Instant Pot 101 - Unboxing & Water Test

I've had a few friends receive their Instant Pots and ask, "What now?!" A friend even said, "You should make a video!" So, here you go...

To support this blog, please use one of my Amazon affiliate links to purchase your Instant Pot:

INSTANT POT LUX60 - 6 QUART

INSTANT POT DUO60 - 6 QUART

INSTANT POT DUO80 - 8 QUART

6 QUART EXTRA POT LINER  AND STORAGE LID

8 QUART EXTRA POT LINER

WELCOME TO THE CULT CLUB!!

Chore Chart

Does anyone else play 21 questions with their kids every morning and night? Have you brushed your teeth? Did you go to the bathroom? Where are your jammies? I wanted to give the kids a way to see what was expected of them, but also something that would give them a sense of accomplishment.

I looked at poster charts, but I wanted something that could be used over and over again and repurposed sometime in the future. What kid doesn't love stickers? I just don't want to keep buying them...

One day I was trying to fit all my sheet pans into their cupboard, and I got upset because this one with handles just never quite fits in my other jelly roll pans. Then it hit me...this was perfect for a chore chart! In there is some wonderful analogy about being different and meant for a specific purpose... 

I went into my spray paint stash - because everyone has a stash, right? If you're buying paint, be sure it's meant for metal. I was deciding between the teal, matte black, and gunmetal. I decided the teal would be too high-contrast with our wall color.

I settled on a 'hammered gunmetal' paint and set up shop in the garage. I didn't spray on the cooking surface, because I didn't expect to use that side. Painting on a box will help you get to the sides and will keep it from getting 'stuck' to your drop cloth.

Once the paint dried, I used masking tape to make a channel and used a silver sharpie to make a center line.

I printed out three basic 'chores' for each child that would be moved from night to day - brush teeth, go potty, pajamas (on or off). I 'laminated' them with packing tape, and glued magnets on the back. I also made a morning/night header that was taped down. I wanted everything to be visual, because my tiny people can't read yet.

 

I got two command strips (the velcro ones) and did a strip on the top handle and a strip on the bottom handle.

The kids love it! My son views it as a race, and he tries to 'move his pieces' first. My daughter could care less about winning, but it's great for her to visually see what is left to do (in addition to setting minimum expectations).  Instead of mom being the bad guy, I ask 'are your pieces moved?' and they handle the rest.

I like that this project can grow with us, as we add more responsibilities. It can go horizontal in the future for actual chores and days of the week.

The base concept can be used for all sorts of fun projects. You can use the alphabet fridge magnets for spelling practice, tie strings on washers to make 'mazes', etc.

EGG-cellent Pressure Cooker Eggs!

I love eating eggs, but the hassle of boiling and peeling them is so annoying! No, it's not the most complicated task, but my peeled eggs often look like Freddy Kreuger peeled them. I found myself buying bags of pre-boiled/peeled eggs, and cringe at how expensive they were when compared to a carton of eggs.

Well, like with many other kitchen tasks, the Instant Pot is a game changer! Even Alton Brown (my culinary hero) says steamed eggs are the best.

There are many, many, many egg recipes for the Instant Pot. This is what worked for me and the texture we like to eat.

I added 1 cup of water to my Instant Pot. Then, I put a metal steamer down in the pot.

 I loaded it up with 2 dozen eggs. Note the manual cook time of 4 minutes.

Now, this is where the main 'boiled' egg recipes differ. You may find some recipes that say to cook your eggs for 12-16 minutes - that's because they do a quick release and straight into an ice bath. I continued to cook them in a natural pressure release. I did 5 minutes, but honestly - 4 would have been better.

Some of my eggs cracked. There are theories that eggs touching the side will crack (my cracked ones go counter to that theory), and others that you should let your eggs get to room-temp before cooking. Not the end of the world.

Three on the bottom were awesome explosions! Only one yolk ruptured, the others were just odd oblong shapes. All the eggs went into a bowl with lots of ice to instantly stop them from cooking.

I was looking for the right-sized tupperware to store them in but realized I had the perfect plastic carton!! I washed it out with soap/water first and dried it before loading up the boiled eggs. See the lovely 'odd' eggs in the back left? They still taste the same!!

So, in Instant Pot terms, I do 'boiled' eggs for 4/4/5: 4 minutes pressure, 4 minutes natural pressure release (NPR), and 5 minutes in an icy, icy, icy bath.

With Easter coming up, who's making deviled eggs?!

I have egg poaching pods... I'm thrilled to try that next!!

Kid Museum

We have a prolific artist in our home and it all MUST BE DISPLAYED! I'm talking seriously hurt feelings. So, we busted out the painter's tape and this was the result on our living room wall.

It was SO messy, but I loved the enthusiasm and didn't want to squash any dreams. So, I decided we needed to come up with a specific 'area' for the art.

Like a good southern gal, I headed to Hobby Lobby!! Fortunately, all open-back frames were 50% off (don't ever buy anything full price there - pro tip!).

I strung yarn across and pulled it tight, securing with staples. Notice how I folded the yarn back over so it doesn't slip out. The tighter you can pull it, the better - as the weight of the pictures will pull it down.

Here are the 3 resulting picture areas: 

He was SOOO proud to hang up the pictures! I found some mini clothespins that were already black - saved me some spray painting! 

Here's a feel-good before and after shot!

Tool List:

-Scissors

-Staple Gun

-Level (or an app)

Supply List:

-Frames (mine were $10-$25 each after sale)

-Black Yarn (40% off coupon)

-Mini Clothespins (less than $2 and on sale)

-Beefy Command strips (over $7 for the two packs)

You could do the same with white frames, white yarn, white paperclips. We stayed with the black frames to match the rest of our picture wall.

I made it very clear that this was our 'art space' and any new pictures need to replace the existing ones, or layer over them. So far it seems to be working...

DIY Auto Care

Leaving an office this morning, I realized my car was winking at me. 

Cute, but not safe.

I'm a big DIY fan, which is probably due to my stubbornness to 'conquer' everything. However, I tend to leave certain things to professionals. Can I change my oil? Yes. Do I WANT to change my oil - or is my time more valuable doing something else? Plus, my oil change place has massage chairs and WiFi... so basically I can work and get a massage.

In my mind, the headlamp assembly was super complicated and I would have to take things apart. So, I called my auto place and they said they had an appointment the next afternoon. I probably wasn't going to be driving in the dark, but I also didn't want to wait. 

An encouraging text from my hubs and a quick Google found me this YouTube video. If the video is only 54 seconds long, how hard can it be?!

I popped the hood and sure enough, the lights were super easy to get to! They just turned and popped right out!

 In my triumphant picture, I didn't realize I had taken out my high beam bulb (see how BOTH lights are now out?).

If I would have looked closely, I would have seen the bulb missing from the highly reflective inner light. The low beam is filtered through the circular area (technical stuff here, folks).

I called the local battery place, instead of driving 20 minutes to an auto-parts store. Sure enough, they had them in stock!! It's important to note that the low and high beams are different bulbs, so be sure you've got the right one if you're comparing them.

So, my DIY project saved $21-$42 depending on the estimate.

TADAA!!  Go forth and DIY your life!

Instant Pot Freezer Meal Trial

Y'all... I'm obsessed with the Instant Pot - you can find it HERE  on Amazon!! It's my new favorite kitchen gadget. Technically it's 7 gadgets - pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, slow cooker, warmer, and yogurt maker. I've used the first 5, and I got the smaller one with no yogurt. In hindsight, I should have gotten the larger one. Not just for the volume of food, but for the ability to stack protein/steamed veggies, or layers of cake (yes - this thing makes desserts, too!!).

Why do I love the Instant Pot so much? First, I have poor time management skills, so being able to put frozen chicken into the pot, and set it to 13 minutes is a major game changer! Second, eggs - game changer. Post on eggs alone will be coming. The meat comes out more juicy than any other cooking method. We weren't in the market for a new kitchen gadget, but when our rice cooker bit the dust the Instant Pot joined the family.

I found this awesome site that has a boot camp plan for 30 meals. I didn't feel like doing an 8 hour prep, nor do I have space for 30 meals. So, I picked my 3 favorites and gave it a go.

I went to Dollar Tree and got these 9 cup Betty Crocker plastic containers. They sell them online, with a minimum of 24 - so if you're up for the whole plan, go for it! Otherwise swing by Dollar Tree and pick a few up. Side note - they have some awesome stuff there!! Helium balloons for $1! Birthdays just got a whole lot cheaper around here.

 

 The three recipes I chose were Hawaiian Chicken, Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden copy), and Turkey & Sweet Potato Chili. We tend to eat ground turkey most, with chicken as a close second. The Zuppa's italian sausage fits right into our tastes.

Here's my tiny helper adding a tablespoon of diced garlic for the Hawaiian Chicken freezer meal.

Another helper shot - helping wash the potatoes for the Zuppa Toscana.

It only took me about 2 hours to make 10 meals. I had a giant 10lb bag of individual frozen chicken breasts from Costco that I wanted to use up, so I just split the remaining ones into 2 tubs and added teriyaki sauce to one, and ginger rosemary citrus sauce to the other. The 3 bagged ones and rice are being dropped off to support a friend.

*I added the heavy cream to the bagged Zuppa, but left it out of our 'pot' because the Instant Pot doesn't do well with milk, and neither does our son. I'll add it afterwards to our individual bowls.  

See on the right - that's one of the tubs propped up in the Instant Pot (on top of a coffee pot - otherwise it wouldn't be visible). It can go from freezer right into the pot! How cool is that?! No frozen bag brick all wonky in the pot! 

  

Here's 5 freezer meals in our basement freezer.

And the other two meals in our main freezer. 

I'll be back to post reviews of the recipes, but based on the ingredients, I don't know how they wouldn't be absolutely delicious!! 

To drop a bit of science on you, the Instant Pot (pressure cooking) is one of the healthiest cooking methods. A friend shared this article with me - to summarize: pressure cookers cook at a lower temperature and retain 90-95% of nutrients!

Also, there's some level of nervousness (dare I say fear) about pressure cookers. This isn't your mom's (or grandmother's) stove-top pressure cooker. It has many safety features and you have to really try hard to make it malfunction.

Expect many more Instant Pot posts - including some more freezer meals! My goal over the next few months is to be more mindful and purposeful with our meals.

The InstantPot link above is an Amazon affiliate link. If you buy one I'll get a few cents. Getting rich over here!! 

Have an absolutely wonderful day!! ~Langley

Making a Personalized Travel Quillow

I don't know that quillow is the correct term. It's basically a mini-quillow. What the heck is a quillow? It's a quilt pillow. They're usually much larger (think throw pillow) and quilted with a heaver material. I wanted to make a travel version that was a more comfortable blanket. Blallow? We'll stick with mini-quillow... 

I had a friend who was moving overseas, and I wanted something super functional, but personal. I made an open call to our friends to text/email/drop off very basic messages in thick sharpie. I color corrected them to black/white and added them to a Photoshop file. When I did the color fill I liked how the hearts stayed white. Her favorite color is green, so I went with that! The inside of certain letters stayed white as well, but I filled that in. Who wants a travel blanket with lots of white?! Here's what my square psd file looked like:

I picked a hex code that I knew Spoonflower could use, then I uploaded/ordered some custom fabric from www.spoonflower.com - I don't get any perks from sending you there... just wanting to share a great company! They let you choose the repeat, so I did an offset one. I also ordered custom fabric from them for a first birthday party. They have wallpaper, and all sorts of fabric. I got 2 yards of the modern jersey. This is what the fabric looked like (a bit darker than the image shows):

I found some coordinating minky at JoAnn's Fabrics as the backside.

This is the point where I really dug in and focused on the project, so I didn't take many good pictures. You can find many quillow tutorials online, here are the basic steps I took:

POCKET:

-Measure out 'pocket' to be 2in wider and longer than you want your final pillow to be. 

-put fabric face-to-face and sew them together 1in from the edge(leaving a spot to flip inside out). I added a rope handle so it could go over a roller bag handle. You do not need to top-stitch this mini-blanket (pocket) because it will be sewn down to the blanket.

-It is optional if you want the fabric to match or contrast the blanket. I did one side of each so the pocket blended to the signature side but was the minky zig zag when flipped inside out.

BLANKET:

-Make a standard blanket; face-to-face good sides, sew around (leaving a hole to flip it inside out), and DO TOP STITCH this bigger blanket.

-The blanket should be just under 7 times the pocket width and just under 3 times the height/length.

COMBINE THE TWO:

-Sew down 3 sides of the pocket to the blanket. Leave the side in the middle of the blanket unsewn (this is also the side where the handle needs to be).

Sorry again for missing the 'in the process' pictures! It's basically a tiny blanket on a bigger blanket.

The trickiest part about a quillow is folding it. 

FOLDING:

-Pocket down.

-The 7x width of the pocket is because you want to fold each side into 1/3s and pile it on top of the pocket It's going to be tucked in, so if you can make it ever so slightly inside the pocket, it'll make your life easier!

Then, fold it down into 1/3s so you end up with a fat pile on top of the backside of the pocket.

Then, you simply invert the pillow. If you make the blanket too big, this is more difficult. The corners will always need a bit of finessing; I find it easiest to put my whole hand inside the pillow and push it to the edges of the pocket.

I ended up with enough fabric to make two, so they got a set of mini-quillows. Here they are at the going away party! We will all miss our friend, and even though we can't all go along, we can be with them in spirit!

Both fabrics are super soft and I'm thrilled with how it turned out!!

Win a Makeover in Woodbury!

Hi guys! I owe you a 'stuff' post, and I promise it's coming. Spoiler alert: May was a BAD month! Something great did happen in May, though... I was given a hair makeover! It has been way too long since I did anything with my hair... my amazing gal moved away and I just let things go. My mousy brown roots were growing out and a few grey were creeping in (eek).

I received a message giving me the opportunity to try out a salon I didn't even know existed! Fiorello's is a super cute salon in the Valley Creek Plaza between Kohl's and Dollar General. It's deceptively large on the inside!

I met Leigh, and let her do whatever she thought best! She liked the 'lob' (long bob) length and took some time to decide on a good color. I've dyed my hair many, many times and I managed to have a nice 3" thick subtle red stripe all the way around! She made sure the ends matched my roots and added some foils for dimension to catch the summer sun. I was super impressed with how thoughtful she was with the color!

Some even better news? Ficocello's is giving away a makeover on their Facebook page! One lucky person will win a free cut, color, and makeup application! Enter for your chance to win, here! *It is a giveaway page link, so it may not work from your cell phone. Good luck!

This post is sponsored by Ficocello's and I was given my own haircut/color in exchange for my honest/independent review!

Shopping with Allergies

A friend recently asked for some help navigating allergens for her son. Shopping has become second nature for me, as I've lived with food allergies for 30 years. I would love to take everyone on a shopping adventure, but I figured a virtual shopping trip would be the next best thing!!

This is by no means an inclusive list, but it's a good set of staples and snacks to help open your mind to allergy friendly items. It's also a good idea to ALWAYS read the labels before they go into your basket. Companies change formulas often and don't often advertise the changes.

The first thing to look at is the label itself. There are three ways manufacturers identify the top 8 allergens (milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy). 
1) The first (and becoming most popular) is to list all allergens in bold as a summary at the end of the ingredients. CONTAINS:MILK, SOY, EGG. This is the easiest to read, but you can't assume you're safe if you don't see this.
2) Some companies will bold/italicize the allergen in the list of the ingredients. This sometimes helps, but at size 4 font it all often looks the same.
3) Unfortunately, many companies don't identify allergens at all
The red/white label here has CONTAINS: SOY and the yellow one overlaid just has cream/milk listed with no identification. 

So, without further ado, here's my milk/peanut/tree nut list of favorites...

Our first stop is Target:

Sunbutter is my favorite peanut butter alternative. From peanut eaters I've heard it's closer than soy butter. Also, they have single-serve packs (new) to add to lunch boxes if you have a peanut-free school! If you're a crunchy fan, they sell it at HyVee or online.

GoGo Squeez apple sauce pouches are a great easy snack. Remember, all fruits and veggies are safe, as long as you aren't eating the allergen itself!

Our house loves cottage bread. Not all cottage bread is milk free, but the Village Heath brand is!

It blew my mind when I realized Oreos don't have milk… nothing in this picture has any dairy!! It's a chemical storm, but allergy friendly. (Peanut butter Oreos are not safe)

Wheat Thins are one of our grab and go snacks!

Most cereals are milk-free. Even the frosted kinds! 

No milk in any of these!

Popcorn and pretzels are a great allergy-free snack! Just be sure to avoid the cheddar version of both.

Breakfast on the go? Milk free!

Van waffles have organic and gluten free options, and have no milk!! They are kosher, don't contain artificial colors, cholesterol, egg or soy/corn. It's one of the most allergen friendly buys! Blueberry is our favorite, but the apple cinnamon is yummy as well.

Compared to Eggos that have all sorts of other allergens (and 7 grams of sugar to Van's 3):

You have to keep a close eye on things; these turkey meatballs are safe (and delish) but the italian style and beef versions contain milk.

The Immaculate brand and Annie's are mostly milk free. Seriously; fudge brownie cookies have NO DAIRY!!! Everything in this picture is safe.

Most margarines are safe because they're just oil. Earth balance was what we use for the kids (there's a soy free option).

I have a love/hate relationship with soy milk. Silk has lots of options, but is really high in sugar.  17 grams of sugar in chocolate soy milk!! Since we are a nut and milk free house, Almond & Cashew milk are out. Rice milk is super watery and also high in sugar. Some kids can handle goat's milk, but it's harder to find and you'll want to run it by your doctor.

I forgot to take a picture, but in their freezer section they have the So Delicious fudge mini bars and ice cream. A great dairy-free treat! I haven't tried the yogurts yet, but they're a great alternative if your kids are used to yogurt. 

 

Now some Trader Joe favorites:

We eat their Mandarin Orange Chicken at least once a week. It bakes on a sheet pan in the oven and we pair it with rice and veggies! The Beef on the left is also safe and yummy.

Their Cherry Chocolate Chip soy ice cream is sooooo yummy, but really bad for you. My kids inhale the tiny ice cream sandwiches. There used to be a chocolate kind, but our store stopped carrying them. They have a good coconut milk ice cream selection as well!

These are the best school snack! Free of all major allergens and delicious. There isn't much in the box though… so not an economical buy. 

Costco:

Our kids live on these. They are always so gummy and have a fresh flavor. The sugar content is also less than most other gummies (with a shorter ingredient list). I saw them at Sam's Club last time I was there, too.

We buy our soy milk by the case. They used to have a plain kind, but the vanilla actually has less sugar. They store at room temperature, so they're great to throw in a backpack for the day until we have to open them. 

HyVee:

Many of the treats at Target are also here (and I get fuel rewards - wahoo!!). These 'fudge' bars are the current favorite treat:

Bonus for HyVee is grocery delivery (with the option for no substitutions) so you can have all your allergy free goodness delivered to your doorstep!

Remember, this is just a partial list. We also eat pasta, meat/chicken and lots of fresh fruits & veggies. It's just a starting place with some of our favorites!!

Good luck, and happy eating!