCAjw6-_eBRBXEiwA-5zHadkXcFHD7V0BYp0KC6q7QsO17p_9CJ-gNlpOm-ZmRcdib-k4wi3E9xoCxD4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

At the moment the brown rice flour and water are sitting on the counter.  Later this week / next week I will report back how the sourdough bread turned out.

What creative cooking tips have you done lately?

Later – Heather

 

Homemade Ranch Dressing (Gluten-free even)

Another favorite recipe that I even have problems finding on the blog.  I updated the blog post even.  Enjoy!

While on vacation we decided we liked the flavor of the Restaurant Ranch Dressing (for dipping fries,etc) better than the ‘name brand’ gluten-free Ranch Dressing we have been buying for years.  I asked around and found out we probably could buy ‘Restaurant style’ Ranch Dressing, but it comes in large containers – about a gallon.

So, I did a Google search and found ‘Chili’s Ranch Dressing Recipe’ on http://www.food.com

http://www.food.com/recipe/chilis-ranch-dressing-392314

When I just went to check that the link was still valid it took me to:

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/amazing-pickle-juice-ranch-dressing-392314

I will definitely need to keep the link to this recipe handy.

Enjoy – Heather

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Crockpot fall off the bone ribs!

I figured it was time to rerun this post since it is still one of my favorites and hard to find on the blog.  Enjoy!

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!  Since the local grocer had ribs on sale I decided we would have them last week, but we decided it was too hot to even cook them outside on the grill.

So, I wanted an easy (and hopefully cooler) way to cook the ribs so I went Google searching with the words Crockpot and Ribs.

I wish I came up with this idea since the ribs turned out SO good!  Here is the link to the site I used:  http://www.mylifeasamrs.com/2011/05/crockpot-bbq-ribs.html

The ribs I bought came pre-rubbed so all I did was cut the rack in two and put them in the crockpot.  I cooked mine on Low for 6 hours and then kept them warm for a few hours.

Husband put them on the grill (with the BBQ sauce), but he only flipped them a couple of time before the meat was falling off the bones!

So, I forgot to take a photo of the ribs prior to eating them, but here is a photo of a few ‘clean’ bones that the meat fell off the bones by itself.

 

Depending upon what is in your rub or BBQ sauce this could definitely be a gluten-free meal.

 

Enjoy! – Heather

Beef Vegetable Instant Pot Soup

So, my goal this year is to convert some of my Slow Cooker recipes for use in the Instant Pot.  This one is loosely based off some of the Beef and Vegetable Soups listed in the Fix-it and Forget-It Cookbook Feasting with your Slow Cooker by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good.

I used those recipies as a starting point and then used what we had in the house.

Ingredients:

• Approximately 1 pound of beef cut into small pieces
• 2 pounds of fresh vegetables which included
  • 2 potatoes roughly chopped
  • 3 large carrots roughly chopped
  • cut up celery ribs
  • cut up fresh green beans
• flour  (any, but in my case gluten-free)
• garlic powder to taste
• onion powder to taste
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 medium onion chopped
• 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 32 oz beef stock (I use the kind in a box)
• olive oil

1. Mix the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a plastic bag or in the bottom of a pie tin.  Dredge the beef pieces through the flour mixture.
2.  Plug in your Instant Pot and turn on to Saute
3. Pour a small amount of olive oil into the Instant Pot.
4. Put the beef pieces in the Instant Pot and brown.  Remove the beef pieces after they are all partly browned.
5. Add the beef broth, diced tomatoes, vegetables, chopped onion and beef pieces to the Instant Pot while it is still on the Saute setting.
6. Stir all the ingredients together.
7. Add stock until it is below the Max Line.
8. Keep using the Saute feature until the liquid starts to get hot.
9. Turn off the Instant Pot and then set it to High Pressure for about 10 minutes.
10. After it is done, turn off the Instant Pot and do a Quick Release of the pressure.
11. Check that the liquid level still covers all of the ingredients.  Add more liquid, if needed.
12. Use the Slow Cook feature and set to ‘More’ (high temperature setting) and for over 4 hours.

After about 5 hours we were hungry.  The potatoes and carrots were soft and it smelled amazing.

My family really liked how the soup turned out.

 

What have you made in the Instant Pot lately?

Later – Heather

 

 

Crispy Slow Cooker Carnitas

I made a slightly modified version of this recipe tonight and it was a hit.  So, I figured I would share and post it here so I don’t forget where I found it.

Do you watch/ listen to YouTube bloggers?  Well, I have found some I really like, but that list will be for a post in the future.

But, this recipe was published on YouTube on June 28, 2017 by ‘She’s in Her Apron’.  A friend of hers found it from ‘Gimme Some Oven’ and the direct link is below:

Crispy Slow Cooker Carnitas

I actually had two cooked, plain, shredded chicken breasts in the fridge that I didn’t have a plan for.  So, I put the shredded meat in a saucepan and made the sauce with the addition of the juice from one Halo mandarins.  I then simmered it on medium-low for about 30 minutes.

After than I followed the actual recipe.  The husband commented on how good the house smelled when he came in the door and was more than happy to eat three tacos with this meat in them for dinner.

So, let me know if you try it and if you liked it.  This is definitely going in my list of Go To meals.

Heather

 

Instant Pot Korean Beef

I got an Instant Pot 7 in 1 for Christmas.  Our daughter sent me a link to the Instant Pot recipes listed on the Cookies and Cups website.  This one sounded interesting.

http://cookiesandcups.com/instant-pot-korean-beef/

I knew we had the ingredients in the house – even an apple that we needed to eat soon.

I even made it on the pressure cooker settings.   The Instant Pot ran really quiet versus when my mom used to use a stove top pressure cooker.

I am happy to say that it was a hit with my family.  Now to figure out what I will be making next.

Do you have an Instant Pot?   What are your favorite recipes?

Later – Heather

Giveaway: Build a Budget that Works by Jessi Fearon

So, you all know that I try to be thrifty by doing DIY projects, making food from scratch, using coupons, find deals at the Thrift Stores and finding the best deals on the new items or services we need to buy.  Well, another way is by keeping your family on a budget (and one that works is even better).

Jessi Fearon sent me a copy of the Build a Budget that Works  book to review as part of her book launch.

I am glad I got it since it reminded me of categories that I sometimes forget to budget for (like recently needing tires for our truck [which I found a sale on] and now it sounds like we will need them for the car also this year – ouch,  definitely not something I planned for, but I will be looking for a deal on those also).

I will continue to tweak our budget using the tips in Jessi’s book.

So,  would you like to win a FREE copy of the Build a Budget that Works book?  I was given one copy to give away to a reader.

Between now and Thursday 20 November 2014 make a comment (which will be delayed in posting since I have to approve them) with your name and email address.  After that I will pick a winner using a Random Number Generator (hey, I have to use something nerdy).

Good luck!   – H

Amazing Chicken Drumsticks (gluten free even)

Well, I have worked on a couple of posts in the last few days with the intention of posting at least one soon.  But, I made these amazing Chicken Drumsticks (gluten free even) tonight so I had to share it first.

I had done a search for ‘spicy chicken legs’ and this recipe caught my attention:

http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2014/03/spicy-roasted-chicken-drumsticks.html

I made a couple of minor changes since I didn’t have a pan that could be used on the stovetop and then put in the oven.

a) I put a little butter in a 13×9 baking pan and put it in the oven so it would be hot when the chicken was ready to be put in the oven.  (When I put the chicken in the pan I added a little olive oil also.)

b) I ended up cooking the chicken at 375 degrees F by accident (and my chicken drumsticks were really meaty) so I cooked them for 45 minutes.

Oh, and I added the link to my ‘Links to other peoples gluten-free recipes’ page which is under ‘Gluten free pages’ so I can also find it easily in the future.

Let me know if you try them yourself.

Later – H

Gluten-free Carrot Cake Cupcakes….

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter.  We were supposed to go out of town to visit family, but the family is sick.  So, we decided to stay home.

Yesterday we went to Costco and they had their (wheat) Carrot Cake Cupcakes on sale.  They looked so good!  I didn’t pick any up, but I did come home and decided to make some Gluten-free ones.  Not sure if mine cost less, but I at least was able to control all of the ingredients that went into them.

This is the link to the recipe I used:

http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreecakerecipes/r/glutenfreecarrotcake.htm

Oh, and by the way I added a page that lists other people’s gluten-free recipes that I have tried and liked.  This is partly so I don’t have to keep finding the recipe and to give you some help also.  Your welcome.

Later – H