More about pressure cooking and cooking success

I hope those who are interested got a chance to check out the sites I recommended. You should especially bookmark Tracy's site and check it often. Just today she wrote a post called "Try it you'll like it -- Pressure Cooking 102".

So before trying a pressure cooker, I was quite fearful of using one. I'm also afraid of deep frying stuff (which is why even at the height of my "I have little kids and I make everything from scratch" phase, I never made donuts -- 300+ degree oil plus toddlers seemed like a recipe for disaster!). After impulsively clicking to purchase my pressure cooker, I figured I had to use it at least 10 times to try to get comfortable with it. The first time I was nervous as it came up to pressure. But then it just seemed ... well, safe. And actually I feel like I have a very fun kitchen playtoy. Plus it feels a little magical in how fast it cooks stuff. So now that I'm past the fear, it's actually really really fun!

As to what I've been making, I'm a recipe follower, at least till I'm comfortable with making something. So I got the book "Pressure Cooking for Everyone" and I made their minestrone (page 34) as my first pc dish. It was easy and absolutely delicious. Next I tried Risotto with butternut squash and sausage (page 115, but I left out the sausage) and again, it was absolutely delicious. I've made risotto before and it's a pain in the ass to babysit so I've only made it twice, but with a pressure cooker, it's so easy that we'll be having it more often. Then I made Mexican chicken in soft tacos (page 79), doubling the vegetables in the recipe. Again, success!

I got on the Internet and was searching for a pressure cooking video that made it seem less scary, and that's how I found Co0kus Interruptus, a hilarious internet cooking show. Tucker and I have been watching the videos, and on Friday night he made some delicious hummus from Cynthia's recipe.
I encourage you to check out more of the videos on the site.

Finally, I'm making some headway in my quest for eating more real food and less manufactured food-like stuff. I brought left over minestrone and carrots and hummus to the TKD tournament on Saturday which worked great. On the drive home, I stopped at Subway and was about to buy a protein bar at the little snack area, when I realized, "I could have a sandwich!" So I had a veggie delight sandwich that was way healthier and more nourishing than the $3.49 (!) protein bar I almost bought.

Now really finally, tonight I made a really yummy pre-dinner snackey thing. It's kind of a mock tuna salad where you chop up canned chickpeas in the food processer, then add in some chopped apple, chopped celery, choppped onion and then some vegan mayo and a little Annie's Goddess salad dressing and some salt and pepper to taste. Tim and I had this with crackers before finishing the very last of the minestrone. (Austin opted out of both of our choices and made himself some Top Ramen -- sigh.) :)