For my birthday this year, S. Rad generously gifted me an Instant Pot. Let’s be honest, I know there’s some self-interest on his part for this gift, but hey, I’m still a very grateful recipient! I opened this gem on Sunday and have made 2 delicious dishes already. I’m certain this may be one of my favorites gifts ever!

Sunday evening I made us chicken wings inspired by this post by The Typical Mom. I had frozen wings so figured why not take my first swing with pressure cooking those bad boys. They turned out perfect and I finished them off in the oven under the broiler for a mere 5 minutes. To round out the meal we also enjoyed a salad of leftover roasted beets and carrots with spicy micro greens, lovely tomato thai basil soup from Nona Lim, and fresh toasted local sourdough. It was a delightful meal to close out my birthday weekend.

Last night I made the most delicious short ribs I’ve ever had! Thank you #nomnompaleo for yet again a killer recipe! My short ribs were inspired by Nom Nom Paleo’s Instant Pot Magic Short Ribs recipe. Since I don’t have her magic mushroom seasoning, I went with Himalayan salt and we were definitely impressed with the end result. About 5 minutes saute time in the Instant Pot, followed by 45 mins of high pressure cooking and then natural release of 30+ minutes. And these things were the bomb!! Fortunately the instant pot also keeps things warm for an extended period of time without overcooking, because S. Rad endured a very late arrival home from work last night due to snow/ice-mageddon here in WA. I roasted some broccoli to accompany the short ribs, and it was one of my top 5 meals EVER!

Thanks S. Rad for this wonderful gift, it will surely be put to good use. And thanks to those in the food/recipe blogging world for inspiring me continually with your amazing dishes and ideas.

Below is the instant pot model we now have. Click on the image to be taken to our Amazon associates link to purchase your own.