In the Kitchen

I need to improve my photography skills to spice up this blog, but I made some cookies the other day due to desperation for some kind of satisfying baked good.  Unfortunately I'm on a horrible diet trying to heal the digestive issues that struck me last May.  I am gluten, dairy, and egg free at the moment. :( Ugh. I made some cookies from a cookbook by a girl with a gluten free, vegan bakery that has grown so much that they have gone to a third location to accommodate the business. I was also excited about it because she tries to use wholesome ingredients, not all of the processed stuff that is easy to find when you are gluten free (but doesn't feel real healthy to me).

So I made them and they looked good, felt good, and tasted awful.  I now know that I think garbanzo bean flour is disgusting.  (At least in a sweet treat.)  Trying not to be too distressed by the waste of materials, and I think I'm going to go for totally unhealthy, boxed gluten free treats next.  :)

In other thrilling news, Jaret bought me the kitchen 'gadget' of the century.  Or maybe of the entire industrialized era.  It's an Instant Pot, which probably most of you have heard of, but let me chat on awhile. We just got home today around 5, and my meal plan was for a boiled chicken with rice.  It would take approximately two hours to come together.  I resigned myself to supper at 7 (probably optimistic) and started filling the pan. Faye, my faithful helper said, "Why don't you use your Instant Pot." I stopped and thought about it and thought, "You're right! Why not?!!"

Supper will be ready in an hour.  This thing can make yogurt, be a slow cooker, a rice cooker, saute pan, warmer, steamer, and dun, dun dun dun!- a pressure cooker.  Three times this week I have stuck a chunk of meat in there with some liquid and seasonings, pressed a few buttons and had supper in 45 minutes. You can put dry beans in this thing and they will be soft and edible in somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes (including getting the cooker up to pressure and cooling it down to open up). There is no real knowledge needed (aside from reading the directions) to use it, and from all accounts, has pretty much no chance of exploding if you do something wrong like old fashioned pressure cookers.

When I first started reading about the Instant Pot, I got pretty excited, and it has not disappointed.  It is a little pricey, but makes supper so much more doable if you are tired or bad at getting things organized for your meals on time. Two things I seem to be lately. :)