Tuesday, March 21, 2017

It's Not All Fun And Games

Why is it that on days there is nothing going on, time slows to a snails pace.  Yesterday was one of those days.  Since retiring, I've found it's not all fun and games after all.  Had I gotten married and had children, I would probably have a house full, keeping me occupied enough not to have these days where I check out the refrigerator twenty times.   No motivation equals couch potato.

Unfortunately, that marriage thing didn't work out so well for me, so sometimes I find myself floundering around wondering what I should or COULD do.  Yesterday was another one of THOSE days.  With no one to talk to except my puppies and Jonathan, I have a tendency to go stir crazy!!

I'm still working on my Halloween quilt.  In fact, I only have three squares to go before I spend hours staring at the wall trying to decide if I want borders in between each row.  It's funny how I thought I was so decisive all my life, and now it's even hard to decide what's for lunch!  I'm taking at least two days to complete each remaining square so I don't have to think about making that "border" decision.
Dinner on the other hand, was a snap.  This instant pot is the best appliance I think I've ever purchased.  Too bad there isn't a really good cookbook out there.  It seems all the recipes come from bloggers and stay-at-home Mom's, meaning you have to print them out from the internet.  I take screen shots of the ones posted on Facebook, but of course it takes me thirty minutes to scan through all of them and pick one.

Yesterday it was chicken cacciatore, since I had these boneless thighs that needed to be cooked.  I think this pot is going to save a LOT of cemetery space!!
I set the pot on sauté and browned the chicken.  I didn't wait long enough because it didn't really brown and stuck nicely to the bottom, in spite of the oil.  I'll try to do better next time.  Then I sautéed the onions and garlic, dumped in a can of tomatoes, some apple cider vinegar and a slew of spices.  It didn't look very impressive.
Next I covered it with the chicken, cut up mushrooms, a load of carrots because I'm on a diet and one can of broth (I should have only used 3/4 cup like it said).  Carrots were NOT in the recipe.  I set it on high pressure for 8 minutes.  It probably took 8-9 minutes to reach pressure, whereupon the little valve closed.  After 8 minutes and lots of beeping, I let it sit for 5 minutes before releasing the steam (don't do this underneath your cupboards .. it will totally ruin the wood).  

Total time including prep ... 30 minutes.  I stirred in a small can of olives just for a little more Italian flavor.  Time for a taste test.  It tasted like I cooked it all day long.  I don't know why this method works so well, but I'm 2 for 2.  It was DELICIOUS!!  Can you imagine this at an RV Rally?  No more worrying about getting back to the rig to prepare your potluck dish!!  I admit the unit is a little larger than a toaster, but I'm definitely finding a place for it, even if it rides on the passenger seat.
It rained most of the night ... I know because the downspout at the corner of my bedroom dripped all night like steel ball bearings hitting a tin roof.  I kid you not!!  Today I'll check to see if something is partially blocking the hole and causing that.  If not, I'm plugging it up completely!!!

Rain is forecast for the rest of this week.  No big downpours, just a nice rain, which suits me fine.  It's Magic Kingdom night, so today should go by a little faster.  I'm sure getting out and about will improve my mood.  



11 comments:

  1. Having a family doesn't ensure a full house,just on the holidays if your lucky. They all have busy lives to live.
    My instant pot should arrive today,keep the recipes coming.

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    1. You're going to LOVE it! Do the hot water test first like the instruction book says, just to be sure it's all working. It's so quiet you probably won't hear a thing. I don't do Pinterest, but there are lots of recipes there. It seems a lot of recipes come from ThisOldGal.com

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  2. Blogger Mister ed said...
    I find that not everybody's recipe is the way I want it so I pick and choose the ones that I like and basically cut and paste put it in a file you could always go back to your computer and open up the file if you want to take and have a hardcopy print it out
    Instant pot recipe chicken


    Nancy'sChicken what's his name recipe

    Next I covered it with the chicken, cut up mushrooms, a load of carrots because I'm on a diet and one can of broth

    Note

    I added this I didn't do this and maybe I left out this and it somehow this will really work but it really didn't so here's my notes to self


    i'm not a Facebook user but the best part is you could leave a comment for somebody,and they may post how about trying this or try that or at this ingredient or subtract that ingredient

    you could also put it up on your blog site like: Miss Nancy's stuff that doesn't go to the cemetery Instant pot Dutch oven cook book


    Let's see boredom, boredom sets in when one retires because now you have nothing to occupy your day
    When you're in Arizona you're constantly gallivanting around which is occupying your day even if you do get tired when you're in the Pacific Northwest you're always gallivanting around that's filling up your day even if you do get tired
    And now that your home and not gallivanting around as you're bored
    Take a short course go back to school
    Go back to school volunteer to teach
    Learn to read braille
    Learn to use sign language
    Learn a different language
    Volunteer at the local library
    Read a book or a newspaper to someone in a nursing home
    As long as you stay over there learned to sing
    Volunteer at a riding stable
    Volunteer at a veterinarian place
    Be a mentor for some girl in school
    Learn how to sail a boat
    Bake pretested cupcakes take them to the fire department
    Volunteer for the Red Cross
    Take a free course at the Red Cross
    Learn how to decorate a cake
    And when you get through learning any of the above teach somebody else


    So you see the list is endless
    Feel free to take the first step

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    Replies
    1. All VERY good suggestions!! Thank you!! I'll get right to work!!

      thisoldgal.com seems to have quite a few instant pot recipes that are hits with the Facebook crowd.

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  3. 96 think you can do when you're bored I've actually figured out there's 97

    97 Cut and paste to open iand read

    http://www.mydomaine.com/things-to-do-when-bored/

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  4. My Insta pot came today however I wasn't crazy about some of the recipes so looking on line besides Facebook
    There's a whole new world of foodies out their
    Again it's going to have to be cut and paste into Google

    http://instantpot.com/recipes/
    https://onceamonthmeals.com/blog/recipe-roundups/50-instant-pot-freezer-meals/
    https://www.pinterest.com/bhbookermom/instant-pot-recipes/

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    Replies
    1. I agree, those recipe in the book are terrible sounding!! I'll check out these websites.

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  5. Glad you found an appliance that lets you cook tasty meals. Of course, the appliance gets all the credit. None to you for all the prep work. :)

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    1. That's it Linda, but I don't mind. It's amazing how tender the meat gets and how tasty they are. Kudos to the people who come up with the recipes!!

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  6. Insta pot was Great for chili, 35 minutes set an for get,,

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    Replies
    1. Isn't that cool? I hope your chili came out really good!!

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