What's on the menu?

Do you (or someone in your home) meal plan?   I go through periods when I don't meal plan at all, and just wing supper every night.  Then sometimes I get inspired to go through my recipes and decide to make some old favorites - making a list so I don't forget what I want to make.  

Sometimes I inventory our food supply just hoping to be inspired to make something.  

Sometimes I look through what's in the pantry and freezer to find anything close to expiring, and make that my motive to plan out a menu.   

Sometimes I challenge myself to a no-grocery shopping month (except for needed perishables).  

This week, I just looked in my refrigerator freezer and decided I was tired of seeing the same things in there for months now.   

I decided to take everything out and clean the freezer.  That's when it occurred to me to take some pictures and make a post out of this activity.    And because I know you are immensely curious, I have itemized what is in each picture.

The top drawer contained almonds, walnuts, shredded pork, dressing from Thanksgiving, some cheese logs from Christmas, ham slices, some crescent rolls, dinner rolls leftover from Christmas, and some homemade all-fruit popsicles.

The bottom drawer contained some sugar free popsicles a friend gave me during chemo treatment.  They were so appreciated when my throat and mouth hurt.  Also pictured are raisin bagels, strawberries, a couple of cubed steaks (more leftovers from a meal brought during chemo), a few peach slices, some pepperoni slices, turkey bone broth cubes, cooked fajita-seasoned chicken strips, and several packages of frozen raw chicken, some cooked rice, and a bag of browned ground beef.

Next, I sat down with my laminated erasable menu planning page, and without bothering to look through my recipes, I quickly jotted down  a week's worth of ideas for using a good portion of what's currently in this small freezer.

A mixture of healthy dinners and some lesser so, but it feels good to have a plan and resolve to move the food out of the freezer inventory.   Also, I've added salmon from the garage freezer because I'm trying to get fish into our diet every week.   As always, I reserve the right to completely ignore the suggestions I've jotted down, or change the days we eat things, but as long as I make a dent in the contents of this freezer, I'll be happy.   

If I'm feeling brave, at the end of this week of dinner plans, I'll post a picture of my revised menu.  Now that I think about it, I won't be home for dinner on Friday night because I'm going to a ladies' pitch-in.  I said I'd bring cheese & crackers and summer sausage, so there goes the rest of my cheese logs to that effort.

I printed out my menu page years ago, and laminated it so I can write on it with a dry erase marker.  If you're interested in a printable menu page, there are lots to be found online, but here's a link to a colorful one:

https://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com/2018/01/free-printable-menu-plan.html

This might have been where I found mine, I don't really remember.  This blogger has a whole bunch of free printables for all sorts of purposes.  

Happy note:  Before we even got started eating through our menu this week, I gave some chili to a friend, along with a package of dinner rolls, a cheese log and a package of crackers.  It's terrific to have good food ready and easy to share.

~~~~~

Back to share my amended menu:

The value in planning a menu is about making life a little simpler, hopefully saving some money by making meals with food one already has, and lessening the waste of forgotten food stuff eventually being thrown away.

As the week went on, I realized I had cabbage in the fridge, and a pie crust and half a quart of cream that needed to be used.  Having bacon and swiss cheese on hand, it was easy to change out a meal that could be held for another time for Quiche and slices of  Roasted Cabbage.

Finally, something worth noting that I've recently done:  In November, after roasting a turkey, I made bone broth with the carcass.  Making bone broth is a slow nearly all-day process, but I'm so glad I did it, and froze the bone broth in ice cube trays.  I have begun using this bone broth, adding it to all kinds of things.  It was added to the Chicken Skillet Dinner on Wednesday above.  The next week, I added bone broth cubes to some leftover stuffing I heated up for a meal of turkey and stuffing (all frozen last November).  I added some to chili that was heated up out of the freezer.  Really... in anything that can take a few tablespoons of liquid, a few bone broth cubes can be used.

Bon appétit!

This is berry good news...

Recently I came upon an idea that got me very excited.  After doing my own experiment, I'm happy to share this new-to-me food storage tip.

Did you know you can store fruits like berries in the fridge, in glass jars, sealed up tight for a longer period of time than if you leave them in the containers they were sold in?   

For how long?  

I don't know for sure, but for quite a bit longer than not storing them this way.

I placed unwashed blueberries in a glass canning jar sealed with a canning lid and canning ring on March 19th.    I didn't remove any air from the jar, and it was only finger tightened.  On April 26th (over a month later) I opened the jar to use the blueberries to make some muffins.  

There was one small little puddle of blueberry juice on the bottom of the jar, but otherwise the blueberries looked perfect.  Not a single one was moldy, or had skin that was compromised.

At this point, I washed them off (for the first time since purchasing them) and let the blueberries dry on a paper towel:

Nothing appears to be wrong with these blueberries.  No smell, no mold growing, and they taste fine.

Now, do I recommend storing berries for over a month in the fridge just because you can?  Well, no...  mostly because I imagine they may have deteriorated in their nutritional content.  And I think these must have been incredibly fresh berries to begin with to have lasted this long.

I would not normally buy blueberries with the intention of storing them this long, but the point is... storing them this way will probably keep them intact and usable for far longer than just popping them in the fridge in their original containers - which for me, almost inevitably means I'm going to end up throwing out at least a few (if not many) berries before I get around to using them.    

I also tried this with strawberries and blackberries.  The strawberries lasted at least a week - maybe longer - before one started getting soft, and I stopped the experiment at that point.  I don't know about you, but before this I had never found a way to store strawberries so that they stayed edible for more than a day or two, max.  

I think I broke into the blackberries about two weeks after storing them, and they were fine. 

When I buy large quantities of berries on sale, my plan is always to wash and freeze quickly what I don't think we'll eat right away.  I will continue to do that, but from now on, I will be taking the fresh berries I expect we'll eat soon out of their plastic containers and storing them in glass jars that I can seal tightly with a lid. That way, if they don't get eaten right away I will have bought myself at least some extra days, maybe more than a week, before they go bad because I lost track of them.

Of course, your mileage may vary with this.  So many things can affect how long fresh fruit will stay edible once we've gotten it home.  How long ago was it picked?  How far did it have to travel?  What conditions was it subjected to before I bought it?  How did I treat it once I got it home?  The number of things that affect fresh produce is kind of endless, and most things are out of our control.  The only thing really in my control is how I store it once I get it home.

So tell me... did you know about this way of storing berries?   It's so incredibly easy, I don't understand why this isn't common knowledge?  Or am I just the last person in the world to know about this?

Smoothy time...

Seeing the cherry tree blossoming recently has put me in mind of harvesting fruit from it and the peach tree this summer, as did uncovering the strawberry plants and seeing a few blossoms there this week.  There is still some time before I'm ready to plant into the garden, but thinking of all of this reminds me that we need to finish up what fruit is left in the freezer from last spring and summer - so as to make room for new  fruit.  

The temps have also been unseasonably warm for much of April, though thankfully it cooled down again last night and we may return for a couple of weeks to temps in the 50's and 60's before heating up again.  That makes me very happy.

All of the blossoms and warm weather inspired me to pull out some frozen fruit and make a simple smoothy for a treat recently.  And I was reminded how wonderful a cold fruit smoothy is.  I don't make them often, but my typical smoothy contains frozen fruit, fresh spinach and just enough orange juice to make the concoction drinkable through a straw.  The smoothy below had spinach from the grocery, orange juice, frozen blueberries, and strawberries and peaches from our own yard.

The colors were so beautiful I had to snap some pictures!

Do you enjoy smoothies, and if so, what do you like to put in yours?

Less food waste...

I know I'm not alone in sometimes letting foods sit in the fridge or the pantry until I forget about them, then being disappointed in myself for having to throw something out.  

Well, I have found a way to minimize this kind of waste.  I got the idea from Becoming a Farm Girl on Youtube.   I can't find the precise video at this point, but if you're into canning, preserving food, cooking... I encourage you to check out her videos.  

It's one of those ideas that when I heard it, I wondered why it hadn't occurred to me before.

Basically, the idea is to periodically go through the fridge, freezer(s) and pantry and pull out stuff I want to get eaten.  Stuff that's been in there long enough already, maybe stuff I've even been saying I want to cook, but am just not cooking.  The fridge stuff I gather and put in a container that fits in the fridge, the freezer stuff I just make sure it's in the kitchen refrigerator freezer, the pantry stuff I put in a plastic basket and put that on the counter where I'll see it.  And then I make a plan for using this stuff before it goes bad.  

I found an inexpensive plastic container (at Meijer, I believe) and I gave it prime real estate in the fridge:   

To be honest, some (well sealed) things can hang out in "must-go" container for weeks, but pretty regularly I take something out of the container for a meal.  Different food gets rotated into this container often, so its contents are ever changing. When a few days have gone by and I haven't pulled something out of it, I might take it out and sort through it just to remind myself what's in there.

Here's what's presently in the fridge must-go container:

Only recently did I go through the pantry doing the same thing.  I was kind of surprised to find a small basket's worth of stuff that has either expired, or is going to soon.

I don't overly worry about expiration dates - unless the contents smell or look bad when the can is opened, or a can is bulging, or an item is stale.  Of course, those would go straight into the trash.

This exercise can help me see what shopping habits I may need to rethink or change.  For example, I can readily see now that I tend to buy beans and don't get them used in a timely manner.  For what it's worth, there are more (newer) canned beans in the pantry, too.  I need to decide if I'm going to be more dedicated to eating beans, or stop buying them!

Having collected and taken an inventory of foods that have been hanging around too long, I now I make a plan to fix some dishes that will incorporate these things - starting with the oldest stuff.

Yesterday I mixed some mashed-up red kidney beans into some canned chili-dog sauce and used that over some hotdogs.   Hey - I don't claim everything I fix from this collection of items is going to be exactly healthy.  I'm just going to try to use things up before too long so nothing goes to waste.  Today I plan to make taco salad, and I think I will add some black beans to that.  Soon I will heat up some chili I froze a couple of weeks ago and will add some red kidney beans to it.   At the moment, I'm looking for some interesting recipes for the tofu as I've never actually cooked with it before.  I bought it in December or January and it has been sitting in the fridge intimidating me ever since.  

I plan for the pantry items to take a couple of weeks (or more) to use up - because I don't plan to eat only this stuff 'til it's gone - I have plans for other meals, too.  The perishables probably need to get gone within a week.  

Another thing I've done for years to keep food from going to waste is to label everything in the fridge.  The label must say what's in the container, and the date the food item was first placed in the fridge.  Sometimes something gets put in there without a label, but labeling everything is my goal - even if I plan to eat it the next day.  I have learned that when I forget to label a thing, it gets overlooked day after day until eventually it needs to be tossed.    

In the above picture of the fridge, there isn't a whole lot of food on the shelves, but when the shelves fill up, labels are invaluable.  When I open a package of cheese, I label what's left with the date the cheese was opened.  Leftovers are labeled and dated.  If a can is opened but I only need to use part of the contents, the rest gets put into an appropriate container and labeled and dated.  When jarred food can be left in the container it came in (like spaghetti sauce, pickles, olives...) I try to remember to write on the lid the date I opened it.

Since the problem (for me) of wasted food is usually that I simply forget about it (because it's often out-of-sight, out-of-mind), these actions keep the must-goes front and (almost) center so that every time I open the fridge I see the things I'm wanting to eat, or work into a recipe.  And I can see on the counter the pantry items I need to eat up (or just toss if necessary).   I can't say I don't still sometimes throw something away that's sat in the must-go container too long, but I've been doing this since last November and I've found it to be a huge game changer for me regarding food waste.

Once, again, if you like cooking, fermenting, preserving, and making the most of the food you buy (or grow) check out Becoming a Farm Girl - another favorite Youtuber of mine:

No Knead Artisan Bread...

I was inspired by this Rain's Kitchen and Garden post to try out her recipe for Overnight No-Knead Bread.  Video tutorial here, and the written recipe here.

I prepared the dough Sunday evening, and baked it today.

A few things I did different:  I replaced a half cup of unbleached all-purpose flour with a half cup hard whole wheat flour.  And I baked my loaf in a stoneware casserole dish and used a parchment paper liner, rather than grease my baking dish.  

My stoneware baking dishes are some that Pampered Chef used to sell that my mother-in-law gave me many years ago.  While stoneware is very heavy, I have found it great for baking round loaves of bread in.  But if I didn't have it, I'd definitely use a dish like Rain does.  Rain's round loaf rose higher, and it looks beautiful.

My crusty and delicious artisan bread fresh out of the oven:

Nevermind the burned places.  They add flavor.   

And my makeshift "dutch oven", if you will:

Cooking with unglazed stoneware results in permanent staining like this.  It's not pretty, but I wanted to show what I use in case it's helpful to anyone else.

And the inside:

Having seen Rain's baking dish, and looking at this picture, I'm suddenly thinking I might try baking a loaf with this large piece on the bottom. It would sure be easier to handle than the way I do it..

~~~~~

Chili and cornbread...

Dinner out with friends last night was a nice break from our "routine" - such as it is.   Today it was back in the kitchen to make Chili and Cornbread.

   
It's the first time I've baked cornbread in a cast iron skillet, and wow!  It bakes nicely, and clean-up was a breeze.   

Since eggs have been so expensive, I've been experimenting with egg substitutes and I have found success in a couple of baked items lately using 1 tsp of baking soda mixed with 1 Tablespoon of distilled white vinegar (substituted for one egg).  I cut the salt out of the cornbread recipe because I was afraid of this being too salty, and it worked out fine.

Actually, Hub said it was the best cornbread I've made.  I confess, I normally make cornbread from a box mix and it's hit or miss as to how well that holds together, so I'd better cut the recipe off the bag of the Pearl Milling Company yellow cornmeal I presently have in the pantry and save it for future reference.  Though I suppose I should record that I used buttermilk instead of milk (because I had some that needed to be used) and added some plain Greek yogurt (maybe 1/4 cup, I didn't measure).  Hmmm...  I wonder if it would have tasted as good without those things.  I'll probably find out some day.  I almost never have buttermilk hanging around for one thing, and I don't know that I would have thought of the yogurt if I hadn't been looking at another recipe that called for that.

Chili was made using a Taste of Home seasoning mix recipe I clipped from their magazine many years ago.  Here's a link in case you're interested.  In spite of it being called Spicy Chili Seasoning Mix, the chili is only as spicy as you make it - depending on how much seasoning you mix in. 

The chili used up three quart jars of tomatoes I canned last summer, 2 gallon size bags of frozen tomatoes, and several cuts of beef that I was glad to use from the freezer.    Edited  the next day to note:  I made so much chili we made two meals of it and had enough to share a couple servings each with one son and one single friend, and still freeze four servings for eating later.  While I way over-made it this time, it always feels good to share.

I have it as a goal to not do any grocery shopping during February.  Well... except for maybe milk, eggs or fresh produce.  I think everything else I either have plenty of, or we can do without for a few more weeks.

~~~~~~

A sweet treat...

Yesterday I found three good sized zucchini in the fridge I was coming close to forgetting about.  I sautéed slices of one for yesterday's lunch and I made a mental note to make zucchini bread today from the other two.

 

Considering I spent all day thinking today was Monday (when it was actually Tuesday), I'm so glad I didn't forget the plan to make these.  Mmmmmmm...

Skyr and a recipe...

Recently, I came across a new-to-me product called Skyr:

Skyr is an Icelandic yogurt that is thicker and a bit less tangy than Greek yogurt.  I don't typically eat plain yogurt (because it sooo tangy), but I thought this stuff was pretty good. Mostly, the texture is what makes it better to me than Greek yogurt - which I thought was "the bomb" before this.  I bought this brand at Fresh Thyme Market, but I also found it at my local Meijer yesterday.

Anyway, I shared the picture with my two sisters via text and a conversation ensued about yogurts, probiotics, just generally healthy eating... 

And my sister, Sherri, offered up a recipe.  It sounded so good I told her if I liked it,  I would post it to my blog and give her credit.   I did make it, and here it is: 

While I made it without paying any attention to measurements (I know I added more berries, and I completely forgot the walnuts), I give you Sherri's breakfast recipe (complete with her notes):

 ¾-1 cup of Fage Greek Plain yogurt. (I like 2% the best but they are all good depending on any dietary considerations.)

1 Tbsp of chia seeds. I stir and let sit for 5 – 10 minutes.

Top with a couple tablespoons of walnut pieces (Full of all kinds of good things for you: polyunsaturated fat, antioxidants and Omega 3’s)

And 3-4 berries. (I like to crush 3 blackberries with a spoon to stir them through the mixture.  

Sherri also writes:

"When I am out of berries, I have used an all fruit spread, which tastes delicious too. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries would be fine too but I think the crushed blackberries enhance it the most.

 

I’ve had this nearly every morning for about three years and I am addicted to it. It is so easy – I don’t have to think what will I eat?   And it's probably more nutritious than anything to start the day.

 

The chia seeds and walnuts I buy on Amazon in the 2-lb packaging and are staples in my refrigerator. A small container of blackberries at 3 per morning will last a week. The yogurt I buy most every time I go to the grocery. I like the taste and texture of Fage Greek the best and its sugar content is the best I’ve seen."

~~~~~

Thank you, Dear Reader, for hanging out with me again.

Cherry cobbler...

As I've harvested and pitted cherries, I've been enjoying thinking about how I will use them in the upcoming months.

That said, after freezing 6 bags with 2 cups each before the cherries on the tree appear to have finally passed their peak this year, I will happily let the birds enjoy what's left on the branches.  Pitting these small tart cherries is quite a chore - especially with my hand issues.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed making (and we thoroughly enjoyed eating) a simple cherry cobbler last weekend.   It's a pretty standard recipe found in lots of places online, but here it is in case you're interested.  Next time I'm going to follow the suggestions for doubling the recipe (or I suppose, I could just use a smaller baking dish) for a thicker cobbler.

It was the first dessert I've had in over three months.  

And I do believe it was worth breaking my sugar fast for.  

I certainly have no regrets!

I'm curious if you like cherries and if so, what do you like to do with them?

Sauteed Shredded Brussels Sprouts...

Back in the kitchen for another New Thing this week.    

Ever since Christmas day when I enjoyed a restaurant meal of sautéed shredded Brussels sprouts alongside broiled salmon, I knew I wanted to make this side dish at home.  I also decided I was going to (try to) learn to cook a salmon filet to perfection - but that's for another day.

On the lookout for fresh Brussels sprouts I've been surprised and dismayed at how expensive they are (or have become maybe?).   But I kept an eye out, and finally, on my last shopping trip, I found some fresh Brussels sprouts that were in the range of affordable (1.99/lb, I think), so I brought home two mesh bags of them.   Two bags was probably one too many, but, well...  live and learn.

This post is going to now turn into a recipe of sorts, for future reference if I ever forget how to make sautéed Brussels sprouts - which seems ridiculous because of how easy these are to prepare this way,  but you never know...  This dish does not need a recipe, and that's why you'll not find measurements here, but if you're comfortable in the kitchen you'll totally get that this isn't an exact science, but rather you prepare this dish by sight, feel and taste.  If you've tired of roasted Brussels sprouts, or just downright hate them (for whatever reason), you might want to consider this way of cooking them before completely giving up on them. They are very healthy, I understand.

So anyway... once home, seeing that the outer layers of most of the sprouts were scarred and a tad discolored in places, I got out my paring knife and peeled off the first layer or two.   And cut off the bottom most part of the base.  I didn't clean them otherwise.

Then with a larger slicing knife I sliced them into pretty shreds.  Pretty simple, too.  Some people use a mandoline slicer, I understand.  Or maybe a box shredder.  But slicing them with a sharp knife worked fine for me.

When shredding Brussels sprouts, a little goes a long way I found out.  For two of us, I probably sliced up 6 to 8 sprouts.

Then I heated up some olive oil in a frying pan.  Added some butter, then tossed in the shredded Brussels sprouts and stirred and heated until they started to wilt a bit.

Now's about when I added some sea salt and some freshly ground pepper.  And continued sautéing them, continuing to toss and turn the shredded sprouts over and over in the pan until they started to caramelize.  Tongs are perfect for this.  At some point in the cooking (I'm thinking at the beginning of things starting to brown,) if you have any cooked bacon hanging around, you can add it to the pan if that sounds good to you. 

But bacon isn't necessary.  And I didn't have any cooked up, so I just kept going, adding a bit more butter as it seemed a good idea to do so - my goal was to have something of a buttery sauce as I completed cooking this dish.  

Keep stirring and sautéing, 'till it all looks done!  Like this:

The texture is softened, but with some crispiness left to it.  Really, I think you can just cook this as long as you want, but this took me mere minutes.  Less than 10, I'm pretty sure.

Many recipes will have you add balsamic vinegar, so I did (right after I snapped the above picture), and as soon as I tasted them, I instantly regretted it.  Maybe I was using a cheap, bad-tasting balsamic (very possibly), or maybe I used too much (though I don't think so), but I will forego it in the future.  These went from tasting fresh and having their flavor heightened by caramelization, to turning overall brownish and having their fresh taste overcome by the vinegar.  We ate them, and I finished them off, but I'm of the opinion that balsamic vinegar (aside from being an acquired taste), really didn't improve the dish.  If you like balsamic, though, knock yourself out.  Edited to add:  I've made this dish several times again since posting this, leaving out the balsamic vinegar and I, personally, think they taste much better without it.

And that's really it!   If you make this dish and add any kind of acid besides balsamic vinegar, I'd be happy to know it.   I may play with some other things like lemon juice, or a white wine vinegar, but otherwise, some butter, salt and pepper makes these sautéed sprouts very good.

I'm planning on thawing out some salmon I've got in the big freezer, and fixing some more of these shredded sprouts later in the week.  :)  We'll see if I can get the salmon-cooking-thing down now.

That's nine new things in 2022!

After being annoyed at the blogger editor telling me I was misspelling Brussels sprouts (which I was spelling brussel sprouts), I finally looked it up.  I didn't realize that there was an s on the end of brussel.  Did you?  Makes sense, even if it's awkward to pronounce - for someone who never realized there was an s at the end.  

 

Potato Leek Soup...

Having received an immersion blender for Christmas (or rather...  having gifted myself one for Christmas), I'm thrilled with what a great tool is for for making creamy goodies like Potato Leek Soup.  In fact, it's such a great tool, and this is such a good recipe, I've made this soup three times now since the beginning of the year.

There are numerous and similar recipes online, but I started with this recipe found at Once Upon a Chef  and adapted it to what I had on hand.  Giving credit to the original creator of this recipe, I record here how I made this soup so I can easily find it again.  If  you make it (or follow the recipe linked to above) I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

3 Tbs butter
2 to 4 good size leeks    
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes - peeled and cut up 
7-8 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp powdered Thyme 
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (approx)
Chicken Bouillon (if desired)
Heavy Cream (~ 1 Tbs per bowl)


Notes:  

• The original recipe calls for 4 large leeks, but I just use whatever comes in a bundle - typically I get 2 or 3 leeks in a bundle.

• I sometimes mix other potatoes with Yukon Gold

• Original recipe calls for 3 sprigs fresh thyme - dried, powdered thyme is what I had

• I almost always end up adding some chicken boullion to my soup after blending it.  I don't know if you'll think it needs more, but this heightens the flavor for me.  I could just have poorly trained taste buds. Don't add it before tasting.

Instructions:

If you're not familiar with cleaning leeks, here's a quick video tutorial - I prefer to cut them in half lengthwise and clean them before chopping them up.  I clean and chop leaks about an inch into the dark green stalk.  And being a plumber's daughter, who's sometimes learned the hard way that Dad was right, let me advise you...  dump the sandy, dirty water outside - not down your kitchen drain.

Melt butter over low heat in soup pot.  Add the leeks and garlic.  Cook, stirring so nothing browns.  This takes 10 - 15 minutes.  

Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to pot and bring to a boil.  Stir, turn heat down to low and simmer for about 30 minutes (or until potatoes are very soft).

Remove the bay leaves (and sprigs of thyme if using fresh), then puree with an immersion blender until smooth.  At this point, the soup can be cooled and frozen for future use.  To eat now, read on:

Ladle soup into bowls, then add about 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to each bowl and stir.  If needed, nuke in microwave for 30 seconds to heat back up after adding cream.

Soup can be frozen without cream.  Just thaw, reheat, and add cream to hot soup.

This soup is great alone or with a light sandwich.  Very filling.


 

What's For Supper?

Chicken Carnitas!  Made in my Instant Pot!

This is obviously just the chicken, but the chicken is kind of the main thing...

Disclaimer:  This post is not so much an endorsement for the recipe I used (because I adapted it), but rather it's all about how excited I am to have cooked chicken in my Instant Pot and recognizing what a great tool it is for that purpose.

I sort of followed this recipe at Little Spice Jar, using what I had and not worrying much about what I didn't have.  I didn't have fresh cilantro and I forgot to add dried cilantro where it was called for. I also completely forgot the garlic - and I have plenty of fresh garlic.  Sigh.  I didn't have any chipotle pepper (do not care for chipotle anything), and instead of adobo sauce, I just sprinkled some dry adobo seasoning mix in the dry rub I coated the chicken with before searing.

Also...  to be honest, I didn't sear the chicken in the Instant Pot.  I've successfully seared something once, but since then I've read that searing can cause the Pot to not want to go into pressure mode (or something like that) and the inner pot may have to be cooled before continuing.  I didn't want to waste the time finding out if that might happen on my second searing attempt, so I just seared the chicken breasts in a skillet.

Now for the Chipotle sauce.  I've already said I'm not a chipotle person.  Well...  I'm also not a big fan of mayonnaise.  It was really tempting to just forgo this, but let me encourage anyone who might be interested in trying this recipe but is possibly turned off by this sauce --- try it.  Or try making it in a way that you might like it.  For example...  in place of the chipotle pepper and adobo sauce, I just added maybe 2 -3 teaspoons of dry adobo seasoning mix.  And I sprinkled in a little black pepper before whisking.   My verdict after eating a carnita:  the sauce makes this.  Yep.  I, who doesn't particularly care for mayo, said that. Of course, if I'd had chipotle pepper and adobo sauce, I might hate this sauce.  But what I made was mild, and added just the the right amount of flavor for both my and my husband's liking.  Your mileage may vary.

The more important thing to me is how pumped I am to now have a bunch of shredded chicken to add to other recipes.  Frankly, I'm excited at the thought of making shredded or chopped chicken from now on from chicken cooked in my Instant Pot.  

If I subtract the time spent searing the chicken before cooking, I'm thinking it wouldn't take more than 30 minutes to cook up a batch of chicken (in this case 6 chicken breasts).  But even if it takes longer, I'm okay with that, because I love that I can walk away from my Instant Pot and just let it do its thing.  And it is so much easier and cleaner to cook the chicken in this pot than in the microwave - which is how I usually cook chicken before shredding or chopping it for a recipe. And we won't enumerate how many times I've discovered cold chicken breasts in the microwave in the morning because the night before I walked away to let the microwave do its thing, only to get busy and completely forget about it.  😏 

Happy Cook here - happy to have another success in my Instant Pot experience.  

And browsing the Little Spice Jar website, I'm thinking I'm going to have to try their Garlic Butter Skillet Steak and Shrimp.  Mmmmm