Munchie Monday: Boston Baked Beans in the Instant Pot

On Sunday I made baked beans in the Instant Pot:

Put the beans and water into the inner liner bowl. I used the 3-quart liner bowl since I was only making a small batch of beans and it was an experiment. 

2 cup dry white beans

5 cups plus a little of water and cooked them for 20 minutes on HIGH.  Then reduced temperature naturally for about 30 minutes.

Drained the water into a measuring cup then put the beans back into the 3-quart liner for pot-in-pot cooking of the beans in the 8-quart Instant Pot, something that has worked very well in the past (the pot in pot).

 

In a bowl mixed 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup molasses, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 Tablespoon Horseradish brown mustard, 1 diced onion, and 2 cups cooking water.  Stirred well then put back into the pot over the beans and gently stirred them up a bit. 

At that point I decided to put in about 1 cup of leftover barbecued soy curls which I mixed in. 

Set the beans cooking for another 20 minutes on HIGH.  I let them release pressure naturally since we were watching Stake Conference so they released for about 2 hours before we ate them.  They tasted good to me.  Dear One said he likes “his baked beans”--crockpot overnight on LOW to cook the beans then cooking them the next morning for five or six hours, also on LOW, with salt pork and flavorings but using navy pea beans instead of the great northern beans of which we have a bucket full...!  I will try to find them for next week because I will make them again.

PS Since writing the above I have ordered a 6-quart Instant Pot liner bowl to make family-sized amounts of food for pot-in-pot cooking. I discovered that the 6-quart bowl should fit into the 8-quart Instant Pot with enough clearance to be safe. I will let you know if that is not the case!

Also, Dear One has agreed to pick up the pea beans and salt pork at Food Lion on his way home from giving blood today.  I hope he can find them easily.  I don't really know if I have seen pea beans in the stores here...things are different in the South.

A final also--running my numbers this morning was a little deflating as the blood glucose was up, though not alarmingly, but the weight was up 3 pounds. I guess all the sugar in the beans was a bad idea.  Now to figure out something else to eat when everyone else eats baked beans...OR attempting to eat a small bowl instead of a large bowl of beans.  Maybe I can eat them one bean at a time instead of a spoonful at once...

Alfalfa Sprouts!

 Last week (maybe the week before that!) I got excited about sprouts again.  This time I ordered some organic alfalfa sprouting seeds from Sproutman.com.  They arrived rather quickly but sat on the counter for a few days unopened.

When I opened the package there was a note on the outside that said, "One week from seed to salad!"  I have taken them at their word.  This is what our sprouts look like three days in:

Of course this is not a good picture since I took it in the dark for some reason...but they are growing like weeds!

What I did:

In a clean one quart Mason jar I placed 1 Tablespoon of alfalfa seeds and filled the jar half full of clean water.  After six hours I drained the water and let them sit on the counter out of the sun.  We have a nifty sprouting lid that we purchased from Amazon but it is not visible here.  Next photo will be better.

Every morning and every evening I fill the jar with water and gently agitate the growing sprouts then drain the water out again.  Mostly I let the jar sit on its side as you see it here though the sprouting lid had four or five legs so you can store it upright if you don't think you drained all the water.  You really DO want to drain all the water or the sprouts will rot, a not pleasant situation. 

Because of how fast they are growing, I am confident they will be salad within the seven days mentioned on the package.  Yay, Sproutman!

iPhone and iCloud Question for Dummies...

 Recently I changed my Apple ID.  Apparently I had forgotten it, but actually I am pretty sure it was just mis-typed but you can only do that twice apparently before "they" get nervous and you have to get a new Apple ID...and NOT one you have used in the last year.

Anyway, I now seemed to have two Apple IDs so "some data has not merged".  This was not pleasing since I have an iphone, iPad, and MacBook that I have tried to all say the same things.

Since there were issues with my phone I decided to sign out of my phone and sign back in, something I have NEVER DONE since I got the phone two years ago.  I was given the option to save some things to iCloud--I did not save my calendars and the two other things suggested (which I had not really looked at since I was not really sure what was happening by signing out) but I DID save my Contacts to iCloud.

Now when I go to my phone there are NO Notes and No Reminders.  Between them I had many hundreds of great and important notes and reminders.  I am a little gunshy.  I am a little reluctant to try anything now...! 

When I go to iCloud there are no Notes and no Reminders.

If I try to save to iCloud the Notes and Reminders on my MacBook and/or iPad, will they synchronize there or will I totally lose them?

What to do?  This is where smart friends are practical blessings, not just blessings for my heart and head.

If anyone has some suggestions, I am ALL EARS!

Thanks.

PS. I am going out to bury my sorrows in Mexican food tonight and tomorrow is temple, so I may not respond to help until at least Thursday.

Thanks again.

Munchie Monday: The King of Dal. More or Less

 Last week I saw a newsletter from LifeIsNoYoke's Lenny Gale.  He gave a recipe (he had gotten from someone else) named The King of Dal.  Well, at least I like lentils so I thought I would give it a try.   One thing about that recipe was that you used your VitaMix to grind up spices to make your own garam masala.  Since we did not have those whole spices but we did have a bottle of garam masala that we had used one time, I went that route.  This is what I did:

The King of Dal PACC recipe

In a bowl place 1 cup orange/red lentils and 3/4 cup dry pinto beans.  Cover with a lot of water and let them soak overnight.

In the morning chop one red onion and cook it for five minutes or so on the sauté feature of your Instant Pot.  Add three cloves chopped garlic and 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground fresh ginger.  Cook another minute or so then shut off the sauté function.

Drain and rinse the beans and lentils and put them into the Instant Pot on top of the onions, garlic, and ginger.

Add 3 Tablespoons garam masala, one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes and 1 1/2 cans water.

Stir well then cook on HIGH for 40 minutes.

Let reduce heat naturally then serve over rice (for Dear One).  Or you can serve over mashed potatoes (my preferred method) and have a nice meal.

This made a great deal of dal!  Probably a gallon!  We are foisting it off on as many people as we can since Dear One only likes meals about three times, tops!

PS The original recipe also called for oil to cook the garam masala in but we did not go that route...

A Wonderful Class

 Here is an email I just sent to all members of our immediate family and thought I would 

expand upon it and share with you!

+++++++++

Dear Loved Ones,

Several of the sisters in our ward, including the whole Relief Society presidency

 and the Primary president, are participating in a Self-Reliance Course by the 

Church called Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience.  It is a Zoom

 class where we can all comment and discuss what we are learning.  

The manual is just plain fabulous and can be downloaded.  I downloaded it 

and printed it out since it is a new manual and won't be available to purchase

 until our class is nearly over.

Anyway, I am learning a lot.  I wanted to share this one page with you that has

 already helped me.  I think there are times when we all need to readjust 

our thinking patterns.  I am making an effort to do so and find it useful.  Maybe I really

 am turning over a new leaf!!

May you all find it helpful, even you angel grandchildren who are just starting

 to form your own thinking patterns.  Make your lives happier by choosing 

accurate thought patterns.

Love and light to you all,

PACC

+++++++++++

That was followed up with another short 

message:

+++++

Dear Ones,

One thing I did not say was that the point of 

looking at that

 list is that we cannot change inaccurate 

thought patterns

 unless we recognize them.  Awareness is 

so important.

Another thing to consider is that there can be

 triggers that send us in an inaccurate thought pattern. 

When we become aware of these triggers, we can prepare

 for them,  and change how we respond.  

There is a little attachment about triggers worth reading.

May we all become aware of these triggers and learn better ways of 

thinking that will help us know our, and other people's, divine worth.

XOX

PACC

+++++

Both of these pictures are from:  Finding Strength In The Lord: 

Emotional Resilience, 

published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2021.

++++++++++++++++

There is a wonderful website where there are multiple "Self-Reliance"

 classes freely 

available to anyone who would like them.  In our area they are available via 

Zoom.  

Some areas may have them face-to-face.

There are classes on things like Personal Finance, Find a Better Job, 

Starting a New Business, etc.

When I find something good, I like to share it. I do not know who might benefit 

from one of these classes, but this class which we are involved with

 is already helping me!

Plant Started From Clippings

 Probably three months ago a friend gave me a few clippings from a plant she had seen.  I cannot quite remember the backstory, but I was pleased to take the clippings home. I did not have much hope for them since I kill almost all houseplants I work with.

Here is the plant today:

It is so lovely and full and growing like a week, really!  I am so happy with it.  Success two days in a row with vastly different beginnings...!

Munchie Monday: Sourdough Pancakes

 Our daughter and her family went on a camping trip this past weekend.  One of their preparations was to start some sourdough pancakes which our son-in-law likes to make.  I asked for the recipe.  I did not have all the ingredients (well, I did not have any whole wheat flour and did not feel like going upstairs to the wheat and beans closet, haul out the grinder--in this case the VitaMix--grind the flour, etc) so I made some substitutions.

These are the pancakes as I made them.  On the night before you want the pancakes--and we were going to have them for lunch--in a large bowl place:

1 cup activated sourdough starter
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups bread flour
2 Tablespoons sugar

Stir together well.  Cover and let sit on your counter overnight.

In the morning stir in:

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs

When the batter is well mixed use a portion scoop and cook on a pre-heated non-stick griddle that has been set to 350 degrees F.  Cook until bottom is nicely browned and bubbles are visible on the top.  I used a one-quarter cup portion scoop and managed 13 pancakes.

Dear One had NO PROBLEM eating these pancakes!  I had thought of putting blueberries on top before flipping them but remembered the mess that always makes, plus I thought I would try the naked recipe first before changing it a lot.  He said, after eating five of them right down slathered with maple syrup, "This is what I have been begging you for the last two years!"  

Well, isn't it nice to have a food success, even though Son-in-Law might not be thrilled with the liberties I took with his recipe...

Dear One has been "begging" for nice fluffy pancakes, not the flat nasty ones I usually make.  These were at least one-half inch thick.  Not sure why, but I will take it!