What I ACTUALLY use my Instant Pot for.

Did you jump on the Instant Pot ban wagon?  I'm curious!  It took me a long time to jump on.  They seemed to be an overpriced Crockpot.  I talked to a lot of women with large families to see what they really used them for.  I kept coming back to "I use my Crockpot for that."  I know a lot of women really liked that they could use their Instant Pot for frozen meat if they forgot to let it thaw overnight. I never had a hard time remembering to thaw meat or to start my Crockpot in the morning.  In fact it was part of my routine.  Fast forward.  I got to a place where we really, really, outgrew our Crockpot, and rice cooker.  I needed to replace both.  I double my rice cooker as my oatmeal cooker and we were eating way more than my little cooker could cook.  So I started asking around about the Instant Pot again and eventually purchased one.  The things I thought I would use my Instant Pot for, I don't and the things I never thought I would use my Instant Pot for, I do.  Go figure.

I will say that I love it.  Everyone was right! I actually deeply loved my Crockpot and the love has just seamlessly passed on to my Instant Pot.  I will also say that it has saved me money.  I have been using it for six months now, six months of canned beans would normally cost me about $20 a month.  Instead, I purchased a huge-gantic bag of pinto beans from Costco for $14 and I am still not at the end of them.  That savings alone has paid for my Instant Pot.  I NEVER soaked and prepared dry beans.  It never worked out.  It was one of those things that I just finally gave up on after burned pots and pans and grumpy attitudes (mostly mine).  But making refried beans, or any dried beans has been so easy with the Instant Pot.

Do you love broth?  I do!  Do you like to make it?  I don't.  After smelling broth cooking in my Crockpot for twelve hours there is no way I am going to eat it.  Ever.  In fact, I've heard that same thing from several other people.  Before the Instant Pot I spent almost $40 a month on broth in the wintertime.  So far this fall and winter I have spent $20 on broth. A savings of $140!  We bought a cow and two pigs last fall and my bones floweth over.  I consider this a win!  My bone broth takes about ninety minutes, I don't smell it at all and I can make two weeks worth on a Saturday with no effort.

How many hard-boiled eggs do you make for breakfast or lunch?  I have to make at least eighteen.  This takes three minutes in my Instant Pot. and I can do it all at once.  Now that's fast food!  Huge baked potatoes?  I toss seven in my pot and they are done in twenty minutes.  If you don't use HUGE potatoes it takes half that time.

These are things I didn't think I would use my pot for, but I do.  I also use it exactly the way I used my Crockpot but it holds twice as much.

I hope this helps you in some way!  I know there are a million recipes out there but the broth and dry beans are what I really use my Instant Pot for other than super fast yummy dinners that I would normally cook in my crock pot but in less than an hour!

What are your favorite things to cook?  Have you actually saved money using your Instant Pot?