Busy Much? Instant Pot to the Rescue
I’m all in for life. All in to take care of my kids, neighbors, friends, family, and whoever needs it. Sometimes (maybe a lot of times) I overextend myself. So all I do is run around like a chicken with its head cut off.
Run here, run there. Day in and day out. And somehow I’m supposed to have time to make dinner every night, too?
I needed a game changer. You know, like ordering your groceries online and then just picking them up. If you haven’t done it, do it!
Instant Pot saves the day—more like many days
Okay, now I’m just getting off track. Back to dinner.
As I was talking to my sister one day, she mentioned that she loved her new Instant Pot. I really hadn’t heard much about these, so I started researching. All I found was how amazing they are.
Sometimes you can believe everything you read on the internet. Because this thing is AMAZING. Steam your veggies in one minute. Yes, you read the right—one minute to perfectly beautiful steamed asparagus. Taste the best hard-boiled eggs you’ve ever had in seven minutes.
One day, I realized I hadn’t planned much for dinner for the week and started thinking what I could do to help for a few nights. I pulled out six frozen chicken breasts, put them in my Instant Pot, and within 30 minutes they were done. I used that chicken in a couple of recipes throughout the week.
Tips From My Lessons Learned
I will say that I haven’t had my Instant Pot that long. I haven’t made a ton of recipes yet, and I’m still learning the tricks. Here are two of the “pro” tips I’ve found:
- Pressuring up takes a little bit of time: On top of the recipe cook time, keep in mind that your Instant Pot will take a few minutes to “come to pressure.” Mine seems to take five to 10 minutes, depending on how much food is in it. It is something to plan on. For me, it’s nice because I can get other things ready while I wait.
- Sauté up a storm: One great feature is the ability to sauté in your Instant Pot. One day I decided to make chicken noodle soup. I used the sauté setting to cook the chicken, celery, onions, and garlic first. Then I poured in all of the liquid and remaining ingredients to finish cooking. It’s truly a one-stop shop. You can even cook pasta and sauce together at one time, in the same pot.
Recipes I Stumbled Upon and Enjoyed
I haven’t come up with my own recipes yet. Of course, there are endless blogs you can search that have easy, amazing options. I’d like to share a few of the favorites I’ve discovered.
4-Ingredient Instant Pot Chile Verde
From Two Peas & Their Pod
One-Minute Quinoa and Veggies
From Super Healthy Kids
Pressure Cooker Chili-Lime Chicken
From Our Best Bites
Instant Pot Korean Beef
From Cookies and Cup
Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
From Nomnompaleo
Take the Instant Pot plunge
The fabulous Instant Pot is quick. So quick that even as busy as I am, I still have time to experiment and find recipes I enjoy. I’ve already learned how to tweak them for my family’s needs. What you’ll find when you buy yours is the same thing I found—it takes no time to start delivering quick and delicious meals. Do yourself a favor and purchase the Instant Pot. You’ll thank me for it. Your busy life will thank me for it. And any additional mouths you might be feeding will thank you for it.
Learn more about the Instant pot.
I love my instant pot! I use it all the time. Some of my favorites are vegetable soup, chili, seafood chowder, sausage rice soup, ham and roasted garlic mashed potatoes, corned beef, rice and all different veggies steamed.