Quite a while ago, I made a shocking confession here at My Little Blue Kayak. I confessed to the world that I was having a love affair with someone incredibly important to me. She was laid back, easy-going and nice to look at; I am talking about my crock pot of course. I had started using it several times per month and really enjoyed coming home to a piping hot dinner that smelled awesome. Well, I have had my slow cooker for probably 20 years and she still works great. But it is time for a new confession; I haven’t used it in forever.
I have given my heart to another and don’t anticipate needing my crock pot, well ever. In October, we went on vacation with Number 9 and his wife and they brought their Instant Pot. When Mother Fran and Number 7 returned to Florida, I borrowed their Instant Pot from the cottage and began experimenting. In December my honey and I took the plunge and bought our own Instant Pot and I fell in love! I have officially joined the Instant Pot Fan Club. This pot has a bunch of different setting including saute, pressure cook, steam and can even make yogurt. Oh, it also has a slow cook function so goodbye crock pot!
I make mashed potatoes with no peeling or chopping! I put a cup of water in the pot, place whole potatoes on the rack and cook them for 20 minutes. The cooking time is actually longer than that as the pot must heat to high pressure before the timed cooking begins and it must release the steam slowly at the end. Once everything is in the pot though, I can walk away and forget about it. When the time is up, the steam will release slowly on its own and then hold the temperature until I turn it off. One dish had the potatoes on the bottom, carrots layered on top and seasoned pork chops on top of that. One pot for everything so clean up was a cinch! I make yummy soups and stews in this pot.
I completed my first Whole30 several years ago and since that time, I don’t tend to eat much dairy. I do however need to eat probiotic foods to help with my digestive issues so I include some yogurt. The only yogurt I eat is homemade and fermented for 24 hours to eliminate the lactose; it is packed with good bacteria. I start with whole milk from grass- fed cows that I purchase from a local farm, it is fresh and oh so creamy. Making yogurt in the Instant Pot is simple and stores easily in Mason Jars in the fridge.
Forgot to defrost something for dinner? No problem. I see easy recipes that start with frozen meat. How cool is that? I haven’t experimented with this yet but Number 9 has and he assures me it works!
In summary the top reasons I love this pot are:
It is versatile
It is easy to use
I can set it and forget i
It is easy to clean
It can cook fast or slow
It can cook meat from frozen
It can even make yogurt
Please share why YOU LOVE YOUR INSTANT POT in the comment section!
In our family Number 9 bought the first pot and loved it; he even has a back up in case he wants to cook 2 things at once. Since that time, Child #1, #2, #3, #7 all have bought or received one as a gift. I bet that between us, we have each talked it up to one friend who have gone out and bought one as well. There ought to be some kind of family discount at this point.
I am not affiliated with Instant Pot nor do I receive any type of discount. I just love this pot and recommend you give it a try. If you are getting bored in the kitchen, maybe it is time cheat on your crock pot. If you aren’t ready to take the plunge, maybe you can borrow one from a friend for a week or two to do some experimenting. You won’t regret it!
Choosing Health with my Instant Pot!
Lake Girl
Lake, what took you so long? Be honest … You’ve been flirting with the instant pot for a long time now.
As you know, I’ve made a lot of yogurt in mine. I’ve been going more dairy free recently. I just made a batch of soy yogurt that came out OK. Yogurt turned out fine, along with the consistency. But I just don’t like soy milk! I’ll try some dairy free yogurt next time using oat milk.
I make a big batch of steel cut oatmeal every week in it, and reheat the leftovers up for the rest of the week.
I recently started making things with Beans and lentils in it.
I will start using it as a steamer soon.
I want to try Goat’s Milk Yogurt! I tried the milk twice. Once it was really strong but a different brand was really tasty. Read up on 24 hour yogurt. I think it removes the lactulose essentially making it ok for people trying to reduce dairy. Tastes the same to me. Thanks for reading!