So I’ve heard just about everyone I know raving about this thing, but I have been a skeptic. With our upcoming move, we are making long lists of things (and appliances) we will live without, but our life on the road also comes limited cooking options. We will have a nice little kitchen, but giving up my slow cooker and rice cooker made me cringe. How was slaving over dinners each night and regressing in that convenience going to help us with our goals for simple living and more family time?

The instant pot may be our new best friend. The verdict is still out. It has been a bit intimidating, I’ll admit, but I know if I sit back and let this thing scare me it won’t do us any good. So we jumped in with 2 feet. The first 4 hrs we had it made soft boiled eggs, chicken breast, oatmeal and rice…..and it was all fantastic!

Cons:

1) I’m rather (hugely) disappointed in the app with recipes that comes with this model. There are about 20 things to make and with our diet even fewer options. I am going to start documenting my own and adding my own into the app so that should not be a deal breaker.

2) My biggest hangup so far is the time it takes to come to full pressure and actually start the ‘short cooking time.’ I find the more that is in the pot, the longer it takes to heat, so my 9 minute pot of soup tonight took 30 minutes to get to full pressure. Not super duper speedy, but it was still convenient to dump it all in and let it go.

Pros:

1) the ability to dump it in and walk away is priceless when chasing 3 little boys around.

2) When traveling, the versatility and efficiency of this will be amazing! It’s a slow cooker, rice cooker, pressure cooker and extra burner all in one.

3) throwing in completely frozen meat and ending up with perfect results is nothing short of miraculous. Dinner time always sneaks up on me, and this has saved me from having to plan ahead or sacrifice healthier options.

I will post recipes as we go. Stay tuned! What are your favorite recipes and tips?