Recipe Box, New Kitchen Toys

We had such a great Christmas,
we all agreed that it was the best one in a long time,
Lots of laughs, friends, family and of course good food!
HHjr gave me a big heavy box and said,
“This is for you Mom, but it’s really for all of us…”
“Uh oh…” I thought
An Instant Pot!
I was excited, I have been feeling like such a dinosaur
because I did not have the newest hot trend in kitchen appliances!
But to tell you the truth, I’m a little intimidated by it!
I know it can make some wicked wonderful things,
so HELP!
Please please share any tips, tricks or info you have!
I know there are a lot of videos and blog posts on how to use these pots
but I’d love to hear straight from you all what you’ve learned!
Visit Kitty’s Kozy Kitchen to see her instant pot Chocolate Cake!
Do you know what the gadget on the right is?
DD gave HHjr a professional french fry maker for Christmas…
I told him it looked like a robot dog 😂
She wrapped up potatoes and gave them to him along with the machine
He immediately had to try it!
Before long we were nibbling on fresh cut french fries
This machine does require a lot of strength, so it’s not for the average cook
Super Boy captured the first potato on the video below
turn up the volume so you can hear what he says
Hopefully I will be sharing some great recipes this year
as we play with our new kitchen toys!
Please leave any suggestions or tips you have for us in the comment section below,
Thank you!!
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Love Your Creativity What’s for Dinner?
Between Naps on the Porch, Make it Pretty Monday
Turn About Tuesday Celebrate Your Story, You’re the Star
All About Home/ Common Ground Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl Full Plate Thursday
Thursday Favorite Things Creatively Crafty Home Matters
How fun Jenna! I’ve been sitting on the IP fence, not sure how much I would use it as I’m out of cabinet space. Hearing how quickly you can make ribs/pot roast/ broth is so tempting though. Happy Cooking. ♥
I think he bought it for himself actually, but it’s going to be fun to play with…apparently you can make bread, yogurt, cakes all kinds of crazy things!
The IP is great, but that French fryer is the BOMB. Love HHJr’s comment. He sounds like my fireman sil, who would love one of those. Can’t wait to read about your experiments. We had the old fashioned pressure cooker growing up, and I can remember my sister (5yrs older) having a timing mishap removing a lid that resulted in chicken pieces flying onto kitchen cabinets, lol.
I’ve not had any experience with a pressure cooker so that’s what scares me!! I can imagine me causing chicken to fly! HHjr has already made a pot roast with no issues…I think he really bought it for himself 😂 Yes, the French fry cutter is the bomb!!
I don’t have one of those instant pots, but a lot of friends do love them. I had to laugh, the french fry maker does indeed look like a robot dog, LOL!!!
I know, right?!?!? 😂
Hi Jenna, oh it’s always fun receiving new kitchen toys for Christmas. I know once you make soup or oatmeal in the IP you will love it. I make brown rice in the IP every week and it comes out perfect every time. Have fun with your new gadgets. Julie xo
Thanks Julie, I am looking forward to experimenting!
Jenna, I have a feeling once you get past the learning stage you will love your new kitchen appliances and gadgets. You are right, the French fry maker does look like a robot dog! It will be interesting watching you come up great recipes to use in the IP. Sorry, I can’t offer any tips, everything here is ancient!
Thanks Emily, I might just let him do all the IP cooking! He has already used it twice, and made fries 4 times!
Jenna, I received a couple of kitchen items, too, for Christmas. One of them was an Insta Pot. I am also intimidated by it and haven’t even taken it out of the box. I look forward to recipes and tips you will share. I am in need of some ideas. Take care, and enjoy the rest of your week.
Thanks Shannon, that makes me feel so much better! My son has used it twice now and doesn’t understand what I’m afraid of! I’ve got to start with an easy recipe…
I don’t have one either but I’ll be curious to see what wonderful new recipes you come up witih for it!
Thanks Jeanie, we’ll see!!
Jenna, I have been considering the IP, but I don’t have any storage left. I have heard fabulous things about them, so I will be looking for your shares. I did have a pressure cooker, and I only used it when the hubby was home. I was terrified,that it would blow up. I would have never guessed the French fry maker, it is definitely the bomb. I think HHjr will be having fun in the kitchen. Happy Thursday!
Thanks Pam, I am happy to sit back and let him cook!
I have a total aversion to ‘over cooked’ foods, so I tend to rarely use my crockpots for anything other than heating food for a crowd, or soups. I will be interested in watching how you end up using your appliance, and LOL…I do have a lighter version of the fry maker. I know Midwest Russet potatoes are a bit softer than Idahoes, and go through the press a bit easier.
ah ha! Thank you! Will try those!
Looks like you did have a fun Christmas! Hoorah! 😃 I don’t have an Instant Pot but I look forward to hearing how you like it. 👍 My husband got me a fancy food processor that I found a little intimidating at first, but I am slowly figuring it out. It has a French fry cutter on it too! (Bonus!) 😉 I agree with you the one your son got looks like a robot dog! Lol! 😆
I love food processors, when I can use them for a lot of steps like grating then mixing etc., but they are a bit of a pain to clean…My son has used the IP twice, I really think he bought it for himself, not me 😂
I soak the food processor right away and this seems to help…it came with a cleaning brush and this makes cleaning a breeze. 👍 Just trying to be careful not to cut myself on the sharp blades! 😯 My husband got me a box of chocolates for Christmas and I think he ate most of them! Lol! 😂
ha ha, that figures!!
Jenna, it is so funny because as I was reading your post, my hubby just started putting the ingredients into our new Instapot! He is making a mini-meatball veggie soup. I’ll let you know how it goes! He was laughing because the recipe with the Instapot calls for the step,”lower the flame to minimum heat”……which means they wrote the recipe without adjusting it to an Instapot appliance! We’ll see what happens!
Happy cooking!
Oh, yay, your husband cooks! So far my son has made pot roast and rice in the IP and loves it…I might just let him do all the IP cooking! That’s funny about the recipe error, I hope it turned out! Thanks Rosie!
I’m still intimidated by my Instant Pot and I’ve had it a year! I don’t use it enough to really understand it, but I do like it. The French fry maker is really fun!!
So many people have said that they are intimidated…I just need to start with an easy recipe and face my fears 😂 The fry maker is fun, and the fresh fries are sooo good!
I am sure between the two of you, you will figure it out and be cooking up a storm! All wonderfully delicious food. I have my old faithful crockpot and roasters. Two years ago, hubby ordered one from QVC and it seemed so complicated we ended up sending it back, ha. My goal this year is to do a better job of menu planning and incorporating some new recipes (via Jenna and Mary-HIWTBI) so we have a more exciting food rotation. I’ve enjoyed your recipes and look forward to more! Here’s to happy cooking! 😁
Thank you Cyndi! The IP still intimidates me, but my son used it again last night and made perfect rice. I love my slow cooker because it’s set and forget, but I need to get out of my rut 🙂 Good luck with your cooking goal this year!!
Fun new toys! I don’t have an instapot yet either. I’ll be anxious to see what you create.
I’m terrified of it!
LOL! You aren’t terrified of anything are you!? (wink!)
Hi Jenna! I was afraid of the IP for awhile, but now I’m pretty comfortable. My poor daughter is still intimated by it, and I gave her one over two years ago! I joined a FB group that always has great recipes on it, and you can search for recipes on it, too. Thank you for giving my Chocolate Cake a shout out! Wal Mart sold a cutting board that had equations for cooking with an Instant Pot. I bought some as gifts, and should’ve bought one for myself. I think you’ll love it, and if you want to make something a head of time, there’s a keep warm setting, which is nice. Good luck!!
I forgot to tell you that my son makes yogurt about once a week using the cold start method. It’s really good.
I’m impressed!
Thanks for all the great info Kitty! I just need to take some time and read about it and try it…I’m sure it’s easy once you get the hang of it, they are wildly popular! My son has used it twice
Thank you for sharing at #ThursdayFavoriteThings. Pinned and shared. Have a lovely week. I hope to see you at next week’s party too!