This and That and Strawberry Oatmeal

Missy Tippens

Because of a crazy week, I'm just sharing some random photos and a quick breakfast idea.

We've been in full blown spring here in Georgia. And since we bought this house last June, we're just now experiencing spring in our new yard.

I discovered this pretty plant! I have no idea what it is. I'd love you to share your expertise if you know. The flowers are heavy and droop a bit.

And close up. So pretty!

I've also got another beautiful camellia bush blooming! This one is hot pink.

Now, total random topic switch. I've found a new snack that I really love. I buy it in bulk at Sprouts. It's a crunchy veggie mix. Beets, squash, carrots, green beans, etc. YUM.

Now for another steel cut oats recipe! One morning I decided I didn't want coconut like I shared a couple of weeks ago. So I dug into the freezer to see what fruit I had on hand.

Strawberries!

I made the steel cut oat recipe in my Instant Pot.

3 Tbs butter
1 cup steel cut oats
about 1/2 to 1 cup frozen sliced strawberries (however much you want)

First I used the sauté setting to melt 3 Tbs butter and then added a handful or two of frozen sliced strawberries. I  let the berries cook down until softened. Then I added 1 cup oats to toast them for a couple of minutes.

Then I added:
2-1/2 cups vanilla almond milk (you can use regular milk)
1 Tbs brown sugar
dash of vanilla
pinch of salt

I then put on the lid, and set manually for high pressure for 2 or 3 minutes.

Once it finished, I let it cool for a natural pressure release. I let it cool for at least 10-15 minutes before releasing the pressure. When I release the pressure on something starchy that tends to foam, I hold a dish cloth in my hand to protect it and very gradually let a bit of steam out at a time.

This turned out so good!

Happy spring, everyone!

www.missytippens.com

Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot...Oatmeal with Toasted Coconut

Missy Tippens

I think I already said this in a previous post: I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker! One of my new favorites is to make steel cut oats for breakfast. I really enjoyed this particular recipe.

I discovered this on Pinterest. Click here to find the original recipe on a site called Flavorrd: Mastering the Art of Feeding Ourselves.

I won't list the full recipe but will describe how I made it.

One of the nice things about an Instant Pot is that you can sauté things. So I toasted the coconut and the oats in the pot before adding the liquid ingredients and pressure cooking. Oh! I almost forgot. I also decided to toast some chopped pecans along with the coconut and oats.

I used almond milk because I didn't have any coconut milk (which would have made it even better!).

Once the sautéing is done and you add the other ingredients, it's time to set the pot manually. I only cooked for 2 minutes on high pressure. Then I allowed about 10 minutes for a natural cool down and depressurization. With anything milky or starchy you can't release the steam too soon or you'll have foam shooting out (don't ask me how I found this out!). :)

Here's a zoom in of the mystery photo bomber behind the cooker in the previous photo! :)

Now, after waiting for the pot to cool, I was able to open it and we have fully cooked oatmeal (yet it still has a little bite to it so it's not mushy)!

It's so good with the toasted coconut, pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. Mine isn't nearly as pretty as the website where I got the recipe. I forgot to save coconut to put on top! And I think I got a little carried away with the brown sugar and cinnamon. :) YUM!

My New Instant Pot®

Missy Tippens


I got a new "toy" for Christmas! (I probably shouldn't sound so surprised. I might have told Santa exactly what I wanted. In fact, I may have even ordered it myself and told my husband I had made his shopping easy.) :)

I received the Instant Pot ® electric pressure cooker and love it! I've made bean soup in it twice already. And I think I'm going to use it tonight to make chicken.

I'm not going to try to share the exact recipe I used for bean soup, because I was playing with the settings and trying different things each time I made it. You'd have to test different recipes to find out what works for you.

I used half of a bag of dried 15-bean soup each time I made it. The bag is the kind that comes with a seasoning mix. I didn't use the seasoning, though. Most recipes I looked at had you throw that away and use your own spices.

The first time I made the soup, I used a small pack of boneless pork ribs to add flavor and chunks of meat. I first pressure-cooked the meat because it was still a bit frozen. Then I pre-cooked the beans using a short round of pressure cooking. Then I cooked both together to finish cooking the beans. Because I wasn't sure which settings to use, the soup was done at this point, before I ever got to add the chopped carrots and onions. So it wasn't a fail so much as a test run that didn't quite work out as planned. :) Still very tasty!

The second time, I only had some thick-sliced ham lunch meat and a couple of slices of bacon to add. But I changed up my method and was able to sauté the carrots, onion and meats before adding in the pre-cooked beans and water. With this method, I did the final cook on the chili/soup setting and all went as planned.

However, everyone liked the first soup better! So I think having the fattier meat added a lot of flavor. I also think I'll use chicken or vegetable broth next time instead of water for additional flavor.

The beauty of the Instant Pot is that you don't have to pre-soak the beans. You can do a short cook with the beans by themselves to soften them. Then add them to the recipe as already pre-soaked. I've also heard from Pam Hillman that she was able to make soup using frozen chicken breasts. That's one of the reasons I wanted this! I never seem to remember to thaw out meats in time for dinner.

I've loved my pot so far! I look forward to playing with it some more. I'm sure I'll be sharing recipes in the future.

www.missytippens.com