Monday Mixup

Concept:  the time it takes to make a meal isn’t the time from start to finish, but rather the hands on time,  If you throw a few ingredients in a slow cooker or  insta pot and walk away to go to the beach or do the laundry, you aren’t cooking, you are doing something else.

A lot of the recipes we use are low impact recipes.   Scratch cooking doesn’t have to take much more of any more time than using the boxed stuff.  The boxed stuff has ingredients you can’t pronounce. 

I am a firm believer in the insta pot. ( surprise!)  The objection  I have heard is that it takes just as long. 

The reality is that time is measured in hands on time,   Let’s take spaghetti.  It takes  maybe five minutes to fill the insta pot. You set the pot on manual, for  8 minutes.  You check the pot periodically because you want to manually release as soon as it starts to count down.  If it sits on the steam, your noodles will be mushy.   There is one pot to wash, and you aren’t watch No, storing the pasta pot and the sauce pot.   Now, if you prefer your sauce and pasta separate, this ones not for you,   We always add Parmesan cheese to it before serving and maybe some red pepper flakes.   

Layer cooked meat , spaghetti, broken in half and placed in a circle like a bird nest, then pour a jar or can of pasta sauce over the noodles, and pour 2 cups of water in the pot around the outside edge.  You can also use a stock instead or part water and part wine.  One dish to wash,   

Most scratch dishes are minutes.   

Stew

Pot roast 

Soups

Chili

Beans and rice are simplified.

Beans: wash the beans in water and pick out any ricks or funky looking beans,   Pour onto insta pot liner,   Add enough water to be about two inches above the top of the beans.  Never fill the pot more than 1/2 full if you are cooking something like rice or beans that expands during cooking.   Close the lid, set the steam button, and push the bean button, done,  let the steam release on its own,   

Rice: measure equal parts of rice and water or stock.  Sometimes I add a teaspoon of tomato powder per cup of water.   Stir.   Close the lid, set to seal. Push the rice button.  

You can cook meat from frozen,   No more worry about taking something out to thaw.    

Stock cooks in an hour and a half instead of all day,   

Be sure  to look up my blog on “almost no time, almost no money, save 90 percent of retail. “ 

Most hits ever next to my rant on everything nit being good for you. LOL.  It got a “best blog EVER” comment.   

You can cook dinner from scratch efficiently.  Find the recipes your family loves and you have it made.