Thanks so much for your wonderful blog. I have learned so much here.
Your recipes and directions and enthusiasm have combined to excite me enough to order an electric pressure cooker. The reasons you gave make me want to cook them all today!
I’ve wanted to be able to cook ‘under pressure’ for a very long time, since I inherited my grandmother’s p.c. when I was a new bride in 1980. Because she was gone, and I had no one else to teach me, I ended up giving it away. I was a work-at-home mom most of the time, then, so I could cook and work at the same time. The need for speed wasn’t there.
Now, I’m old, brain-damaged about 17 years ago, and forgetful, to say nothing of not wanting to stand in the kitchen any longer. The electric pressure cooker looks like a perfect solution to me now. Set the time and wait for a buzzer? I’m so there. Leftovers for the freezer? Oh, yeah.
Building up a ‘pantry’ of my own ‘tv dinners’ is the way I got through life when I worked long hours when I was young, and it made my life SO much easier. I know how to do this. I hope I never have to live without a chest freezer again. lol I used to have a tiny ‘icebox’ that you had to defrost.
Because of my health and financial conditions, I live in a tiny house on wheels that my daughter paid for just before her death. I’m now struggling to feed myself on the amount of money my disability provides. Now that I’m 65, funds have been cut over $105/month, so I need to make economical meals safely. Beans are better than beef; seafood is out of sight; chicken doesn’t taste like anything any more; pork is cruel beyond belief, although I need sausage/salami a couple of times a year. Vegetarian food looks better and better as I age, but beans and grains take so much time and planning. I don’t plan anymore. So, long cooking times become an ‘issue.’
I can’t afford to fall asleep while cooking and burn the house down, or ruin it from a pressure cooker explosion or toaster oven fire. I ‘nap’ often. I need ‘automatic shut-off.’ The Breville toaster oven and tea maker take care of this for me. But, damn, their products are expensive, and almost impossible to find used. I think that the few people who can afford to buy them ever throw them out unless they don’t work at all. Thus, very few donations. (I was extremely lucky! Unwanted wedding presents? Right place, right time.)
The electric pressure cooker seems like a dream come true. I never knew these appliances existed until 3 weeks ago. I’ve NEVER seen one in a thrift store or at a yard sale. So, apparently, people usually keep them until they die, and so love them that they buy another. That’s what I’ve garnered from all the reviews on Amazon and other sites. No one has ever said that they’ve had one for more than 3 years. $30-50/per year, or more. Still cheaper than a diet of Marie Callender and Freschetta. Time to take a gamble.
I have spent hours and hours on your site, as well as Pinterest, peggyunderpressure, and a couple of others. You are an inspiration. Truly. Your recipes make sense to me (I’ve cooked for most of 55 years). They sound like food that I would eat. They don’t sound like mush or ‘boiled dinner.’ Been there, done that.
I’m still playing with what I can accomplish in a short period of time, because I want to try so many things, and I live alone. How can I justify making that much food that I’ll have to freeze or give away? Budget is extremely thin right now. This is not fun. I wish I could not have to worry about wasting food, or having a dinner party. I know how to cook for a crowd conventionally, but I’ll be cooking for one right now, until I get the hang of it. I think I can use yours within my restrictions comfortably. Thank you.
My pressure cooker, a GoWise, 7-function, 6 quart unit, will be here in a few days. I went grocery shopping today for it. lol I’m planning on doing your lessons, with a sideline somewhere there for turkey and dumplings, possibly pumpkin custard, yogurt, and steamed whole sweet potatoes. Next week includes eggs, beets, raspberry Italian soda, your lentils and tomatoes with barley and carrots added, and steamed white bread, or brown. I’m planning on gaining 10 pounds in the rest of the year. Nah, 15. mmmm…..
Just rambling through a cold November afternoon, thinking of good food. Thanks for all you do.
