Enter December and our new Instant Pot

I thought I would pop in and show my face again LOL.ย  This is about how I feel right now:

 

I just finished the last of my shows for the season. Now it’s just online orders to fill for the next couple of weeks. Business has been really busy and I kept thinking it would slow down, but even today it was quite busy. Not that busy is a bad thing, but the above meme about sums it up ๐Ÿ˜€

Biking season is pretty much done. I did bundle up for a few rides:

I still have not brought the bike inside yet. Maybe I can squeak in a bit more riding in December. It’s possible, right?

We put up our tree Thanksgiving weekend.

I love this tree so much. It’s very real looking.

I did succumb to a Black Friday deal:


That’s my Amazon link (full disclosure). I won a $50 gift certificate to Amazon, plus I had a promotional credit in my account. I ended up not paying much out of my pocket for the Instant Pot. Yippee!

We are hoping to replace the rice cooker, slow cooker and pressure cooker and save some space. First try was steel cut oats:

They came out yummy. I think it took maybe 20 minutes from start to finish, most of which was just the cook, so I didn’t have to do anything but have coffee while it cooked.

I really like my pressure cooker, but I haven’t used it much recently and working a pressure cooker on an electric stove is a real PITA.ย  The IP made it very easy.

We also tried doing a pot-in-pot recipe cooking the main and side at the same time. We did a chickpea curry with rice.ย  The sauce had to be thickened a little after cooking, but other than that, the rice turned out perfect!

John wants to make baked beans or (and) a cheesecake. I downloaded a couple free recipe books for the Instant Pot. Something like 700 recipes all together. That’s waaaay too many LOL.ย  It will be nice to incorporate this machine into cooking Christmas Eve dinner this year.

That’s life in a nutshell right now. Hope people are still reading!

18 thoughts on “Enter December and our new Instant Pot

  1. Shelley B

    I can imagine that you’ve been going 90-to-nothing this season – will you get to take a break soon?

    My friends have instant pots but so far I haven’t succumbed #notacook
    It will be fun to see what you make with yours – one of my friends loves to “bake” potatoes in hers!

    1. Lori Post author

      I am going to take Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas off at least. With that account I mentioned – I have no idea of what that will lead to, so I’m feeling slightly unsettled until something happens there.

  2. Helen

    I always wonder how much I would use an Instant Pot and worry it would just become another slow cooker for me. Although I briefly considered buying one this morning when they were teasing a segment on Good Morning America about a woman who started cooking all her meals in an Instant Pot and lost 100 pounds. HA!

    Glad to hear you’ve been business-busy though I imagine you’d prefer a regular flow over these crazy spurts.

    1. Lori Post author

      We will be able to get rid of at least 2 appliances – the rice cooker and the pressure cooker. I need to slow cook with this and see how it does and possibly get rid of the slow cooker, too. This also makes yogurt, although I’m not sure how much that interests me. I have cooked hard boiled eggs in it (this morning). Hopefully they came out okay!

  3. Lisa

    I’ve wanted an Instant Pot for a year but am reluctant to buy another kitchen appliance. I already have a crockpot…but I’m hoping santa brings one this year ๐Ÿ˜‰

  4. Julianne

    Still here! Hang in there – glad business is brisk but Iโ€™m sorry itโ€™s taking a toll on you. Your tree is beautiful!

  5. Lynne

    Still here! Glad to hear from you. I’ve been wondering about the Instant Pot myself. I don’t use a pressure cooker or a rice cooker, so getting the IP would ADD to my small appliances. But i’m still considering it. Looking forward to hearing more of your experiences with it. Your tree looks lovely!

  6. debby

    I’m so glad to hear from you. I was a little afraid that you might discover the joys of not blogging ๐Ÿ™‚

    Yay for December bike rides!

    I don’t quite get the appeal of the instant pot. Maybe I’ll have to investigate that.

  7. Susan

    Still here Lori! Your tree is so pretty! I miss your garden reports.
    I imagine you are done for the season though being in cold
    country.
    Glad your business is doing well! Being to busy is a great
    problem to have versus not enough sales.
    Interesting to hear about your “insta pot”.
    I see your pics on Facebook but I still hope you will blog.

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