Ellgen - The Instant Pot meals in a jar cookbook: 50 pre-portioned, perfectly seasoned pressure cooker recipes

The Instant Pot Meals in a Jar Cookbook 50 PRE-PORTIONED, PERFECTLY SEASONED PRESSURE COOKER RECIPES PAMELA ELLGEN

With the exception of INSTANT POT, this book is independently authored and published and no sponsorship or endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with, trademarked brands or other products mentioned or pictured within is claimed or suggested. Trademarks that appear in ingredient lists and elsewhere in this book belong to their respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The author and publisher encourage readers to patronize the quality brands mentioned in this book. Contents Introduction Welcome to The Instant Pot Meals in a Jar Cookbook. In this book, youll discover delicious recipes that fill your pantry with easy-to-make meals and provide awesome gifts for your friends and family. I am a busy working mom who longs to feed my family nutritious meals that are big on flavor but dont require hours in the kitchen.

I also want to prepare thoughtful gifts for my friends and family for birthdays, holidays, or when theyve had a new baby or another life change. Thanks to the Instant Pot pressure cooker and a few inexpensive mason jars, I can do both! This book is laid out in a user-friendly format with recipes grouped according to the meal type and the type of ingredients. In the Breakfast chapter, I offer recipes that you can toss into the Instant Pot when you wake up. Breakfast will be ready by the time you emerge from the shower. In Snacks, Sides, & Soups, you can find everything from creamy dips to comforting soups, and all are ready in no time. In Just Add Meat, youll find recipes that contain everything except the fresh meat that can be added when you or whomever you give the jar to are ready to cook.

Pasta & Grains offers everything from Couscous with Figs and Almonds to Herb and Lemon Orzo with Peas. The Beans & Legumes chapter was one of my favorites because in my house we eat a mostly vegetarian diet. Youll love the Curried Lentil Soup and the Tuscan Minestrone Soup. Finally, round things out with Desserts & Drinks, a chapter featuring Mulled Wine, Spiced Chai, and of course, some delicious cakes and puddings! I hope you have as much fun as I do creating beautiful layered jars of ready-to-eat meals to stock your cupboards and share with the people you love. CHAPTER 1Getting Started Theres something so satisfying about preparing a meal ahead of time, placing it carefully on the shelf, and knowing that at some pointmaybe tomorrow, maybe next monthdinner is already taken care of. Nigella Lawson, chef and author of dozens of cookbooks, describes this as putting up in her book How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

As much as I love these traditional sensibilities, Im also sensitive to the demands of modern life. Its not just charming and quaint to prepare meals ahead of timeit can be a necessity! Were doing more and moving faster than ever before. Just as putting up is nothing new, neither is the concept of a pressure cooker. What is new is how easy it is to use. Thank goodness! Horror stories of exploding pots and scalded skin scared me into sticking with my usual stovetop, oven, and slow cooker routines until I found the Instant Pot. This book has been a really fun change of pace from the type of cooking I usually do.

While working with only fresh ingredients is lovely, it isnt always practical. Food goes bad. Beans take hours to soak. Moods change and what sounded great for dinner when I was planning my weekly menu later sounds unappetizing. Fortunately, with meals in jars, the shelf life is months, not days, and with the Instant Pot pressure cooker I can prepare whatever sounds good at that well at that instant! Lets get started! Equipment You dont need a lot of fancy equipment to get started, just an Instant Pot pressure cooker and some inexpensive mason jars. Instant Pot For the recipes in this book, I used the Instant Pot DUO Plus 60, 6 Quart 9-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Egg Cooker, Saut, Steamer, Warmer, and Sterilizer.

I provide manual instructions for programming the Instant Pot, although you may rely on the pre-programmed options available if you wish. Refer to your Instant Pot setup guide to choose the pre-programmed options.

Choose whatever brand you like, just ensure theyre nearly the same size as what is specified in each recipe, or you will not be able to fit in all of the ingredients. Ingredients I chose to primarily include those ingredients I could easily find at my local grocery store. A handful are easier to find online, such as dried bell peppers, carrots, celery, and some of the more exotic spices. Alternatively, consider dehydrating your own ingredients for each recipe. I wrote The Ultimate Healthy Dehydrator Cookbook in 2016 with instructions for dehydrating all of the vegetables used in this book. Here are some of the more common ingredients that appear in this book.

Vegetables Onion: Dried onion pieces are called for throughout the book. Theyre easy to find in the bulk spices section or in large plastic containers. Garlic: Dried garlic pieces are called for throughout the book. Theyre easy to find in the bulk spices section or in large plastic containers. Occasionally, I also use garlic powder, which is also easy to find. Carrots: Dried carrot pieces and dried shoestring carrots are used several times in the book.

Theyre best sourced online or dried at home in a dehydrator or warm oven. Celery: Dried celery pieces are used several times in the book. Theyre best sourced online or dried at home in a dehydrator or warm oven. Bell pepper: Dried bell pepper pieces are used several times in the book. Red or green can be used unless a color is specified. Tomatoes: Sundried tomatoes are called for throughout the book. Tomatoes: Sundried tomatoes are called for throughout the book.

These should be air packed, not packed in oil. Choose tomatoes that do not have added herbs or spices unless you think they would complement whatever recipe youre preparing. Theyre easy to find in most grocery stores. Kale: Dried kale is used in a couple recipes. Choose unflavored kale chips. Sea salt and olive oil are okay.

They can also be dried in a dehydrator or warm oven. Shelf Life The shelf life of each prepared jar is roughly the length of the shortest shelf life of any of the ingredients contained therein. I go with three to six months as a general rule of thumb, though many recipes may last for several months longer. Nevertheless, look out for condensation on the inside of jars or mold growth, especially if you live in a humid environment. Shelf stable does not mean indefinite shelf life. Be especially watchful with ingredients that retain some moisture, such as dried figs, apricots, and tomatoes.