Strawberry Jam in Instapot

Today I went ahead and prepared myself for a big kitchen fail. Canning is something I've never worked with. It just seemed so complex, like it requires a lot of tools and knowledge. But I decided to give it a try because the recipe I found somewhere online that was in the "I want to try one day" pile looked so easy. And it's an Instapot recipe! I was curious but didn't have any expectations.
First you will need to sterilize your mason jars.

Method:
Put them in a large pot. Completely cover them with water. Bring to boil over high heat. Boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. If you are not quite ready  to fill the sterilized jars and proceed with canning your recipe, you can leave them in the pot for up to an hour. If you will wait longer - you will have to sterilize them again.

Recipe
1 pound of fresh strawberries (sliced)
2 1/3 cups of sugar
4 TBsp of lemon juice

Directions
Turn on the Instapot on saute, add sliced strawberries, sugar and lemon juice.

Cook until all sugar is melted. Turn off the saute option. Put it on manual and let it cook for 5 minutes, natural release. If you have any chunks left - you can use masher to help with that.
Next turn on the saute option and cook your mixture for about 8 minutes. Turn off the saute.

Here is a little trick how you can know that the jam is ready. Before you start this recipe, put a little bowl in the freezer. Now put some of the jam into the bowl and put it back to the freezer for just a minute. Take it back out. Check it with your finger - if it's still runny, cook a few minutes longer.
I was worried that the jam would be like compote, but after a few hours it got thicker.
I'm trying to be honest in all of my posts so I don't know if this product is stable enough to keep it on the shelf in your pantry. I guess you can try with one jar in the fridge and one in the pantry.
Taste - what I love about this jam is that it's not sickly sweet, even though I added 2 1/3 cups of sugar. I'll definitely be doing this again.

Easy Pasta Dinner in Instapot

Tired of pasta dishes that you've been cooking over and over again? Hey, maybe I have something new for you! And it's an Instapot recipe! Kids approved, picky eaters approved. You will love it. I was concerned at first about cooking pasta in the pressure cooker but it turned out just fine.

You will need:
1 tbsp oil
1 1/2 cup water
1 Pound ground beef
1 medium onion (diced)
1 bell pepper (cubed)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of salt
8 oz of pasta (I used penne)
 1/2 cup of heavy cream
some Parmesan cheese

Directions
Put the oil in the Instapot, turn it on Saute, and add ground beef and onions. When it's half way cooked add salt, pepper and bell pepper.

Turn the Saute off.  Add tomatoes and water.  Add pasta.  Close Instapot (make sure the release valve is closed) and cook on manual for five minutes, then quick release.  Turn on Saute option and add your heavy cream and cheese.  I added 1/2 cup of cheese, but it depends on how much you like Parmesan.

Cook approximately 1-2 minutes.  Your meal is ready!

Healthy dinner in 10 minutes

Today I'm sharing a cool and super helpful Instapot hack that I absolutely love! It's cheap and saves time. With this idea you can cook 3 different things in your pressure cooker at the same time. Basically your meal can be ready in 5 minutes. In my example I had dinner to cook and it needed to be done very fast. So I figured out 2-4 potatoes (fresh, depends on size). Frozen or fresh veggies. I used frozen veggie mix and meatballs.Here is the trick:You will need 2 Ikea Stabil steamers. 

They won't fit into your Instapot from the shelf right away so you will need to make an adjustment. A little hook that you'd use to attach it to the pot needs to be removed. You can remove it with pliers or just simply moving it back and forth until it's bent enough to remove it. 

You need to do this with both of them. Now you can easily fit and use them in the Inspapot.
Back to my dinner. As you can see on the picture I put my veggies and meatballs in my steamers. The steamers are standing on the rack that is included with your Instapot. I simply placed the potatoes on the rack.

I added 1 cup of water. 5 minutes of steam. Then do a quick release and it's ready. Everything was equally cooked. The potatoes were my favorite.