12/21/17

4 Instant Egg Nog Drink Mix - Enjoy Year Round!


Do you love egg nog? Don't you wish you could have it year round?

Although egg nog is a traditional, seasonal drink, it is only sold in stores from about late October through January.

If you make it yourself, you can enjoy egg nog any. Time. You. Want.

And it's gluten free, soy free, and can be vegan!

I have seen powdered egg nog online, but really wanted to make my own. What is great about a powdered egg nog mix is that you can add it to your milk of choice, yogurt, milk shake, or smoothie.

It also makes a great gift.

After more searching, I found this recipe and was surprised by one of the ingredients...



Instant pudding?

Well, yeah - I've made vanilla pudding and yes, it does use eggs...

But boxed pudding doesn't use eggs to thicken; it uses cornstarch to thicken.

Custards are made with eggs, puddings are made with cornstarch. I learn something new every day!

Boxed pudding is gluten free, soy free and vegan!

Saco Buttermilk Powder Blend is an ingredient that I have used often for many of my recipes. It is a blend of buttermilk, sweet cream, dairy whey, and lactic acid. It's great, as it is gluten free & nut free. This helps bring a creamy texture to your egg nog, with a very slight tang.

Instant Powdered Milk is what you will want to use for this recipe. Instant powdered milk dissolves more easily than traditional powdered milk that needs hot water to help it dissolve. You can use regular or sugar free pudding, but it must be instant, not the cooked kind.  Instant milk powder is not vegan, but you can try a vegan substitute for powdered milk.

Ground nutmeg is traditional for making egg nog. If you have access to whole nutmeg, and a microplane grater, even better! You would be amazed how wonderful freshly grated spices taste in cooking and baking.

Granulated sugar is added to the mix, but you can use your choice of an alternative powdered sweetener.

That's it - five simple ingredients is all that it will take to make this Egg Nog drink mix.

Put everything together in a 7 cup or larger blender or food processor.

Pulse till fully combined.



Put your mix in a container, with a well fitting lid.

Or find a cute jar...





You can use Avery.com to design some custom labels, download a template, or use stickers from a craft or office supply store.

I found these round vintage labels here.



Use a light spray of E6000 adhesive to stick craft paper labels to your glass. This is the only stuff I have found that works. If you use too much, it will saturate the paper and cause it to wrinkle.






Use a little or a lot, let it sit for a minute or two, stir and enjoy!


Print Friendly and PDF
Egg Nog Drink Mix 
adapted from M. Hansen, Taste of Home

Ingredients
3 1/3 cup Instant non fat milk powder (or vegan substitute)
1 (5.1 oz) large pkg of Instant Vanilla Jello pudding (can be regular or sugar free)
1/2 cup SaCo Buttermilk Blend powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar - or alternative sweetener of your choice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

Instructions
Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender.
Pulse until completely blended.
Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 6 months.

To make your egg nog:
1 cup of cold milk
3-5 heaping teaspoons of Egg Nog Mix

Stir the egg nog powder into the milk and let it sit for a minute or two, to help dissolve any lumps.
Stir again, till smooth and creamy.
You can use a blender or immersion hand blender to smooth out any lumps.

Try adding egg nog mix to your yogurt, milkshake, smoothie, or in baked goods.

Enjoy!

12/20/17

0 Bottles & Labels for Homemade Vanilla Extract



S. Dunow

Ever since my Pressure Cooker Vanilla Extract recipe debuted over a year ago, I am seeing so many creative ways to bottle and label the extract on the Instant Pot Community Facebook page.

I can honestly say that making vanilla extract is very easy. What can be more challenging is finding affordable vanilla beans. Even with the high price of vanilla beans, it can be more economical to make your own extract, knowing exactly what ingredients you are using. Plus, it's fun to make, fun to decorate, and even more fun to give away as gifts!

Bottles
You can see there are a large variety of glass bottles - They can either be clear or amber color. If you use amber, you can display your vanilla extract on the counter; if you use a clear bottle, you will need to keep it in a dark, cool place in a cupboard. 4, 5, 8 and 16 oz bottles are popular sizes.

You can find bottles at your Dollar Store or repurpose used bottles: root beer, tabasco, and other condiments. Make sure they are clean and sterilized before bottling your extract.

Labels
Labels can be custom made with a machine, hand written, or purchased from a local craft store. They can be adhesive stickers/labels or on heavy craft paper using E6000 glue.

If you are inspired by any of these beautiful bottles, feel free to send me your picture and I'll include it in this round up!

C.Reinhart - 100ml (3oz)
Bottles: SKS Bottles & Packaging
Labels: Authentic Heirlooms Custom Labels

J. Harmon
Bottles: 4 oz Amber Glass Bottles


A. Steele
Bottles: Swing Top 16 oz  - Also available at IKEA

The shrink capsules slip onto your capped bottles and with a hair dryer, shrink to fit the bottle.

K. Singer
Bottles: Hobby Lobby
Beans: Ebay

K. Bax
These bottles are so interesting. Almost like the Little Nipper Flask, below.


K. Bryan
Vanilla: Cold Extraction method

C. Birkhead
D. Jasper
Bottles: Clear Glass Woozy Bottles, 5 oz with shrink capsules


J. Carlund
Labels: Hobby Lobby 


J. Deaver
Label Template: ALittleInsanity.com - free vanilla labels and tags. 
Changed the word "vodka" to "bourbon." Used gold metallic paper labels
E6000 adhesive glue - use heavier paper for best results.

J. Harman
Bottles: 4 oz Amber Glass
Labels: Avery Template

K. Reaser
Front: Silver Sharpie, hand written
Back: Craft Stickers


K. Guay
Bourbon Vanilla

M. Cashman
Label: Silhouette CAMEO, "Buttercup" font on adhesive vinyl


W. Wadsworth
This gal used her Silouette CAMEO to print these labels using the "Hello Wedding" font on adhesive vinyl. Tags are printed card stock.

M. Medellin
Bottles: 5 oz Clear Woozy Bottles, with shrink capsules
Labels: Custom made by a friend on a Cricut machine


N. McCrery
Bottles: 4 oz Amber Glass Bottles

T. Smith
T. Rasmussen
Bottles: 4 oz Amber Glass Bottles
Labels: ALittleInsanity.com - free vanilla labels and tags
Vanilla Beans: Ebay.com

W. Johnson
C. Yang

12/11/17

0 Game Day Root Beer Chili - Pressure, Stove & Slow Cooker



Football season is in full swing and this hearty Game Day Chili, which normally has beer, is family friendly, using our favorite Root Beer.

Root beer lends a mildly sweet taste that compliments the spices that are commonly found in a traditional chili. This recipe also tones down some of the spiciness of the chili to appeal to kids of all ages. I found it to be in the 'medium' heat range, and you can play around with the amounts of spices and different types of chili peppers to suit your taste.

This is a great basic chili recipe that you can adjust to meet your taste. Even though the meat is browned, the beans and tomatoes are cooked, heating the chili allows ALL the flavors to blend, fuse, or 'marry' into the meat, beans, and tomatoes.

When slow cooking or using a Dutch oven, the longer you simmer, the better the flavor will be. With pressure cooking, the pressure forces the flavors to quickly go through all the ingredients, giving your chili an all day flavor in a much, much shorter time.

Liquid - Avoiding the BURN Notice
When pressure cooking, it is important to have enough liquid to be able to turn the liquid into steam, which helps create pressure. "Liquid" can be any thin, watery substance: water, broth, beer, wine or soda. Tomato juice, milk, butter, cream soups and sauces - anything with food solids, flour, or dairy cannot be counted as a liquid.

If there is not enough liquid, pressure will not be achieved. You may get burned, scorched food on the bottom of your pot. If this happens, you will need to scrape the burned food off, add more liquid, and try cooking your chili again.

Water, broth, beer, wine, carbonated drinks can be counted as liquid, as long as you have enough for your recipe and size of pressure cooker. 6 quart pressure cookers need at least 1 cup of liquid and 8 quart pressure cookers need 1.5-2 cups minimum. If you find after cooking that you have too much liquid in your recipe, you can use the saute or browning setting to help reduce it down to the consistency that you like, or make adjustments to your liquids in your recipe for next time.

Many of the original recipes that I researched called for beer, Guiness, or a medium ale. I wanted this to be a family friendly dish, so I subbed it with Root Beer. You can use beer if you wish, but keep in mind that all of the alcohol doesn't cook out, especially if you use the pressure cooker method.

Tip: "Mise en place(MEEZ ahn plahs), or French for "Putting in place."
When you start, get all of your ingredients out, cut your veggies and measure your spices.
This will allow you to quickly put your chili together and not miss any ingredients.

Tip: Chop & Freeze 
Chopping your onions and peppers ahead of time, measuring and freezing them in baggies are a great time saver! You can dump these into your chili with no thawing necessary.

Tip: Freeze Tomato Paste
Measure tablespoon sized dollops of tomato paste on a plastic lined tray. Freeze completely, and transfer to a freezer baggie. Label and date. No more wasting cans of tomato paste. Tomato paste also comes in a squeeze tube, which is super easy to measure and use.

Ooops.

Forgot the Root Beer.

Be right back.


This chili starts with a basic mix of lean ground hamburger and sausage. I use this combo when making my Marvelous Meatballs, as the sausage not only gives flavor to the ground beef, the fat from the sausage gives it a softer texture.

The nice thing about using ground sausage is that you can choose your heat level.

Jimmy Dean sausage comes in Regular, Hot, Sage, Chorizo, Country Mild and Italian flavors. I chose the Regular for this chili. My goal was to have the heat level in the middle range to please a variety of tastes.

Put both your *lean ground beef (or turkey) and sausage into your pressure cooker, Dutch oven or deep skillet. Brown on the saute+more setting, or over medium-high heat.

(*Lean ground beef is important in this recipe. If you use a fattier ground beef, you will end up with a puddle of oil on top of your chili. If you do use a fattier ground beef, you will want to drain it after browning it. You can pour your meat into a sieve or use paper towels to mop up the extra grease.)

I love using this flat metal pancake spatula that I've had for years. It does a great job of chopping up the meat as you are cooking.


You can also use this tool which works wonders for chopping up meat in your pot, especially if your pot is enameled, ceramic, or non stick.


This recipe calls for bacon bits. You can cut up 6-8 pieces of raw bacon (with kitchen scissors) and brown it along with the sausage/ground beef, or you can use ready-to-use bacon.


After browning your meat, add your chopped onions. Cook and stir till softened.

Choosing Peppers
Kids and I like our dishes mild - oldest son and hubby like spicy HOT. Fortunately, you can adjust the heat of this dish by choosing your peppers, sausage, and and by how much chili powder you use.

How hot is a pepper? Generally, the shorter the pepper is, the hotter it is. 

No Heat - Bell, Red, Banana, Pimento 
Mild - Pepperoncini, Anaheim, Santa Fe, Poblano, Ancho
Medium - Jalapeno, Serrano, Fresno, Mirasol
Hot - Tabasco, Cayenne, Aji
Scorching - Thai, Chiltepin, Jamaican Hot, Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Ghost Pepper

Stir in your chopped red and green peppers, and garlic.

Choose your peppers according to the heat level you want. Today, I'm using Red & Green peppers, and a Poblano or Anaheim pepper, which are mild. 



Toss in your seasonings. Stir and cook until you can smell all the wonderful aromas.  

Spices are often called, "aromatics" and when the hot oils hit the spice, it really brings out a more intense, deeper flavor. It is worth the extra 1-2 minutes that it takes to "bloom" the spices.


At this point, you may see dark brown, stuck on bits of food on the bottom of the pan. This is the "fond" or good stuff that enhances the flavor of your chili.

You will need to scrape these cooked bits off to help your cooker get to pressure and to prevent further burning that can lead to a burnt taste.

To help make it easier to remove the cooked on bits, move some of the cooked meat to the side. exposing the bottom of your pan and slooooooowly pour a little bit of your liquid (Root Beer) into the pot. It will sizzle and steam, so be careful.

Once it stops steaming, pour the rest of your liquid in and give it a good stir, scraping off any remaining stuck on bits of food.

This is called "deglazing" your pot.


Pour in your diced tomatoes, and for pressure cooking, do not stir - we do not want any of the tomatoes to touch the bottom of the pot, as it can burn, scorch and prevent your pressure cooker from coming to pressure.

Choosing Beans
Kidney beans are large and maroon in color. They are hearty and take well to spices, and are well suited for making chili.
Pinto beans are pinkish and turn brown when cooked. They are a staple in most Mexican recipes.
Great Northen Beans are a white bean, with a mild taste that are perfect for a White Chicken Chili recipe.

I'm using canned chili beans for quick prep and short cooking time. Bush's Best has a line of chili beans in sauce, which truly enrich and add flavor to the chili. I chose the Mixed Chili Beans in Mild Chili Sauce. If you can only find canned beans without the sauce, you will need to drain them for best flavor.

Pour in your choice of canned chili beans, sauce and all. No stirring.


Last, put your tomato paste on top.

Again, do not stir.

Tomato paste will give your chili a bright tomato taste.


Lock the lid for pressure cooking, set for HIGH pressure, and time for 8 minutes.

For stove top, simmer over low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Slow cooker, 4 hours on High or 8 hours on Low.

Print Friendly and PDF
Game Day Root Beer Chili
adapted from Tailgate Chili on Allrecipes.com

1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
1 pound Regular/Italian ground sausage (use Hot variety for a spicier chili)
6-8 slices of raw bacon, cut
          *or* use 1-2 Tablespoons of ready to use bacon bits
1 small yellow onion, chopped (2/3 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 Green Bell pepper, seeded and chopped (chop/freeze the rest)
1/2 Red Bell pepper, seeded and chopped (chop/freeze the rest)
1/2 Anaheim/Poblano pepper, seeded and chopped (chop/freeze the rest
          *can use a Jalapeno or Serrano pepper for more heat*
2 Tablespoons of dark chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (increase to 1/2-1 teaspoon for spicier chili)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
1 (12oz) can of Root Beer (use med ale or Guinness beer for adult chili)
2 teaspoons of beef bouillon or Better than Boullion
          *or* 1 1/2 cups of beef broth (omit if using stove top/slow cooker method)
1 cup water (omit if using beef broth, stove top or slow cooker method)
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes with juice - do not drain
2 cans of Bush's Best Chili Beans in Mild Sauce - do not drain (use spicy sauce for hot chili)
1 teaspoon Tabasco hot pepper sauce *omit for kiddos/mild chili
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (or fish sauce)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 Tablespoons tomato paste (half of a 6oz can. Freeze the rest)

Pressure Cooker
1. Put ground beef and sausage into pot. (Add chopped raw bacon, if using)
    Select Saute or browning. Chop the meat as it cooks, until it resembles bite sized pieces.
2. Add chopped onions and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in minced garlic.
4. Add chopped peppers and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add your spices: chili, oregano, cumin, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, and paprika. Stir and cook till you can smell the aroma, about 1-2 minutes.
6. Deglaze your pot by moving the meat mixture to the side and slowly adding your root beer. Scrape off all the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
     Do not stir from this point on. Dump the ingredients, but no stirring!
7. In this order: dump in your broth (or bouillon & water), diced tomatoes, cans of chili beans, hot pepper sauce (if using), Worcestershire, brown sugar and tomato paste. Sprinkle bacon bits on top.
8. Cover, lock lid and close pressure valve (set to sealing).
9. Choose HIGH pressure and timer for 8 minutes.
10. When cooking time finishes, allow a 10 minute natural release.
Open the valve to release any remaining pressure, stir and enjoy. (if you want a thicker chili, saute/brown for a couple of minutes, stirring continuously.)
Serve with  shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla or corn chips (ie. Fritos)
Serves 6-8

20-30 min prep
10 min to pressure
 8 min cook time
10 min natural release

*This recipe should *not* be doubled for a 6 quart pressure cooker, but can be doubled for an 8 or 10 quart. Double the ingredients, but not the cook time.
Filling your pressure cooker more than 2/3rd full can result in foam/liquid clogging your pressure valve and may prevent your cooker from coming to pressure.

Stove Top
Follow steps 1-5, using a large, heavy bottom pot.
Add Root Beer, beef bouillon (no water or beef broth), diced tomatoes, chili beans, pepper & Worcestershire sauces, brown sugar, tomato paste, and bacon bits, if using. Stir to blend well.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste.
Remove from heat, stir, serve and enjoy.

Slow Cooker
Follow steps 1-5, using a large skillet over medium-high heat on the stove.
Add Root Beer to deglaze the pot and scrape off any cooked bits on the bottom of the skillet.
Add mixture to a slow cooker.
Add beef bouillon (no water or beef broth), diced tomatoes, chili beans, pepper & Worcestershire sauces, brown sugar, tomato paste, and bacon bits, if using. Stir to blend well.
Cover, and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.
Stir and serve.


11/19/17

11 Frozen Boneless Turkey Breast in an Hour!



Would you believe that you can cook a frozen, nearly 3 pound turkey breast, in an hour?

If you have a pressure cooker, this is definitely doable!

I saw this on sale at our local grocery store and it intrigued me...

Oven Ready! No Thawing! Boneless Turkey Breast with gravy packet!

Jennie-O Oven Ready Boneless Turkey Breast

For the last 8 years, I have been making my Herb Roasted Turkey Breast, a family favorite that everyone looks forward to eating - perfectly seasoned with herbs, lemon, garlic, with moist, tender slices of turkey each and every time.

The problem with cooking most turkey is that it is frozen....and you need to thaw it out over a couple of days in the fridge. For every 5 pounds, you need 24 hours to thaw, so a 10-15 pound turkey can take 3 days to thaw!!

Another problem is that on Thanksgiving, my oven is usually taken up with baking dressing or dinner rolls, so cooking this in my pressure cooker will definitely help.



Let's see how this works out. I'm using a frozen, boneless chicken formula that a member of the Instant Pot Facebook Community shared for boneless chicken breasts:

High pressure, 1 minute per ounce, 10-15 min natural release. With a turkey breast, you will need to use a FULL natural release.

A natural release is the time the food sits in the pressure cooker AFTER the cook time. A FULL NPR is when the silver float valve drops and you can safely open your pressure cooker.

The package says 2.75 pounds, but I should have weighed it with my OXO scale to make sure. This translates to 44 oz, so 44 minutes and a full natural release (about 15 minutes) is what I used. The package says to cook in the oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes, so if this can save me time and oven space, I'm sold!

The turkey breast is fully seasoned, and I set it on the trivet that comes with the pressure cooker, and added 2 cups of water. I probably could use less, as the turkey release another cup...

Here's what it looked liked after a full NPR (natural pressure release). The NPR took about 15-20 minutes.

Smells great!



Checked the temp at the thickest part with my digital thermometer and it read 167°F - fully cooked!

You want the temp to be in the 160°-165°F range, but this meat was not dry at all...

Slice the turkey against the grain, to avoid shredding and get perfect slices. I cannot believe how incredibly moist this turkey breast is!


Cover your turkey breast with aluminum foil to let it rest, retain the heat and stay moist while you make the gravy.

I reserved 3/4 cup of the broth and dumped the frozen packet of gravy into the pot.



Set it on saute - high and stirred it with my favorite flat whisk. Perfect for getting every nook and cranny of the pot and getting a smooth gravy or sauce.


Paired with Creamy Pressure Cooked Mashed Potatoes, this will be a very quick and easy dinner!






print recipe

Frozen Boneless Turkey Breast - Pressure Cook
Use your pressure cooker to cook a moist & tender boneless turkey breast in under an hour, start to finish! Cooking from frozen, in the oven, takes 2.5 hours. You can double this recipe using two boneless breasts, just lay them side by side & do not stack them on top of each other,
Ingredients
  • 2.75 pounds Frozen Turkey Breast or Roast- I used Jennie-O Oven Ready
  • 2 cups water
  • Trivet - metal steam rack
Instructions
1. Remove the plastic shrink wrap and gravy packet from the frozen turkey. You may need to hold the shrink wrapped turkey under hot tap water to separate it from the frozen meat. If using a ROAST, keep the twine on the meat.2. Put 2 cups of water into the pressure cooker pot.3. Set the trivet inside the pot.4. Place the frozen turkey breast or roast directly on the rack.5. Select HIGH pressure and Set the time according to the CHART below.6. When cook time is finished, turn the pressure cooker OFF and allow the pressure to release naturally, until the float pin drops, about 15-20 minutes. 7. Test the turkey with a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat. It should read at least 160°F. If it is less than 160°F, pressure cook your meat for an additional 2-3 minutes, with a full natural release. 8. Using the trivet handles, or two flat spatulas, lift the turkey onto a carving board or plate. 9. Cover the turkey with aluminum foil to rest and retain the heat. While resting, the temp of your turkey will go up another 5°.10. Remove all BUT 3/4 cup of the liquid broth from your pressure cooker. 11. Open the gravy packet and put into the pot of broth. 12. Select Saute/Browning and stir until thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Slice your turkey breast against the grain and serve with hot gravy. TURKEY TIMING CHARTFrozen: 1 minute for each OUNCE (ex: 44 oz = 44 minutes) Thawed: 10 min per POUND (2.75 lb = 28 minutes)
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8-10 servings

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