frugal cooking, frugal living, Uncategorized

Save Money: Let’s Make Poverty Soup (Or Stew) In An Instant Pot!

Let me be honest, I’m feeling the pain of ever rising prices, but I’m a frugal guy who, at the moment, can get by. I believe that my cost-saving habits are the exception rather than the rule, as there is a generation that has been raised on impulse buying, easy credit, and instant gratification. I don’t blame them, they have been trained to spend by advertisers and others. I lack the ability to correct our current economic problems, but I can encourage people to leave their comfort zone as behaviors, like cooking at home, can stretch a dollar.

Inflation, a needless war, every changing tariffs; all are pushing some to their breaking point, do our leaders even care? This week was especially disturbing to me. I just filled my tank with regular gas, and the lowest price I could find (Costco) was $4.40/gallon, with regular gas stations in my area selling gas at around $4.50/gallon. My friend, Tom, drives a diesel powered truck for his business. He takes his truck everywhere, and diesel is now priced at $6.50/gallon in our area. I’m retired and can limit my driving, my friend can not. What about over-the-road truckers? Someone has to pay for these insane fuel prices, and that will be the end user (you). Expect anything that is shipped by truck, which is everything, to go up in price. You may be told in double speak that gas prices are up due to the Russian/Ukraine war. The main reason is the needles Iranian war, and that conflict is only getting worse. Expect gas prices to rise further. Editor’s Note: I just checked our local Costco and 1 gallon of gas is now $4.69, up 19 cents in two days!

Then I saw this!

And later in the day, I saw this!

I just heard the federal government is going to stop the help it was giving to Part D of regular Medicare. This means this supplement will go up in price for those retired folks who can least afford it. Dr. Oz (head of Medicare/Medicaid) says this is to make those services more streamlined, which, in my opinion, is BS. Project 2025 clearly stated that there is a plan to eliminate regular Medicare and switch everyone over to a Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare Advantage is private insurance, a HMO. It is proven that Medicare is more efficient than Advantage plans, and there is evidence that Advantage plans can be unnecessarily restrictive in what treatments they will permit. Did you know that the CEO’s of major health insurance companies make between $12,000,000.00 and $60,000,000.00 per year in total compensation? That money has to come from somewhere.

A very close loved one had a serious condition diagnosed a few years back. Our medical group has over 900 MDs in it. None, could handle her case, and we were referred to another massive group where she saw their chairman of the department of Neurosurgery. Neither he nor any doctor in his group could handle her problem, and he sent her to a university hospital where she saw a Neurosurgeon who had special fellowship training in her issue. He could not handle her problem, and referred her to the chairman of the university’s Neurosurgery department. Because of her regular health insurance she was able to get top level care, and because of that care she can walk today. Would that have been possible if she had an HMO?? I can’t say, but I know that it would have been incredibly difficult for us to jump through HMO hoops during an unbelievably stressful time in our lives. Remember, Medicare Advantage is private HMO insurance, it is NOT Medicare. Private insurance makes its money by collecting premiums and paying out less than it takes in. Its motivation is profit; regular Medicare’s motivation is care.

I do the majority of my grocery shopping at the least expensive store in my area, Aldi. Last Monday, I went there to do buy my weekly groceries. What I saw at checkout shocked me. No one had a full cart, in fact most carts were not even a quarter full. I saw very few carts with snack food, like potato chips. The cheapest ground beef that I could find was the frozen stuff in tubes, which is a pretty low grade product. A one pound tube at Aldi was an astonishing $6.50! Who would think that tube ground beef would become a luxury purchase? Today’s recipe will use some ground beef, but I’m maximizing every once of it.

Folks, let’s put politics aside and face reality. Anytime you give a single person absolute control of an organization as complex as the USA, it will go badly. Remember, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

With that said, everyone still needs to eat and this soup is filling, nutritious, flexible, and inexpensive. You can modify today’s soup in many ways, depending on what you have. You can use less meat, add more vegetables, or omit or substitute items like starches, beans, and tomato products.

I’ll be using dehydrated onions and garlic, as these are cheap items that don’t go bad, and are easy to have on hand. I’ll also use some basic dried herbs. You can buy spices inexpensively if you go with the house brand at places like Aldi, Walmart, and Dollar Tree. Herbs add a lot of interest to a food, but if you don’t have the cash, salt and pepper alone will do. You can alter your spices to change things up. I’m using traditional herbs to make a soup that has an Italian flavor, but you could turn this dish into a Mexican style soup, or one with an Indian or Asian flair by changing the spices that you use.

Lastly, I’m using frozen vegetables instead of fresh ones. Frozen vegetables have no waste, and they don’t spoil like fresh ones, so they are value leaders. Need to stretch things further? Thicken the concoction with some flour or corn starch and turn it into a stew to serve over rice.

I’m not providing a specific recipe, but you can find a variety of similar dishes from other online creators. There is no real recipe, just guidelines, as this soup is so flexible. When times are tough, this soup can feed a lot of people cheaply, or feed one or two individuals for days.

Lastly, I’m using an electric pressure cooker (AKA an Instant Pot). You can buy new off-brand electric pressure cookers inexpensively (see my post from 9/15/26) , and I have picked up used units while thrifting for as little as $4.99. You can also make this recipe using a pot on the stove (increase cooking time accordingly). However, an Instant Pot type appliance is useful for so many things beyond this soup that I highly recommend purchasing one. Let’s get into the recipe!

Spices can add a lot of interest, and they are fairly inexpensive if you go with the house brand. I had the lovage leaf left over from some “recovery” soup I made for my friend Tom, who had surgery. He is originally from Poland, and they use lovage in their soup. It is a celery substitute.

I’m adding three bags of frozen vegetables to the electric pressure cooker. I’m adding what I had on hand, which included a bag of frozen green beans, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and a bag of stir-fried vegetables. You can add whatever you wish, but I would avoid bags of predominantly strong vegetables like broccoli, unless you are going for a cabbage like soup. Each bag was between 10-12 ounces.

I’m now adding (roughly) one tablespoon of the lovage leaf. You could also use dehydrated celery, regular celery, or no celery, depending on what you have.

This photo represents the spices that I added. I added roughly 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon each of basil, rosemary, and thyme. Don’t have all of these? Add what you have. Oregano is a good general seasoning too. What to make it more south of the border? try chili powder, cumin and the like. Want more of an Indian flair, go with some curry powder. Or just use salt and pepper.

I also added a couple of bay leaves. This is optional, but bay leaves add a little something.

I added around 1T of onion powder. That’s about the equivalent of a medium onion. You could also use dehydrated onion or real onion. Try to not use onion or garlic salt, since they are mostly salt.

I roughly added about 1/2T of garlic powder. You can use any type of garlic: powdered, jarred, or fresh. I like garlic, but if you hate it, you can leave it out of the recipe.

Now I’m adding one can of Rotel-type tomatoes. Why? Because this is what I could find in my cupboard. You can use any type of tomato product from diced to a couple of tablespoons of paste. Heck, you could even add a can of condensed tomato soup and that would be fine. Don’t have any tomatoes? Then skip this step and move on.

Now a can of beans. I drained mine, but you don’t have to. I’m using Pinto beans, but any canned bean will work. I think the beans are important, as they add more protein to the soup, and canned beans are pretty cheap.

Now, the starch. I’m using three washed and cut-up potatoes. If you use thin-skinned potatoes, you don’t even have to peel them. You could also use pasta or noodles. If you use pasta/noodles, you may need to adjust the cook time slightly. If you decide to use rice, I would make it separately and add it to your bowl of soup. Over time rice breaks down in soup and can become mushy if you eat your soup for a couple of days in a row.

Now I’m adding the salt, only about 1/2 teaspoon, as I’ll adjust the salt at the end. I also added a scant 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.

In goes 4 cups of beef broth. I’m using Better Than Bouillon, which is a good product. You can use cubes, boxed broth, or your own. Many of these have a lot of salt, which is why I used so little salt in the previous photo. Need to stretch the soup further? Increase the broth to 5 cups.

I’m using one pound of hamburger, but I could have easily used 1/2 pound. I buy hamburger in bulk and on sale. I then divide it into 1-pound bags and vacuum-seal it. This hamburger was $3 off per pound, a good deal. I flatten the package out before freezing, which allows rapid defrosting when I use it.

I simply broke off chunks and added them to the pot. You can mix them in if you wish.

Close your electric pressure cooker and place the pressure release valve on seal. Set your timer for 5 minutes. It will take time to reach pressure, since many of the ingredients are frozen. I thrifted this pressure cooker for $9.99. It needed a little cleanup, but it works perfectly. I have been picking up thrifted pressure cookers for as little as $4.99, because… of course I am!

Sometimes these used units need a little TLC. Fortunately, I find them to be simple devices that follow similar design patterns and share similar weaknesses. I like giving them new life.

After the pressure cooker finishes its cycle wait around 10 minutes before releasing the pressure. This reduces the possibility of the cooker spraying soup instead of steam. Never try to force a pressure cooker open. If you can’t open it unplug it and leave it alone for 90 minutes before attempting to open it again. Pressure cookers contain many safety features, but you can override them with brute force; don’t do that!

Here is the soup. I didn’t add any thickener, as it was robust on its own. I did have to adjust the salt. I added a dash more garlic powder and a couple of squirts of hot sauce for a mild kick.

Here it is, served with some oyster crackers and my homemade flaxseed bread. It tasted very homemade and even a bit luxurious.

It was just my wife and me, so there is a bunch left over. I’ll have some for lunch and possibly dinner tonight, but I will likely have to freeze the rest.

There you have it, a very inexpensive, yet highly nutritious soup that can be made in an infinite number of ways to stretch your budget.

Peace

Mike

frugal cooking, frugal living

Save Money: Make Hard Boiled Eggs In the Instant Pot

Eggs have dropped in price from their astronomical recent highs. They are a great source of inexpensive protein, and have returned to the healthy foods list. During these times of high prices due to inflation, tariffs, and war, it is time to consider or reconsider them.

Eggs can be used and made in a multitude of ways, and in a multitude of dishes. However, the hard boiled egg remains one of the most versatile versions. Hard boiled eggs can be eaten as is, in egg salad, topping a green salad, and in deviled eggs. I Googled ways to use hard boiled eggs and found literally dozens of other options.

Two of my siblings regularly use hard boiled eggs, but they buy them boiled and shelled. This is convenient, but it is convenience at a cost in both price as well as texture. I find precooked eggs to be rather rubbery. Yet, I can understand why they buy them. There are many tricks to boiling eggs, and none of them seem to work very well. The cook is often left with eggs that have green rings around the yolk. More significantly, it can be impossible to cleanly remove the shell. How many times have I lost 50% of an egg because it stuck to the shell? Many.

What if I told you that there was a simple and almost foolproof way to hard boil eggs that was practically set and forget? Such an option is available thanks to electric pressure cookers (AKA Instant Pot). Let’s first look at some economics, and then I’ll give you the very easy way to hard boil egg perfection.

Here we have 6 medium sized hard boiled eggs for $5.49, or 92 cents each.

How is this for crazy. You can buy 2 cut eggs for $3.99. That’s around $2 per egg! You are paying an additional dollar to have someone cut an egg in half! And what the heck does Fresh Cut mean? Are they saying someone cutting an egg in half is akin to some sort of egg cutting craftsman?

You can buy a dozen large eggs for $1.99, or around 17 cents each. That is five and a half times less than the Eggland hard boiled eggs, and a whooping 11.6 times less than the fresh cut eggs! For the price of 2 fresh cut eggs you could have two dozen larger and better tasting hard boiled eggs with very little work.

The secret to perfectly made hard boiled eggs is to steam them, and one of the easiest ways to steam eggs is in a pressure cooker. Let’s take a look at this simple process.

I like to puncture the shell with a push pin. This can reduce the chance of your egg shells cracking during cooking. All it takes is one little hole in the end.

Add around 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pot. You need to elevate your eggs above the water. You can use any sort of steaming rack; many pressure cookers already come with one. I’m using this fancy one, but it is overkill. It is OK to stack eggs on top of each other as they won’t bounce around as they do when you boil them. Note the tiny holes that I made on the top of each egg to release any potential steam from the egg.

Close your lid and make sure the vent is on seal. Now use the cooker’s egg setting, or as in my case manually dial in 5 or 6 minutes. Either time is fine, with 6 minutes giving you a slightly harder egg. I got this 3 quart mini for $20 bucks at a thrift store, and it works great. Pressure cookers are good at so many things, and you can often pick up a used one for pennies on the dollar. My machine will automatically start, others require that you press start.

After the cooking cycle has completed wait an additional 5 minutes before releasing the pressure in the cooker. Do so carefully, and open the lid after the pressure has dropped.

Carefully remove the eggs, they will be hot.

Place the eggs in a bowl of cold water. I’m using ice water, but you can also use cold water from the tap. Let them sit for 5 minutes.

I like to label my hard boiled eggs with an H so I don’t confuse them with raw eggs. By the way, lead pencils don’t contain any lead. The lead is actually just some clay and carbon in the form of graphite.

I’ll keep them in their own separate container in the fridge.

They peel easily. No egg stuck to the shell!

They also look great on the inside.

I used 2 of them to make a simple egg salad for lunch. I chopped the eggs and added a little mayo, celery salt, and pepper. I served it on a toasted slice of some herb bread that I made for a dinner stew earlier in the week. Delicious!

With inflation, and those every changing crazy tariffs hitting everyone hard, why spend 5-11 times more for a product that is actually worse than what you can simply make at home. If you don’t have an electric pressure cooker you can steam them on the stove for around 12 minutes, and then drop them into the cold water, as above.

Peace

Mike

Electric Pressure Cooker, Mealthy Pressure cooker, Uncategorized

Buy A New “Instant Pot” for $38? Possibly!

By now you know that I’m on a mission to help people save money during these incredible inflationary times. One of those tangible ways is to encourage people to cook at home. However, for some, that suggestion may seem impossible as they juggle work and home responsibilities. They are already stretched, exhausted, and hopeless.

There seems to be an appliance for every cooking need, and you may have a favorite. However, when it comes to ease of preparation and clean-up, two appliances are king: the slow cooker and the electric pressure cooker (AKA:Instant Pot). I often suggest one or the other, but for two different reasons. You can buy a new basic slow cooker for $20-$30, a price point that just about anyone can afford. Additionally, many people already have slow cookers. However, truth be known, for my style of cooking I much prefer an electric pressure cooker (EPC). However, many of these units sell for $100 or more, and that price can be too much for someone who is already trying to maximize every penny.

Like many crazes, the Instant Pot fad seems to be losing some steam. This is normal, but it doesn’t reduce the usefulness of these devices. To counter this trend, manufacturers have introduced more elaborate pots that offer new features at even higher prices. However, the other end of the spectrum exists, as there is a glut of electric pressure cookers on both the new and used markets. You can now get electric pressure cookers for a price that’s closer to a slow cooker’s cost.

The concept of pressure cooking is not new; primitive pressure cookers have existed for several hundred years. Home stove-top pressure cookers were introduced in the late 1930s and were an instant hit. They were the microwaves of their time. Pressure cooker production was halted for the war effort in the 1940s, and after the war, manufacturers began making pressure cookers to meet the enormous demand. This led to some shoddy manufacturing and some of those “exploding pressure cookers” stories. Companies like Presto did make good units from those days, and my mother’s late 1940s stove-top unit was constantly used, first by my mother and then by my sister into the late 1990s, at which point operator error destroyed it (the pot ran dry on high heat).

Because my mom made the most delicious meals in a pressure cooker, I had no problem adopting that cooking style in my own kitchen, first with a stove-top unit and then with an electric Nesco pressure cooker that I purchased in the early 2000s. That unit worked well until it suffered a fatal accident (its cover was unintentionally knocked off the kitchen counter). In 2018, I replaced it with my current pressure cooker, a Mealthy brand. That unit cost around $100 ($133 in today’s money) and was similarly priced to the Instant Pot of that time, but it came with a few more accessories. I have used that unit ever since, and it has made my cooking life much easier.

I bought this Nesco electric pressure cooker in the early 2000s, and it served me well until its lid got dropped off the kitchen counter, damaging it. Electric pressure cookers were out in the 1990s long before the Instant Pot was introduced in 2010. The Instant Pot became a hit because it was featured in an Amazon promotion. It also had some pre-programmed times built in, making it less intimidating to new users. Electric pressure cookers are very similar in their pressure cooking abilities. In most cases you can use an Instant Pot recipe unchanged regardless of the brand. This gives you access hundreds if not thousands of recipe possibilities.

I replaced my damaged Nesco in 2018 with this Mealthy unit, which was priced similarly to the Instant Pot, had similar features, but came with a nicer display, and more accessories. It costs around $100, which is $133 to 2026 money.

Electric pressure cookers are safe appliances, but any kitchen tool, from a knife to a blender, can be dangerous if handled improperly. There are a few rules that you have to follow when using any pressure cooker. They will be explained in the product’s manual, or just watch a getting started video on YouTube. They offer many advantages over other methods of cooking.

-They are almost a set-and-forget appliance. However, I’m always home when operating one.

-They are the most energy-efficient electric cooking appliance that I have ever tested. Yes, I test the energy efficiency of appliances. When making foods that require longer cooking times they can be 45% more energy efficient than a slow cooker. After they reach pressure the EPC cycles its heating element on rarely to maintain pressure.

-They can speed cooking times up to 70%. My annual corned beef dinner takes about 90 minutes of pressure cooking in my electric pressure cooker (about 2 hours total cook time), compared to about 4 hours on the stove.

-They can turn a tough piece of meat into a delicious tender dinner.

-You can make dried beans in an EPC without soaking them first.

-You can pressure cook many frozen meats without thawing them first.

-Many EPCs can replace other appliances like a rice cooker or yogurt maker with very good results.

-Many EPCs can replace a slow cooker and, in some cases, a sous vide water bath with fair results.

-EPCs can preserve more vitamins than some other cooking methods.

-EPCs can cook most of the dishes that a slow cooker can, but much more quickly. You don’t have to start the pot in the morning and let it cook for 8 hours. Most foods cook extremely fast, allowing cooks (like me) to toss in a bunch of ingredients, press a button, and have dinner ready a short time later.

-EPCs are the kings of one-pot meals, including pot roast with vegetables, soups, stews, curries, mac and cheese, and spaghetti.

-EPCs can steam bake regular cakes and even a cheesecake with excellent results.

I mentioned earlier that manufacturers have upped the ante on pressure cookers by adding a few extra features. I’ll show you some of those high-end models for completeness. The extra features add some utility, but their basic pressure cooking functions are the same as those of less expensive units.

This Ninja “Hyper Heat” sells for $169 and claims to “Heat up to 2x faster.” However, the devil is in the details. It has a 1200-watt heating element rather than a 1000-watt unit on most other units. This will bring the pot up to pressure a bit faster, but actual pressure cooking times are the same as any other EPC. This unit also features a sous vide function. From what I have read, it will keep the temperature within a few degrees as opposed to a 0.5 degree variation that a real sous vide setup provides. This could be a way to try out sous vide cooking, but the serious sous vide cook will likely want to go with a real sous vide appliance.

This Instant Pot Pro Plus sells for around $229, and it has a lot of extra features, from a dedicated app, to a fancy control panel, to handles for the inner pot, to a cooling top rack for rapid cooling. It can also be adjusted to cook at a slightly higher pressure for canning. However, at the time of this writing it has not been certified for that use, and I would not use it for that purpose. Some of these features are nice, but the results when pressure cooking are no different from using a less expensive pot. These are mostly convenience features, and all of the extras make using the pot slightly more complicated to operate. Are the extras worth the additional complications and price? That is up to you. Editor’s note: When I started to write this article a few weeks ago this Instant Pot was selling for around $170 on Amazon. Now it is almost $50 more! Inflation, or tariffs, or dynamic pricing?

If you have to have an Instant Pot brand, and it has to be new, you may still be able to find the original Instant Pot Duo, which can be found for around $75-$90. It will do everything that most people need an EPC to do.

What do you really need?

Let’s talk about EPC sizes.

They range considerably, from 2 quart to massive units that are used in food service. For most families, a 6-quart pot is ideal. If you have a very large family or batch cook large amounts of food, an 8-quart should do it. If you cook for 1-2 or want a second EPC to make side dishes, consider a 3-4-quart pot. However, you can make smaller quantities in a 6-quart pot; it just won’t be as full. Its larger size will give those users some wiggle room on occasions where they need to make a larger quantity.

There are certain situations where a small EPC rules. A 3-quart EPC uses less power than 6 or 8 quart units, and may be a better choice for settings where power is limited/compromised, such as van life, dorm rooms, hotel rooms, and old buildings. It has smaller capacity, but that means it is smaller in size so it is easier to store.

My sister has a large 8 quart unit for family gatherings, but also purchased a 3 quart unit as she was unintentionally making huge quantities when cooking for her husband and herself with the larger pot. I have always use a 6 quart pot and it is more than sufficient to feed 5 adults, often with leftovers. I do have a 3 quart pot that I can use for side dishes, or when traveling in my adventure van.

Can you follow an Instant Pot recipe’s pressure cook times with a different brand of electric pressure cooker?

In most cases, yes. I have use Instant Pot recipes with my former Nesco, as well as a Mealthy and Ninja machine with no need to adjust pressure cook times. A number of users on the internet who had other brands of EPCs use the same times that Instant Pot recipes recommend with success. Research on this topic suggests slight variations with cooking temps between brands, however, this usually does not significantly impact cook times. You will get to know your pot, and it is simple to add a minute or two to a recipe time if necessary.

Features:

Programmed functions

When the Instant Pot came out its big advertising point was that it had a bunch of pre-programmed times for foods like poultry, stew, beans, and porridge. This sounds like a necessary function, but it really isn’t. Most printed recipes will tell you to manually put in the pressure cook time, so I have rarely used a programmed button because of this. Some Brand-X EPCs made for other markets have been rebranded for the US market, and can be bought at inexpensive prices. Some of these units lack a manual button for setting a pressure cook time. Fear not, just use a program button close to the recipe’s time and then the up and down arrows to get the pressure cooking time that the recipe calls for. For some of these pots the minimum time that you can set with this method is between 3-5 minutes. If you need less time just watch the pot and when it reaches the the appropriate time hit the cancel button and vent the machine. Likewise, some pots will have a maximum cook time of 60 minutes. Sixty minutes of pressure cooking is sufficient for 99% of all foods with the exception of a brisket or corned beef. In those cases cook to 60 minutes, press cancel, and pressure cook for 30 minutes more. It is not a big deal

Manual function

This button may be labeled “Pressure cook” or “Manual.” It is an important button as it allows you to set your pressure cooking time exactly for your recipe. However, if your machine doesn’t have a manual button see the above workaround.

Saute function

This is an important function. You can use your EPC just like a pot on the stove to soften onions or to brown meat prior to pressure cooking. Some EPCs do not have a saute button, but you can still saute by choosing a pressure cook program (like meat or soup) and leaving the lid off. The bottom of the pot will heat up and you can saute.

Keep warm function

All EPCs that I’m aware of will switch to keep warm after the cooking time has elapsed. This function can be switched off if desired.

Pressure levels

Some EPCs will allow you to pick a high or low cooking pressure for cooking. Some cooking programs on some machines may use a low pressure, but you can usually find a work around using high pressure. The vast majority of recipes use high pressure.

Converting from high to low, or low to high pressure times

To covert a high pressure time to a low pressure time, multiply the time by 1.5. Eg: If a recipe calls for 10 min at high pressure, 10 x 1.5 = 15 minutes at low pressure.

To convert a low pressure recipe to using high pressure, multiply the time by 0.7. Eg: If a recipe calls for 15 at low pressure, 15 x 0.7 = 10 minutes at high pressure.

Yogurt/Ferment function

This function is on many EPCs and uses the appliance as a low temperature incubator, and typically does a pretty good job at making yogurt. You only need this function if you plan on making your own yogurt. What if you machine doesn’t have a yogurt button? There are many YouTube tutorials on how to make yogurt in a pressure cooker that lacks a formal yogurt function.

Rice function

You can use your EPC as an excellent rice cooker. However, this is just a programmed pressure cooker button, and you can manually set the pressure cooking time to achieve the same results. Some Instant Pot models cook rice on low pressure, but you can also make excellent rice on high pressure. There are many YouTube tutorials that can tell you how.

More or Less buttons

These just adds or subtracts a few minutes from a program’s set cooking time. By using this function the pressure cooker will cooks the food a bit more or less than the pre-programmed setting. However, you can easily do the same thing using the + and – keys, if you machine lacks these buttons.

Slow cooker function

Many EPCs have this function, but most are not very good at slow cooking. There is a workaround if you are desperate (see YouTube), but you are better off using a standard slow cooker when you want to slow cook a dish.

Sous Vide function

Some EPCs have added this feature turning the EPC into a controlled temperature water bath. This function works, but the temperature regulation is not as precise as a dedicated system, and the pot’s size limits the amounts of food.

Canning function

I know of one EPCs that can run at a higher pressure (The Instant Pot Pro Plus). However, it is not certified for canning. When canning, you need to use a proper canning pressure cooker that can maintain 15 PSI. This EPC can reach 15 PSI, but it can’t maintain that pressure. Although you may be able to safely water bath and high acid can, please play it safe and do not use this machine for canning.

Bottom Line

You buy an EPC to pressure cook, so the only two functions that you need are saute and pressure cook. The extras are only benefit you if you are sure that you will use them, but many cooks don’t. Any EPC that can pressure cook and saute will do everything that most need. More expensive ones may have a few unnecessary features, or some convenience features, but they cook no better than any other unit.

OK, let’s now look at some cost-effective options!

Buying used

Many jumped on the EPC bandwagon, but all fads run their course. That is good news for you, as there are quite a few EPCs available on the used market. Naturally, there is some risk in buying a used appliance. In a perfect world, you could test a unit by heating up a cup of water to pressure to see if the unit works. However, in most instances that will not be possible. A second alternative would be to check the unit for anything that could hamper it from reaching pressure, such as a dented lid. Plug it in and make sure that the display lights up and all of the buttons work. Make sure all parts are present and in reasonably good condition. Don’t buy a pot that shows any error codes on start up.

It is not abnormal to see steam coming off an EPC at the start of cooking. For some machines this amount will be minimal. Other machines may appear to vent quite a bit of steam for the first minute after reaching pressure. However, they will then reach equilibrium, and stop venting. If a unit is leaking steam around the lid and won’t reach pressure, the most likely culprit is the sealing ring. That is the silicone gasket that seals the lid onto the pot and allows the unit to pressurize. Sealing rings are not very expensive. They come in several different styles and sizes. EPC sealing rings typically have 4 dimples on their outer edge (stove-top units typically don’t). Some Chinese-marketed (and resold in the US) units may have the Midea-style ring with 4 “buckles” that attach it to the lid. These can be a bit harder to find, but with a little online searching, they usually can be located.

Manufacturers recommend replacing the sealing ring every 6 months to 2 years. However, with proper care, they can last much longer. I never changed the ring on my Nesco, which I had for many years. My Mealthy unit is still using its original sealing ring 8 years after I purchased it. I checked around the internet, and there were other reports of people still using their original sealing ring 4-8 years after purchasing their EPC. You will know to change it if it looks stretched, damaged or is unable to seal the unit (the unit won’t reach pressure and will leak stem around the lid).

What is the secret to my sealing ring longevity? I gently remove it after each use and either wash it on the top rack of my dishwasher, or in hot soapy water. I store it loose in the pot and carefully insert it when I need to use the pot again. If you do decide to store your unit with the ring installed in the lid, never lock the lid to the pot as long-term compression can deform and damage it.

This Midea sealing ring has 4 protruding “buckles” around its edge. This is a different way to attach a ring to the lid from an Instant Pot, which lacks the buckles. To buy a sealing ring, measure the ring’s inner diameter, as the replacement will list this in either centimeters or inches. For many (not all) 6 quart pots the inner diameter of the sealing ring is 22 cm. Note the style of the ring. Ideally, use the manufacturer’s ring, but that is not always possible.

I purchased an Instant Pot 3-quart Mini at a thrift store for $20. It was used, but in like-new condition. New, it sells for over $70. I use it mostly to prepare side dishes and in my camper van.

The following pots were for sale on Marketplace.

I saw this higher-end 6-quart Instant Pot Ultra selling for $35 on Marketplace.

This 3-quart “Go Wise” unit was on Marketplace for $12.

This 6-quart Crock Pot EPC was being sold on Marketplace for $25.

How about buying new but cheap?

There are quite a few Brand-X 6-quart EPCs selling new for under $70, some in the $50 range. Why are they so inexpensive? Are they worth purchasing? I got an offer from eBay for a NEW 6-quart Bluebow unit for $38, including shipping. I decided to purchase it for this post. Would it be any good? What limitations would it have?

This is the unit that I purchased. It looks pretty fancy, but it does have some minor quirks. However, none of them significantly limit the unit’s basic pressure-cooking functionality.

I made this mushroom risotto using the $38 Bluebow EPC and an Instant Pot recipe, and it turned out delicious!

Construction seems on par with my Mealthy unit, which is good. The touch panel uses photos with lights behind them rather than a true digital screen; however, this does not affect the unit’s functionality.

Like many of these brand-X machines, the Bluebow has its own set of eccentricities. To use low pressure click on the Rice button and use the up and down arrows to adjust the minutes. The Pressure Cook button has a range of 1-60 minutes, but you can go up to 80 minutes of pressure cook time if you use the Soup function. To get the most out of these machines it is important to read the manuals that come with them; despite the fact that they are often in a poor English translation.

This cooker uses a standard 22 cm sealing ring, so I’m guessing you can use an Instant Pot 6-quart-compatible ring if you need a replacement. However, I did not test this.

Lastly, the inner pot is stainless steel. That may be a plus or a minus for you. I like stainless for its durability, and non-stick for its ease of cleaning.

This $38 electric pressure cooker will do all the “pressure cooking” functions that a pot costing 5 times as much will. It won’t have as fancy a display, or some niceties like handles on the inner pot. It won’t have a sous vide function, or yogurt function. Honestly, those are not primary functions for a pressure cooker.

The bottom line is that all EPCs are best suited for pressure cooking, and with the exception of yogurt making, it is better to use a separate device for non-pressure cooking functions.

I’m not recommending this unit over some other Brand -X unit. There are many out there, and I have only tested one. If you want new, but don’t have the cash, you could consider one of these. All you really need is a pressure cook function, some way to adjust the cooking time, and a way to saute. As far as I know, all electric pressure cookers can do those things, although some, like the Bluebow that I tested, required a simple workaround to adjust different cooking times, and others have you use a pressure cooking function with the lid off to saute. However, I have not researched every EPCs on the market, so do your due diligence.

If you prefer a brand name, consider the original Instant Pot Duo, which you can find for around $75-$90 with a bit of hunting. The Duo originally sold for $100 when it was introduced in 2013. That is $143 in cash in 2026. The Duo is a known commodity, and replacement parts are available should you ever need them.

During my decades of pressure cooking, EPCs have become my one-and-only “must-have” cooking appliance. They are amazing, and now they are now relatively inexpensive if you do a little hunting. Happy hunting!

Editors Note: When I was researching this topic I went back to the Amazon and Walmart websites multiple times to check on prices and features of various models. The more I went back to each site the greater the prices increased. Models that were selling for $49 jumped to $59, then $69! It is likely that the websites were using some sort of dynamic pricing. I started this post awhile ago and then got involved in other things. I looked back at those websites today, and, lo and behold, many prices had gone down again. Personally, I think such practices are wrong and it is my hope that state governments ban dynamic pricing schemes which seem predatory to me.

Forty-nine dollars is an excellent price for a 6 quart pressure cooker. When I was researching this post I kept on going back to the page and the price went up to $59, then $69! Guess what? It is now back to $49 on Amazon. Dynamic pricing?

Mike

Images are my own or from websites and are used for educational and informational purposes only.

frugal cooking, frugal living, Uncategorized

Save Money: Let’s Make Osso Buco In The Instant Pot

The war continues, and new tariffs have been imposed, so expect prices to rise further. As I have said many times, learn to cook simple meals at home, and you will find it is one of the best ways to save money.

I grew up in a family of 7, with one income. We almost never ate out. In fact, the first time I ever ate in a real restaurant was in 6th or 7th grade. It was a local family restaurant, and my uncle paid. I think I ordered mac and cheese because it was the cheapest thing on the menu, not because my uncle asked me too, but because I didn’t want to take advantage of his generosity.

My mom was such a great cook that I never felt my lack of dining experiences was a loss. She knew how to stretch a dollar, and I learned the same skill by watching her.

She made all of the usuals, but also a lot of foods that seem rare nowadays. Foods like liver and onions, Swiss steak (made from round steak, oxtail stew, beans with ham hock, and so on. My local market doesn’t sell any of these cuts.

I came across a recipe for Osso Buco that uses the very delicious yet super-tough beef shank. The ingredients were simple, and the meat could easily be tenderized in a pressure cooker, but my grocer didn’t carry beef shank. By the way, Osso Boco sounds very fancy, but it translates to bone with a hole.

Fate was with me, and in a strange way. Last week I was camping in the Northwoods on Lake Superior. My wife loves to check out local grocery stores, and there was one in a nearby tiny town. Lo and behold, they were selling beef shanks. I have a fridge in my homemade adventure van, so I bought one! The ideal shank is relatively small and meaty, this one was more of a Let’s make beef soup type. However, it was good enough and cost a reasonable $5.80.

This is more of a soup bone, but it was the best that I could find. Beef shank is a very tough cut of meat, but it is full of flavor, which is enhanced by the marrow and bone. With an electric pressure cooker, meat goes from tough to tender.

Here are the ingredients; they are simple and basic. The recipe is from Cook At Home Mom. There are many variations on the Osso Buco theme; this one uses dry herbs, while others use fresh.

Here is a visual of the ingredients. Ossco Boco, when made in the oven, can take 3 hours. In an electric pressure cooker, it took 45 minutes of pressure time, with a total time of around one hour.

I started by cutting up my vegetables into a relatively small dice.

I wiped my beef shank with a paper towel. This reduces splattering when browning. I seasoned it with seasoning salt, but you could use salt and pepper, or whatever you like.

I put my Instant Pot clone on sauté high and gave it a few minutes to heat up. Then, I added some EVOO, probably around a tablespoon or two.

I browned the shank on both sides, cooking each side for a few minutes. You can see the huge bone on the flip side of the meat. I was just making this for Julie and me, so there was still plenty of meat. However, this meal would not be one of the classic presentations where an entire shank is served, I would need to separate the meat from the bone. Flexibility in cooking is key.

I removed the shank and set it aside.

I sautéed the vegetables for a few minutes. You can see the fond on the bottom of the pot. Fond has a lot of flavor. I got most of it off and into the dish as I sautéed the vegetables. I’ll get the rest when I deglaze the pan with a little wine.

In went the dry spices. I like to cook them for about 20 seconds; when I can smell them, I move on to the next step. You don’t want to burn them; that would be gross.

In goes the salt. I’m using very little salt because the broth I’ll add has quite a bit of salt in it. I will adjust the salt and pepper at the end of my cooking.

In goes the wine. With a little scraping, I removed the rest of the fond. If you leave burnt food on the bottom of the pot, it could trigger a Burn warning and shut the pot off.

Now the tomatoes, juices and all.

Next, the beef broth. As usual, I’m using Better Than Bouillon.

In goes the browned beef shank. If this were a proper Osso Boco, I would have several smaller and meatier shanks, and everyone could get their own.

I closed the lid on my Instant Pot clone, set the regulator to Seal, and set the machine to high pressure for 45 minutes. When the cook was done, I let it sit in the sealed pot for another 10 minutes before I released the pressure. As I was waiting I sipped on a glass of wine and read the news. It seemed like the Italian thing to do.

Towards the end of the cook, I made the gremolota. A spoonful on top of the Osso Buco adds a nice freshness to the dish. Naturally, I mixed it together before serving.

Here it is served up. I’m serving it with the gemolota on a bed of mashed potatoes. You could use rice, polenta, risotto, or whatever suites your fancy as the base for this dish.

The meat was very tender, and the meal was delicious. We have some international markets in town, and I may drive over to one to see if I can get some other meats I used to like, perhaps oxtails or round steak.

Most electric pressure cookers can follow an Instant Pot recipe exactly. Electric pressure cookers are the most versatile cooking appliances that I have ever used. Recently, I have picked up a few at thrift stores for prices ranging from $7.00 to $20. They are fast, and make delicious food. They now have a multitude of safety features, so don’t worry about them exploiding. If you decide to pick one up read the manual (if it came it one) or watch a Getting Started video on YouTube. It is important to follow the simple safety rules.

Peace

Mike

Camping in my homemade adventure van in the Northwoods, on Lake Superior. Who knew I would bring home a beef shank!

Peace

Mike

Photos are used for educational purposes and are my own.

Acceptance of others, psychiatry, psychology, psychology/psychiatry

On Psychiatry, Instant Pots, And Me

I have been retired for almost 8 years.  I have achieved most of my life goals, so it is time to finally come out of the closet. 

I have this thing that gives me great joy, and I have deliberately hidden it from others for most of my life.  It is a strange thing that I intuitively knew many would never understand, so let me start at the beginning.

As early as I can remember, I have compared things, usually things that serve a similar function but achieve that function in a slightly different way. I can become so focused on a topic that everything around me fades away, and with each new piece of knowledge, my enjoyment grows.

I remember one of my first obsessive studies was pencils, which started before I entered kindergarten.  Why pencils?  Because I had access to them. I compared them in every way possible.  The quality of the lead. The choice of yellow. The ease of sharpening. The color of the eraser.  How were they made? Why did the designer choose a particular combination of clay and graphite? And on and on. 

When I started primary school, I received a small allowance.  I didn’t buy candy; I saved the money and bought pens, and compared them, just as I did with pencils. It may sound ridiculous to you that such an obsessive focus would give anyone pleasure, but I could get lost in understanding all the ins and outs of a device that, on the surface, was similar but, in reality, was infinite in variation.  

One day during my primary school years, I found myself rooting around the basement of our old, beat-up bungalow, and there I found her.  Bigger than a bread box, dusty and worn, and made of wood.  She was a giant radio, likely designed in the 1930s, eventually moved to our basement workshop, and then forgotten.  Did she still work? I plugged in her frayed power cord and turned the volume control on. It scratched loudly as I turned it up, and a clear hum came out of the speaker, but there was no defined sound.  The dial was a sliderule type, but it had an interesting feature that I had never seen on a table radio: buttons, like on a car radio.  I tried the buttons…nothing. I turned the tuning dial…it didn’t move. What was wrong?  Could I fix it?  I certainly couldn’t break it further, since it was already broken. It became my secret project, and it changed my life.

Radios from those days had huge vacuum tubes and giant components, perfect for me to study, and large enough for me to gain an understanding of design.  The cord that moved the slide rule had long since rotted away, but it was clear that it once followed an intricate set of loops to accomplish its goal.  I started to trace the path, this way…no, that way?. Should it twist around this pole twice, or should it be three times?  Finally, I figured it out, but what could I use to replace the now-dissolved cord? I found my answer in dental floss and fixed the slide rule dial. The buttons also had their own unique way of connecting to the tuner, and those components had rotted away too.  I fabricated new ones from corks.  I borrowed an extension cord, cut off the end, and replaced the old rotting power cord using my father’s soldering iron.  I saw him solder something once, and the process didn’t look too difficult. I found solvents and sandpaper around the house and cleaned the contacts to reduce the auditory scratchiness. I fabricated a new grill cover from a cloth placemat, stripped off the old checkered varnish, and restored the cabinet to its former beauty using cans of stuff that I found in the basement.  All along the way, I started to understand what the various electrical components did, how they worked, and why certain design choices were made.

Finally, my secret project was ready.  I plugged it in, turned it on, and slowly moved my dental floss dial. It worked! Radios in those days were often multi-band.  Not AM and FM, but AM and Shortwave.  What was Shortwave?  I didn’t know. I fashioned a wire antenna from scraps, connected it to the radio’s antenna terminals, and slowly turned the dial.  Beeps, bops, buzzes, then voices.  Some in foreign languages, some in English. It became clear I was listening to other nations’ international stations, many of which broadcast in English. I was hearing signals from thousands of miles away on an ancient radio that I fixed with dental floss, corks, and sandpaper. I was blown away.

Remember, I was young when I did this, which makes the next revelation easier to understand.  As a young kid, I believed what people told me, especially if they were adults. They obviously knew more than I did.  That old radio changed all of that.  I listened to news programs from other countries, and their reporting often contradicted the US stations. I listened to their variety shows, their music, their educational programs.  There was a similarity, but also a difference, just like the pencils, just like the pens. Alike, yet not alike.

That old radio made me abandon the idea that there was only one way of thinking. I could not rely only on others’ thinking; I had to think critically. That old broken radio that I fixed in 3rd grade changed me for the rest of my life.

I started finding broken radios and fixed them. Then I built my own. Then I saved up and bought radios. My collection followed the same pattern as my pencils and pens.  How were they different?  How were they the same? What designs were core to the base product? Where could creativity be exercised in the design? Why did the engineer decide to go with this circuit? Why did the industrial designer choose that particular color for the case? It almost gave me a high feeling the deeper I got into the weeds.  To be honest, not almost; it did.

None of my friends talked about things like that, and intuitively I knew I would be looked at unfavorably if I shared these obsessions with them, so I didn’t. It was easy to model conversations and actions by simple observation, so that is exactly what I did, and I fitted in. I looked and acted like my peers, and they accepted me, but I always felt different and always feared I would be found out. They would discover my weird quirks and reject me, so I worked hard to keep my secrets.

Being good at science was acceptable, so I became the science kid in grade school. The nuns thought I was special, and even praised me. They told my parents that God had special plans for me. The other kids were OK with my knowledge of science.  I learned that you sometimes could be different, but those differences had to follow certain rules. I was succeeding at fitting in, then puberty hit in 6th grade, and everything changed.

To this day, I don’t know why it happened, but in a very short amount of time, I went from being a little husky to being over 100 pounds overweight. I was horrified.  It was easy to hide my many differences, but this was one no amount of subterfuge could mask. 

I was now a clear target to be picked on, but my peers never did. I don’t mean to constantly say negative things about my dad, but he was definitely a source of shame and humiliation around my obesity. The words that he used to describe me still make me tear up when I think of them.  The only other critical person was, surprisingly, an aunt. Her son was also overweight, and for some reason she needed to know which one of us was fatter.  I remember that one time she made me try on his belts, but the worst incident was during a sleepover where, despite my protests, she weighed me in front of her entire family.  I will never forget that humiliation.  

I found a little booklet at the grocery checkout called The Drinking Man’s Diet,  and bought it for 35 cents.  It was a precursor to all the low-carbohydrate diets being hawked today.  I started to diet in earnest, and between the end of 7th grade and the middle of 8th grade, I lost 100 pounds and became a family celebrity and diet guru. Slowly, I regained the weight, and over my life I have lost around 100 pounds 5 different times, plus countless smaller weight losses.  Twenty years ago, I spent $20,000.00 of my own money to get a gastric band placed.  I lost a little weight and then gained it back, and the side effects of that useless surgery still haunt me to this very day. Like everything else in my life, I became an expert in all manner of dieting.  Low carb, high fiber, the exchange diet,  Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, you name it.  Right now, my weight is fairly normal, but I work hard at it. I don’t want to be judged because of my weight; I just want to be accepted for who I am.  Honestly, this is an internal struggle. People do seem to accept me; I’ve kept friends for decades, some going on 60 years. My wife has told me she prefers me a little chunky, so I know this is a personal fear that goes beyond reality. 

My compulsive comparing of things has continued.  In the last few years, I have been buying bread makers for $5-$20 at thrift stores, and I have quite a few. I have studied them, their similarities and differences.  I have written about them.  I use them. I make my own bread, and after every few loaves I’ll switch to a different machine.  It sounds absolutely crazy, but it makes me happy.

I love simple machines because they’re easy to understand, and they all follow a similar yet different design concept. Most recently, I have been picking up electric pressure cookers at thrift stores.  The most famous of these devices is the Instant Pot, but many others are similar inside yet differ in their programming and design choices. The Instant Pot fad has faded, and all sorts of machines are available for a few dollars at thrift stores and online sources like Marketplace.  I have been going through my usual comparisons. It sounds weird even as I write this, but this is who I am. I’m similar to most people, but I’m also different. 

I know this is what drove me into science: to see how things are similar, yet different, and this is what also pushed me into psychiatry. 

We are all similar, yet we are not the same.  My life experience as a white, privileged doctor is very different from that of a black man raised on the West Side of Chicago. We likely share many things.  We want to advance our lives, raise our children to become successful adults, and live in a safe neighborhood.  Yet, our experiences make us different too, and that is OK. We still share many common links.

A large portion of my doctor work deliberately focused on the underserved. These were often the most mentally ill clients who, due to their mental illness, had the fewest resources.  I split this work with my private practice in an affluent suburb of Chicago. Two very different populations. Different, yet the same.

I think being different has helped me understand others. I can find commonality while accepting their differences.

What a privilege my work life was.  I got to intimately know people from all races, religions, sexual orientations, political beliefs, and genders. All different, but the same.

The same joins us, and the different enriches and broadens us. Why can’t people see that? Why is it so easy to hate, and so hard to love?

I was different, but I could hide it until I gained 100 pounds. Yet, even then, I was the same.  That difference made me more empathetic, a critical thinker, and a problem solver.  It turned out to be a positive in my life, even though I always thought it was a negative.

Together we are stronger.  Don’t let others manipulate you to think otherwise.

Peace

Mike

frugal cooking, frugal living, Instant Pot review, using a instant pot in a van

Save Money: Let’s Make Mushroom Risotto In The Instant Pot

Inflation, the war, and tariffs got you down? Here is a fancy-sounding dinner that costs pennies yet will impress.

Risotto is delicious, but who wants to spend 25 minutes stirring a pot? But if you use an electric pressure cooker (AKA Instant Pot), you just press a few buttons, and the machine does the rest.

I have been using some sort of pressure cooker for the last 50 years, but I’m trying to expand my recipe horizons with these wonderful machines. There are so many dishes that you can make beyond soups, curries, and stews.

I cook dinner on Sundays, and now that it is just Julie and me, I thought I’d make something a bit fancy. Risotto is just a rice dish, but its creamy texture and long preparation elevate it.

This recipe is from the website Spend With Pennies. I didn’t choose it because it used the cheapest ingredients; I chose it because it made a smaller quantity. I’m trying to be more cognizant of not wasting food, and I’m not sure how well risotto reheats.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients!

Here is a visual of the ingredients. It looks like a lot, but it really isn’t. The must-have is the arborio rice. It is plump and starchy, and it makes all the creamy goodness.

Although this is an Instant Pot recipe, I’m using a Brand-X machine. I’m slowly writing an article on how to buy a cheap electric pressure cooker. I found this one on eBay for $38, which included shipping. How well did it work, and did I have to change any cooking times? The answers are: 1. Great, and 2. No!

Place the electric pressure cooker (EPC) on sauté and let it heat up for a minute or two. Sauté the onion and mushrooms in a little EVOO for about two minutes.

Add the uncooked rice and sauté it for a minute or two. Stir to prevent burning.

Deglaze the pot with 1/4 C of dry white wine.

Now add your chicken stock. Mine is dark because I made it from a Costco rotisserie chicken carcass. However, you can use boxed, bouillon, or Better Than Bouillon.

Add your garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme.

Cancel sauté. Set your pressure cooker on high pressure for 5 minutes. Make sure your pot is on sealing (not venting). After the 5 minutes are up allow the risotto to stay in the pot for an additional 10 minutes. It will continue to cook during this time. Carefully, release any remaining pressure using the steam release valve. Open the pot.

Add the butter and stir it in.

Add the Parmesan Cheese and stir it in. Taste and adjust your salt and pepper.

Here is the risotto plated up and served with a poached egg on top. It is accompanied by a tomato and avocado salad dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette and toast points. It was delicious and looked very fancy, but it was easy to make with an electric pressure cooker.

I’m doing a few other tests with this $38 Instant Pot clone, but it clearly seems to be a competent device. Now that the Instant Pot craze is fading you can snap up a used electric pressure cooker or even a new one for a little more than a slow cooker. An electric pressure cooker is the one cooking appliance that I could not live without.

Peace

Mike

frugal cooking, frugal living, Uncategorized

Save Money: Let’s Make An Instant Pot Cheesecake!

I was rooting around my basement shelves looking for something, and I came across an item that I had forgotten that I bought. It was a 7″ spring form pan. When did I buy this? Then it came to me, I bought it during the pandemic because I was going to try to make a dessert in my electric pressure cooker. However, I never got around to it.

Supposedly, pressure cookers are great for making cheesecakes. Baking a cheesecake in the same high pressure pot where you make a chuck roast? That sounds counter-intuitive. However, cheesecakes are often made in a water bath, and the steam in a pressure cooker provides a similar environment.

My sister’s birthday was coming up and I wanted to make her a cake. Finding the spring form pan had to be fate. She loves cheesecake, and now I had the tool to make it.

Some people change out the sealing ring when going from savory to sweet foods, as they are afraid that the ring, which retains smells, could transfer those smells to the dessert. My ring had a slight savory food smell, but it was the only ring that I had so I had to risk it. Thankfully, it had no impact on the flavor of my cake.

Let’s get into the recipe. It is from the Instant Pot website. My electric pressure cooker is not an Instant Pot, but most electric pressure pots cook very similarly so I’ll follow the recipe with no change in cooking times.

Here is everything that you need. The ingredients are pretty simple and not very expensive, I’m guessing less than $7. This makes a 7″ cheesecake, so I thought I would search for a 7″ cheesecake online. What would one cost?

Holy cow, look at these prices! I’m not saying that my homemade cheesecake will be as deluxe as any of these, but wow!

Let’s start by crushing the graham crackers. I’m using them instead of digestive biscuits, as I already had a package. One hundred and fifty grams is about one of the packages that is in the box (there are usually three). I put them in a zip lock bag and used a can to crush them. You could also use a rolling pin, or just beat the heck out of them with your fists. Pro tip: My crackers were very slightly stale so I fanned them out on a plate and microwaved them for about 30 seconds. I then let them dry out for a minute or two, and they were as good as new.

I melted the butter in my microwave, added the graham crackers, and mixed it all together.

I well-greased my spring form pan with butter, and added the graham cracker mix and flattened it out with the bottom of a glass. It is OK if the crust goes up the side a bit. I then placed the pan in the freezer to harden the mixture. and continued on with making the batter. 450 g of graham crackers = 16 ounces.

The recipe called for softened cream cheese, so I left the bricks out on the counter for an hour or two. It also called for using a food processor, so I brought out my ol’-faithful and very old Cuisinart. I’m sure a hand mixer would also work.

I blended the cream cheese bricks together. This only took a couple of seconds.

I then added the eggs, one at a time, and blended them.

I measured out 60 g of sour cream, and blended it into the mixture. Sixty grams is around 1/4 of a cup.

I then measured out 100 g of white sugar, and blended it into the mixture. One hundred grams of sugar is about 1/2 cup.

I added the zest of one lemon and the juice of 1/2 of the same lemon. This is less than what the recipe called for, but that’s OK, as this is just a flavoring. A Microplane is great for zesting, if you don’t have one you can peel off the lemon skin (avoiding the white part) and finely chop it with a knife. I blended it all together.

I then added a splash of my homemade vanilla extract. I added a bit more than what was called for in the recipe because I’m a big vanilla fan. Lemon and vanilla are flavorings, so altering them to one’s personal preference isn’t a big deal. I added the 1 and 1/2 T of flour, and the 1/2 t of salt, and blended the mixture until it was smooth. This only took a few seconds.

I prepared my electric pressure cooker (AKA Instant Pot) by adding 1.5 cups of water (to make the steam) and inserting a trivet. In my case I’m using this steaming rack, but any type of heat resistant trivet would do. Many electric pressure cookers include a trivet when you buy the unit. If you don’t have one consider getting one. They are both useful and inexpensive.

I took the spring-form pan out of the freezer and filled it with my filling. I then placed it in my electric pressure cooker. There is no need to cover the spring form pan. Many will construct a sling out of aluminum foil to make it easier to remove the hot pan once it is cooked. I didn’t, and manged to remove it, but it was hot!

I closed the lid and made sure that the pressure regulator was on seal. I pressured cooked the cake for 25 minutes on high with the keep warm setting off. I then let the pot naturally release its pressure. That process didn’t take long as I had only added 12 ounces of water. Still, I opened the regulator valve to confirm that there was no more steam and I made sure that the float valve was down before attempting to open the pot.

I let the cheesecake cool on the counter for 15 minutes, and then transferred it to the fridge uncovered for 1 hour. I then covered it and let it chill. You want to refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours, I let my chill overnight.

Here it is out of the spring form pan and ready to celebrate my sister’s birthday. This size cake will make 7-8 slices. It would be delicious with a topping like canned cherry pie filling, but we ate it as is.

A rich and delicious cheese cake that came together in no time, and that was made in a pressure cooker. It was perfectly smooth and crack free. Who knew!

I’m not claiming that this $7 cheesecake is as good as those that selling for $60, but it was still rich, luxurious, and delicious. Inflation, the war, and every changing tariffs are getting many of us down. For very little money you can put a moment of sweetness back in your life.

Peace

Mike

frugal cooking, frugal living, Uncategorized

Save Money: Let’s Make A Rustic Beef Stew In The Instant Pot!

The separation had to happen, it was our only solution. Julie went her way, and I went mine. We both knew that it would work out in the end.

I think I just wrote a bit of click-bait, so sorry about that. A few months ago we accepted an invitation to go to a nearby family campout from my family, and a few weeks after that we received an invite for my nephew’s baby shower in Minnesota. The kids and Julie went to Minnesota, and I went local to my side’s gathering.

I would be arriving home before noon, and the rest of the family would return around 3 PM. I wasn’t sure which one of my kids would be staying for dinner, but I did know that they would be hungry. I also knew that I didn’t have time to shop, so it was time to shop my freezer. That is the advantage of always having basic staples on hand.

I found a couple of packets of stew meat that I vacuum sealed almost a year ago that I could quickly defrost. I also had some vegetables on hand. Their combination would make a decent stew in my electric pressure cooker.

I’m following a recipe from the Salty Marshmallow loosely. I be using the recipe as a guide, but I will be making adjustments. When it comes to soups and stews there is a lot of leeway.

Here is the recipe

Let’s get started.

I defrosted the meat and then patted it dry using a couple paper towels. This will result in less spattering when I brown it. I also seasoned it with a little Season all. Salt and pepper would also work. Like a lot of stew meat that is precut, these chunks are large. If I cut them into smaller pieces they will pressure cook faster. However, I need to make a quick and easy dinner so I’m leaving them as is.

I placed my pressure cooker (EPC) on saute and I added some cooking oil. I browned the meat in batches. If you crowd the meet too much it will steam and not brown properly. I removed the meat to a plate after it was browned.

While the meat was browning I chopped up some vegetables. This is one onion, 3 stalks of celery, and 4 carrots. You can vary the amounts within reason. I’m cutting the carrots large because I’m leaving the meat chunks large. It will take longer to cook the meat and I don’t want the vegetables to turn to mush. I could also partially pressure cook the meat under pressure, depressurize, and add the vegetables for another round. That is a better idea, but it is also more work. This option works too.

In goes the onion. I’ll cook it until it softens, just a couple of minutes. You may see some burnt food on the bottom of the pan. That is actually call fond and will add flavor to the stew. I will need to scrape it off in a process called de-glazing. Otherwise, it may cause the pot to give me a “burn” warning. A burn warning shuts down the pot, at which point I would have to scrape off the bottom anyway.

I’m now adding a heaping tablespoon of garlic (really jarlic, as it is jarred garlic), as well as approximately one teaspoon (rounded) of Italian seasoning. I’ll cook this just until I can smell the spices and then go on to the next step. As far as spices are concerned, there are many options: thyme, rosemary, oregano to name a few. They could be used singly or in combination. A bay leaf could be added, but I didn’t because I was in a hurry. You can also use just salt and pepper if that is what you have on hand. Bonus tip: you could use dehydrated onion instead of the onion, and garlic powder instead of the jarlic. This will alter the flavor a bit, but the stew would still be delicious. If you were using dehydrated onion and garlic add them when you add the broth.

I’m adding about one-half of a cup of a dry red wine and scrapping off the fond. Acidic liquids are great for de-glazing. If I didn’t want to add the wine I could have use some of the beef broth. That works well enough.

Now a tablespoon or two of Worcestershire Sauce. Worcestershire Sauce adds umami to a dish.

I’m now adding around 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. I’ll also add around the same of salt. I always go light on salt because I use bouillon for broth, and that is already salty. I’ll adjust for salt at the end of cooking.

I added a bit over 3 cups of beef broth that I made from beef bouillon.

The recipe calls for 10 ounces of tomato sauce. I had a 15 oz can, so that is what I added. It is all good. Instead of tomato sauce I could have used a can of diced tomatoes, or even a can of condensed tomato soup. It is fine to be creative if you stay with similar substitutions.

Back in goes the browned stew meat. I had quite a bit of stew meat as I wasn’t sure how hungry everyone would be. I’ll add a bit more broth than what was stated in the recipe to compensate for this increase.

Now the vegetables that I chopped earlier.

I had these baby potatoes around, so I used them. They are prewashed, making my life a bit easier. I did examine them and cut off any dubious parts. I’m keeping them whole for the same reason that I cut the carrots large. It will take them longer to cook this way allowing me to add them at the start of cooking. I could have used regular potatoes cut up and peeled if I wanted to.

This is what we have; it already looks pretty tasty. Note that I’m below the max fill line. Pressure cookers need some space to create steam.

The recipe called for 35 minutes at high pressure. I usually manually put in the pressure cooking time, but this time I used the preset button. If I had cut the meat and vegetables smaller I would have lowered my time to around 25-30 minutes depending on how soft I wanted the vegetables and meat. Remember to put the exhaust valve to “seal.” I had a lot of liquid volume so it took around 15 minutes to reach pressure. After the pressure cook time completed I waited 5 minutes for everything to settle before I moved the exhaust valve to “vent.” I made sure that no more steam was venting and that the float valve was down before I attempted to open the pot.

I tasted and adjust the seasoning. I needed a bit more salt. I put the pot back n saute. I mixed up a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch with the same about of cold water and mixed it into the bubbling stew to thicken it.

Earlier in the day I made a basic white bread in a bread maker. However I added 1 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning to turn it into a herb bread.

The herb bread baked up beautifully. I’ll serve it with the stew.

Here is my rustic stew served up with my homemade herb bread. Everyone said it was delicious.

Peace

Mike

frugal cooking, frugal living, Uncategorized

Save Money: The 53-Cent Bakery-Quality Loaf Of Bread That Uses All-Purpose Flour Experiment

Costs got you down? Feel like you are living paycheck to paycheck? Inflation, war, tariffs, they all combine to shrink you available cash by increasing the costs of necessary items. I don’t have the power to fix those things, but I can pass on tips to make your dollars stretch further.

Bread is the staff of life, and has always been considered an inexpensive meal extended. You can still buy a loaf of bread for around $2, but the quality of that bread is quite literally rubbish. I recently searched the website of a local grocery chain and the average brand name breads cost between $3.50-$6.50 a loaf.

I have made many excellent breads in a bread maker for much less than that, but I wondered how inexpensively I could make a decent loaf of bread now, as prices for basic ingredients have climbed.

Most bread recipes use bread flour due to its higher gluten content. However, bread flour is more expensive than all-purpose flour, and may be harder to find in some locations. AP flour can be found in every grocery store, dollar store and even some gas station grocery sections.

I researched bread recipes that used AP flour and settled on this one from the YouTube channel, “Robyn On The Farm.” I have made other recipes of hers with good results. I’ll be making a 1.5 pound loaf, as that most closely approximates a typical bread. I’m sourcing my prices from Aldi, Walmart, and Amazon websites. I’m rounding up, so it is likely that the actual cost of a loaf will be slightly lower than what I’m calculating. Let’s take a look at the recipe.

This is the recipe screenshot directly from “Robyn On The Farm.” We will be making the 1.5 pound loaf today. I am making one substitution, using cooking oil instead of butter. I’ll also show the price of the bread if you use butter later in this post.

Let’s take a look at the ingredient costs:

We will use 2T of cooking oil instead of 3T of butter. Why the volume reduction? Butter actually has water in it where cooking oil does not. If you need to make a conversion from butter to cooking oil reduce the amount by 1/4th to 1/3rd when making bread. Cost of the oil used for this recipe = 8 cents.

We are only using 1/4th cup of milk, which is around 5 cents worth.

The Aldi website had 5 pounds of AP flour for $2.15, but my store sells it for less than $2. At the $2.15 price the amount of flour being used is 30 cents.

Only 2T of sugar are used in this recipe. The cost based on the above is around 4 cents.

I didn’t calculate out the cost of the salt, I’ll generously assume that it cost around 2 cents/loaf.

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You will save a tremendous amount of money by buying yeast in a bulk package instead of those little envelopes. I store my yeast in the freezer, and I am using yeast that I opened almost a year ago. Cost of the yeast is around 4 cents.

Total cost for a loaf of bakery quality bread = 53 Cents

You will also need a bread machine. You can pick one up at a thrift store for pennies on the dollar.

This KBS machine was $20 at a thrift store, but everything is half off on Mondays, so I paid only $10 for it. You may have to do a little hunting, but you will eventually find one. I wrote a whole post on buying used machines, so use my page’s search tool if you need some tips.

Lets get into the recipe!

It is always a good idea to gather your ingredients and equipment. I’m reading the recipe off my computer. To be honest, it would be a much better idea to print it up. Computers and cooking don’t always mix well.

Add the 3/4 C water to you bread maker’s pan. I add all the ingredients with the pan outside of the machine to avoid spilling something into its electricals. We have chlorinated water which can inhibit yeast growth, so I use the filtered water from my fridge which I warm up in the microwave to “baby bottle” warm. You could also use bottled water, and many filtered water pitchers will remove chlorine.

Now add the 1/4 C of milk. You also want this warm. If it burns your hand it will kill the yeast. If it is too cold it will retard the yeast’s growth. A few seconds in the microwave should do it.

In goes the 2T of sugar.

Now the 2T of cooking oil. I’m substituting oil for butter as it is less expensive. I’ll also give the cost of a loaf using butter instead of oil at the end of this post.

I always weight my flour; 314 grams = 2 5/8 C. I’m off by 3 grams, but that is less than a 1% variation, and therefore insignificant.

I’m adding the 1 and 1/8t of salt. Always level off your measuring cups and spoons. Salt can kill yeast if it is too concentrated, so I’ll keep them separated in the pan. I’m using fancy pink salt. However, any salt will do, this is just what I grabbed.

Now the 1 and 1/8t of yeast. I buried the salt in the flour, but I could have also poured it into one corner and the yeast in another.

Place the baking pan in the bread machine and select the “Basic” or “White” bread cycle, 1.5 pound loaf (750 grams), and medium crust (or your choice of crust). Press start.

After the bread has mixed for a short amount of time, I’ll use a spatula to knock down any errant flour towards the dough ball. This isn’t absolutely necessary, and in most cases that flour will eventually mix in. However, I want all of the flour incorporated to check the dough ball consistency.

The dough ball is just about right, but a little slack as it isn’t forming a ball. This is despite weighing the flour. I’ll add 1T of flour, wait around 30 seconds and add more if needed. If the dough was too dry I would do the same with water, 1T at a time.

The dough ball now looks perfect. Round and slightly tacky. Now I can close the lid and go on to another project. The machine will handle the rest, and I’ll have real bakery quality bread in around 3 hours.

Here is the bread out of the bread maker. It looks great, but how does it taste?

Honestly, it tastes great! AP flour has less gluten, so the dough is a bit weaker which yields a more open loaf. It is also a bit softer, and less chewy. Using butter instead of oil would add some additional richness, but it tastes wonderful as it. This bread is definitely bakery quality.

Changes and additions

You can add or substitute some ingredients as below:

The original recipe called for 3T of butter which costs around 30 cents. If you made the loaf with butter instead of oil the loaf’s cost would be 75 cents. Still a bargain!

Adding 1T of instant potato flakes will keep moisture in your bread and it will stay fresh longer. This adds about 3 cents to the cost of a loaf

Other additions

Vital Wheat Gluten can be purchased in most grocery stores, but you will find much better value on-line. Adding around 1T to your bread makes the dough stronger; similar to the results that you get from using bread flour. Adding 1T of VWG adds around 8 cents to the total cost of the loaf.

-You can also dress up your bread by topping it with seeds.

-You can make it an herb bread by adding 1t of Italian seasoning, or turn it into an onion loaf by adding 1t of onion powder.

-I often add 1-2T of ground flax seeds for added taste and health benefits.

-You can choose the dough cycle instead of the bread cycle. When the cycle completes take the dough out and form it into hot dog or hamburger buns on a greased baking sheet. Cover and allow the dough to rise for around 30 minutes and bake at 375F (190C) until done, around 14-18 minutes.

-You can use the dough as a base for a homemade pizza.

The options are as varied as your imagination.

You can have warm bakery quality bread for around 1/4th of the cost of crumby store bread, or 1/12th the cost of a premium store loaf. Think about that. All for about 5 minutes of work!

Peace

Mike

Filling retirement time, Life after retirement, psychiatry, psychology, psychology/psychiatry, retirement, Uncategorized

A Typical Quiet Retirement Day In Photos

By now you know that I love being retired. I do miss aspects of my work life, but I’m never bored and generally pretty happy. On some retirement days I’m busy doing a serious project or hanging out with friends and family. Other days are low key. My wife will ask me, “What did you do today?” I’ll typically reply, “Oh, not too much.” Yet, my days fly by and although I can succumb to a nap now and again, I’m certainly not sleeping my life away.

The weekend was very busy for me. On Saturday, I drove several hours to spend time with my oldest daughter and her family. On Sunday, I attended a bash for my sister-in-law’s milestone birthday. I have taken it upon myself to become the family photographer, and I try to record family events in photos.

Monday rolled around and I needed some alone time. Then the day was over. What did I do? Not too much? I thought I would document a quiet day in the life of a retired guy. Some may find my routine boring. However, I love the freedom to explore the day as I see fit. Let’s start.

This Monday began like most days, by making a pot of coffee. Then it was time for breakfast. I usually have a simple breakfast, and this morning I made some oatmeal with craisins in the microwave. I then stirred in a spoonful of peanut butter.

I have been on a mission to help people reduce economic stress by writing blogs on how to save money. One of the things that I do is make my own bread. Yes, I can afford bread, but I like the smell and taste of the stuff that I bake at home. I asked myself, “Can I make a really inexpensive loaf that tastes good?” I did some research and found a recipe that uses cheap All Purpose flour (instead of Bread flour) and ran the experiment. Success! This loaf costs only 57 cents and it was bakery quality. I then started a blog post with photos to encourage others to do the same. You will probably see that post here in a week or two.

I’m also in the process of writing a post on ways to buy an Instant Pot cheaply. If I can convince someone that cooking for scratch is easy and fun it is more likely that they will try it. Using an Instant Pot makes meal preparation extremely simple.

Now a trip to the pharmacy. I had to pick up a couple of prescriptions. Sandy, the tech is extremely nice, and knows me. Although I have Medicare Part D my policy is bare bones. She spent some time checking for discount coupons and saved me some money. Luckily, I’m only on a couple of meds, and they are all generic.

A few years ago a major online retailer contacted me and asked me to become one of their professional reviewers/influencers. It has been a fun ride, and I have reviewed everything from clothing to power tools. Today, I reviewed a kitchen product by Dash. It is a stackable pot and pan set that includes its own electric burner. I did a couple of test, including frying an egg. I wrote a review on this product and included some photos. What did I think of it? I thought it was pretty good.

Time for lunch! I’ll eat the egg from my review on some buttered toast from the 57 cent bread that I made earlier in the morning. Delicious!

In between my activities I do a little cleaning. I prefer to use cleaning as a break, so I may clean the sink one time, and wipe down the counters on another. This keeps the general areas of the house tidy, and by breaking up the task I don’t even realize that its work. During the pandemic I couldn’t get cleaning chemicals, so I simplified my routine, and never went back. I make a basic cleaning solution by adding a scant teaspoon of liquid dish detergent to water in a spray bottle. This is great for all surfaces. I use powdered cleanser for sinks. It is less expensive than the stuff in the squeeze bottle and does a better job. I also try to minimize paper towel use by using dish towels as much as reasonably possible.

Now it is time for a walk. I have beautiful paths very close to my home, so it is always a treat to get out and smell the flowers.

There is a list of people that I talk to every day. This day I also had some additional calls from friends and family, so I was pretty chatty.

Remember that I told you that I took a lot of photos of my sister-in-law’s birthday bash? Well, now I have to edit them. I’ll often take multiple photos of the same scene to get the best one. I ranked the photos and then spent some time tweaking them further using photo editing software. It takes a lot longer than you may think. I caught my wife in this contemplative pose at the party. The patio of the restaurant had very peaceful scenery.

Time to make a run to Aldi. I love Aldi. The prices are good and the choices are simple. I can be in and out in no time.

I make dinner a few nights a week. Tonight I decided to make mac and cheese with cornbread and broccoli. I started a blog post on this too that I’ll publish next week. Writing and teaching gives me pleasure. Plus, I feel like I’m doing a good deed by encouraging others to cook at home.

I photographed each step of the process, as some people are more visual learners. I’ll usually do some deliberate substitutions in a recipe to make it OK for others to do the same. Lastly, I’ll admit it when a dish is good, and also when I screwed up. I guess that is what happens when you combine a teacher with a psychiatrist and a home cook! I’m making the mac and cheese in an Instant Pot. To do so is simple and fast. You will have to check out that post when I finish it and publish it to this blog.

My Instant Pot mac and cheese plated up. The mac and cheese was delicious, but the cornbread was another story. I used a different size pan and tried to make it in our tiny toaster oven. Oh well, I ate the cornbread anyway. Dinner time is always nice as it gives me a chance to catch up with Julie. When I make dinner I also do the clean up. Julie often will assist with the dishes, as I will when it is her turn to cook.

Now it is time to learn. I always spend some time every day learning. I’ll read or watch videos on topics ranging from science, to senior living. I try to keep up-to-date with the news, but I also limit it. All the recent political, war, and inflation stuff can be pretty depressing. I’ll listen to a 5 minute NPR news summary, and I may watch a YouTube video or two, but then I stop. I know what is going on, but I don’t dwell in the recent chaos as there is nothing that I can do about it. Learning anything from a new recipe to how to do an advanced photography technique is a better use of my time.

Where did the day go? Time for bed. Over the last few months I have tried to avoid screen time before bedtime as it was impacting my sleep. I started reading novels again. I love doing this on a Kindle. Kindles use e-paper which is different from a computer screen and more like reading a regular book. Right now I’m reading The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett. It was first published in 1929 as a serial, and then as a book in 1930. It is a fun read, but feminists may find some of the content offensive. By the way, ignore the fact that I have 55 hours more reading time (bottom of the Kindle page). That is for the entire Dashiell Hammett collection. I bought the whole set for a couple of bucks on Amazon. You can buy entire collections of famous authors who are out of copyright for very little.

After a few chapters, it is time to fall asleep. Another quiet day in the life of a retired guy. Not exciting, but perfect for me. In retrospect, I do a lot of stuff on days when I normally think I didn’t do much. I wonder if that is the reason why I enjoy those days as much as I do?

Peace

Mike

Random thoughts and my philosophy of life.