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The Cooking Family Kids Gift Guide 2019

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Last updated on December 19th, 2019 at 08:26 am

The holidays are a perfect time to spend time with your kids in the kitchen. And Christmas is the perfect time to use gifts to equip them to join you there all year long!

Use this guide to help you pick some great (non-electronic) gifts for your kids. I don’t know about you, but we definitely don’t need any more things in our house that bleep, blurb, or glow!

I’ve included some of my own favorites for mom, so you may want to forward it to your significant other if you want to hint at some gifts for yourself. 😉

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Which Instant Pot is Right For My Family? (Updated with Max)

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Last updated on December 26th, 2018 at 12:56 pm

The Instant Pot is more than a “craze” now. Everywhere you turn, you see talk-show hosts and news anchors doing segments on this “new device” that’s “sweeping the nation!” And with good reason.

People are just now starting to hear about the benefits of pressure-cooking as a way to cook delicious and healthy meals without having to stand over a stove. You’ve probably heard from more than one friend about how much they love their “Instapot.”

But the truth is, the Instant Pot has been around a few years, and pressure cooking for ages. But this ain’t your grandma’s pressure cooker! The Instant Pot is a safe, easy cooking method, and the company is constantly refining and improving the technology and releasing new models.

But that’s creating confusion for new customers shopping for an Instant Pot, and probably why you’re here to read this article!

There are several sizes and lots of variations in features among the different models, and even non-pressure cooker products now. So the question I see most often right now is, “I have a family of ____, which Instant Pot should I get?”

The answer really comes down to two simple questions.
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Creamy Ginger Butternut Squash Soup in the Instant Pot

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Last updated on October 1st, 2020 at 01:49 pm

This is such a yummy comfort food, perfect for the fall season.  The combination of apples and squash, ginger and cream, makes a delicious blend of sweet and tart, warm spice and cool cream. You just have to try it!

Now, there are lots of ways to prepare your ingredients, but for me, when I see a recipe call for sliced, peeled butternut squash, it literally makes me cringe. That chore is one of my kitchen nightmares! Cutting up a butternut squash is hard!

So I don’t do it. Let me show you an easier way to “skin that cat” with an Instant Pot!

This is an involved recipe, so it’s lots of fun if the family joins in. Children can do lots of things to help in this recipe! …

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Homemade Chicken Bone Broth in the Instant Pot

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Last updated on July 28th, 2019 at 09:50 pm

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Under Pressure: 120 Minutes
Quick Release or Natural Pressure Release, your call!
If you’ve got 5 minutes, old chicken bones, leftover veggies, and an Instant Pot, you can have homemade bone broth all the time! Sometimes called Chicken Stock, this commonly used ingredient is the basis for so many recipes! We use it for soups, casseroles, sauces, and gravies. We even sometimes use it for making rice and pasta, instead of water. Here are a few of our recipes that use this delicious broth as a base ingredient:
 
Using store-bought chicken broth is easy, but it isn’t necessarily cheap, and the truth is, you don’t actually know what’s in that can or box or jar.
When I went gluten free and was forced to begin reading every label, I was shocked at the ingredient lists right in front of my face that I had been ignoring! Ingredients such as:

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Instant Pot Ham ‘n’ Beans

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Last updated on April 9th, 2020 at 10:10 am

The only thing I love more than the taste of this recipe is how simple it is to throw together. It’s so easy, it feels like cheating to even call this a “recipe.”

Here’s all you need for this super easy recipe:

Tools Used

Ingredients

  • a spiral-sliced ham or leftover ham bone
  • a bag of dried beans. A two-pound bag of Great Northern beans is what I used to make this in an 8qt., but any kind of beans would be great cooked this way–pintos, navy, black beans–use whatever you have and whatever you like.
  • An onion

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Instant Pot Italian Sausage Lentil Soup

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Last updated on November 4th, 2022 at 04:49 pm

Several years ago, we were at Carrabba’s and I had their Sausage Lentil Soup. It was so good! I’ve spent the last few years trying to re-create it, and I think we’ve finally got it really close! I love working up recipes because I get to eat the results. 😉

This is a hearty and nutritious dinner for the whole family. Lentils provide lots of protein, fiber, iron, and B vitamins!  And it’s delicious! Everyone in our family gobbles up the first bowl and wants seconds, including the toddler! In the Old Testament of the Bible, Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of Lentil stew—so you know it must be good!

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Instant Pot Jambalaya

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Last updated on May 7th, 2020 at 09:11 am

My husband’s family has a long and rich heritage in south Louisiana, so cajun dishes are frequently enjoyed at family gatherings. Now, authentic cajun fare is usually a bit too spicy for my younger kids, so I adapted this recipe to give us all the yummy ingredients without the kick.

Traditional Jambalaya is typically cooked with rice combined with all the ingredients. I like to cook my rice separately for a couple of reasons:

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Tom’s Super Potato Salad

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Last updated on September 4th, 2020 at 09:03 pm

TCF Tom's Salad FB

This is a special family recipe to me. That’s because it comes from a special man.

Tom.

IMG_1645-2

Tom is my dad, and I think he’s just about the best guy ever. I got my kitchen improvisational spirit from him, and this recipe is a perfect example. He spent years analyzing and tweaking the proportions to arrive at this delicious recipe. We’ve made it for years, arriving at parties and BBQ’s with a giant bowl and leaving with it licked clean. We hope you like it as much as we (and our friends) do.

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Santa Fe Chicken – A Perfect Freezer-Stuffer!

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Last updated on September 21st, 2018 at 05:48 pm

Giant batch of Santa Fe Chicken!
Giant batch of Santa Fe Chicken!

Earlier this week we made a huge batch of Santa Fe Chicken to stock our freezer. We use this for lots of different meals. It can be eaten as an entree by itself, or it can be a very versatile dinner base for other recipes. And it freezes perfectly!

 

We use it in tacos, taco salads, burrito bowls, tostadas, quesadillas, or nachos. So, even though this recipe makes enough to feed an army, it doesn’t seem like the family is eating the same thing over and over.

 

This is a fabulous recipe to make with your kids! Even very little ones can sort and rinse dry beans and go to the pantry to get cans. Medium kiddos can open cans and bigger ones can pick chickens and measure spices. Everyone can dump or pour things into the mixing bowl. And we had several sets of {clean-ish} hands in there stirring and tasting.

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One-Pot Pasta in the Instant Pot

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Last updated on January 23rd, 2019 at 09:32 am

This is a family favorite that has lots of options for different dietary needs. It’s fast, delicious, and it’s so easy, the kids can make it!

One Pot Pasta in the Instant Pot

You have two options with this dish:

  1. Easy
  2. Extra-super-duper-come-on-this-is-way-too-simple-give-me-a-break easy

Which version you make depends on what ingredients and time you have on hand. If you choose the super easy version, you only need three things (well, four if you count water.) If you have a little extra time (like, literally 3 minutes) you can make your own sauce, and I’ve included my go-to recipe. It’s super-quick and tasty. And if you want to really jazz it up, there are all sorts of things you could add-in to take this up another notch!

We cooked this live on our Facebook page, so you can watch this video to see us prepare it from start to finish in about 20 minutes, and see which jobs kids of all ages can help with.

Kitchen Tools used:

6 quart Instant Pot
OXO Wooden Spatula
Cut Glove
Knife
Chopper

3 Easy Ingredients:

  1. Italian sausage or any other ground meat
  2. Spaghetti Sauce (jarred or follow recipe below)
  3. Pasta (16 oz.), any type

Spaghetti Sauce:

Let’s talk about this. That jar of spaghetti sauce in your pantry is really convenient. Just dump it in and move on. There are definitely times when I need that simplicity. And personally, even if I have a jar of sauce I want to use, I’ll add …

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Instant Pot 6-Minute Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Last updated on July 31st, 2019 at 11:07 am

This is a family favorite that turns out delicious every time!  We use our favorite kitchen tool, the Instant Pot, to make a tasty Chicken Tortilla Soup.  The Instant Pot really does give second-day soup flavor in only a few minutes! One of the things I love about this recipe is that there is something for each of my children to do to help prepare it. Watch the video to see how everyone pitches in. The recipe and instructions we used are down below.

Tools we used:

6 Qt Instant Pot

Cut Glove I make sure the kids are always wearing one of these when using the knife. …

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What’s So Great About the Instant Pot?

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Last updated on September 21st, 2018 at 05:53 pm

What's so great about the Instant Pot?

For years, I was a slow-cooker fan. I remember the day when I got my big All-Clad model with the insert that you could put right on the stove to brown meat. I coveted and longed for that tool for months before buying it on sale.
And I still like to pull it out every now and then, if for no other reason than to justify keeping it, because it is beautiful. But ever since I got my Instant Pot, the poor slow-cooker has been more of no-cooker.

 

Poor, Lonely Slow Cooker
My Poor, Lonely Slow Cooker

Here at The Cooking Family, one of our foundational principles is that you only need a small set of the right tools to enjoy great meals together. You don’t always need the “next big thing,” and you especially don’t need uni-taskers.

 

But even though the Instant Pot is the current “latest gadget,” it is one I would say is a must-have tool. Seriously. If you told me I could only keep 2 things in my kitchen, I’d keep my Wüsthof knife and my Instant Pot. As a mom of 7, I oversee 189 meals per week! But the Instant Pot ensures I don’t spend all day in the kitchen (unless I want to 😉.)

Even though it seems everyone is talking about the Instant Pot, I know many people don’t understand the hype. And I get it. I didn’t understand at first. At least once a week, someone will ask me, “What’s so great about the Instant Pot? I’m afraid I’ll blow my kitchen up!”

You won’t. Today’s electric pressure cookers are so much different than the tank-like pots that graced our grandmothers’ stoves.  I’ve compiled a list of things I love about mine. This list is certain to grow, and I’ll update it as I discover new things. There are many features I haven’t even explored yet. (Like ribs or lasagna!) (Updated 7/11/18)

Here’s why you need an Instant Pot

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Is this the one thing keeping dinner off the table?

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Last updated on September 21st, 2018 at 05:55 pm

We live in the golden age of cooking. If your Facebook feed is anything like mine, you see it filled with dozens of short recipe videos every day. And like me, you’ve possibly saved a bunch of them, planning to get back to it someday. Then there’s Pinterest, an endless supply of food and recipe ideas. Yet even with all of these resources available, I still struggled to get dinner on the table every night.

The 4:30 Panic

Inevitably, the afternoon would roll on, and next thing I knew, it was almost dinner time. Not only had I not started dinner, I had no idea what I would make. Not to fear, right? I could just go check my trusty saved links and whip something together. Raise your hand if that’s ever worked for you.

It never worked for me.

The truth is:
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