cooking

A Condo Vacation’s Best Friend: The Instant Pot!

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Merry Christmas to me!
Merry Christmas to me!

I got an Instant Pot for Christmas from Dave and my boys!** Whoo!

**No, I don’t mind getting kitchen appliances as gifts. I find a lot of joy in the kitchen and the geeky side of me loves checking out the latest in “kitchen tech.”

Believe it or not, through all my cooking adventures, I never delved too much into pressure cooking. I remember my parents’ pressure cooker, it was the kind with the little weight that sat on top: when the pressure was just right, the little weight would rock back and forth singing an undulating whistle of steam. I don’t remember the specific recipes they’d cook, I think it was vegetable soup and maybe chili.

It was years before I’d really delve into how a pressure cooker works and why it could be one of the most useful things in a busy family’s kitchen.

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Blue Apron: No, They Didn’t Pay Me to Say What I’ve Been Saying

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This was my family's favorite Blue Apron meal so far.
This was my family’s favorite Blue Apron meal so far. The chicken was flavorful, the potatoes were delicious, and that’s a homemade honey-mustard dipping sauce!

I know you’ve been seeing the numerous Instagram posts about our family’s Blue Apron meals. Unlike many of the other reviews out there, Blue Apron did not send me a bunch of free meals in return for the publicity.

However, I did take advantage of a promotion they often offer to new customers: your first four meals are delivered for the price of one.

I’ve been getting their meal boxes periodically for 2 months now and I wanted to summarize my thoughts on the program. This is a data dump of the features our family likes, as well as the things our family doesn’t like. I’ll try to organize the thoughts so it can be useful to someone.

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Major Mom’s Back to Basics Campaign: Homemade Corn Tortillas

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No, not pretty, but so tasty!
No, not pretty, but so tasty!

My husband and I made a radical change to our diets this new year. We are attempting a Gluten-Free lifestyle. We aren’t allergic to gluten, but we are trying to see if some lingering ailments subside: joint discomfort, congestion, and (for Dave) IT band problems. I’ve not had arthritis in my hands or knees for the past week (a problem I’ve had in cold climates for many years) so I think we might be on to something.

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An Unpacking Break to Share Dave’s BACON EXPLOSION from June 7th

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Presenting, Dave's first-ever BACON EXPLOSION! It was very good, but this log serves 24 people.
Presenting, Dave’s first-ever BACON EXPLOSION! It was very good, but this log serves 24 people.

Dave’s squadron in Florida has an annual tradition: BACONFEST! One day, everyone shares their favorite bacon recipes.

In 2011 Dave made bacon cream cheese roll ups, and I can’t remember what he did in 2012, if he did anything at all.

While it was tempting to make another beer-bacon cheesecake, this year Dave proclaimed, “I’M MAKING A BACON EXPLOSION!”.

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On My Latest Trip to Super Walmart: Ice Cream News

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This is really yummy!
This is really yummy!

Tonight I went to the Bellevue, Nebraska Walmart Super Center mainly to pick up some Dorothy Lynch salad dressing for my boys. It’s the only kind Timmy will have on his salads, otherwise he eats his salad “dry”.

I decided to pick up a small container of ice cream for myself while I was there, and I was in search of a pint-sized container, such as Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen-Dazs.

I found the gelato pictured above, and it’s very yummy! While I have been sitting here watching the NFL Draft enjoying it, I looked at the nutrition information:

  • Serving size: 1/2 cup
  • Number of Servings: 3.5

What?

Then I looked at the size of the container: 14 ounces?

Scammed again!

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